Almost six months have elapsed since 152 innocent passengers of Air Blue crashed in Islamabad and as yet neither the Preliminary Report has been made public by CAA, nor have the next of kin got their due share of insurance claim. The Insurance money was only for passengers and crew of the ill-fated aircraft, since the A321 itself was on lease and not owned by Air Blue. It seems there is an agreement between the ruling elite of Pakistan, across the political divide to protect the legitimate and illegitimate financial interests of each other, unless there is a conflict of interest between them. Not a single MNA or Senator from the ruling coalition or the opposition has raised this issue.
The unfortunate next of kin had a double jeopardy, they were travelling in an airline belonging to a powerful sitting MNA from Muree belonging to PLM(N) and secondly that their dear ones have died in a crash of that airline. This agreement to protect each other became very vivid in a recent talk show, when the MNA from Murree who himself along with his other party members were very critical of the lack of qualifications of Khawaja Adnan who was appointed Chairman OGDC, were supportive of MD PIA’s lack of qualifications. It seems PIA’s loss would be Air Blue’s gain, so the sooner the national airline collapses the better it will be.
NAZEER ABRO
Hyderabad
