We as a nation are deeply steeped in a VIP culture where our elites make sure that they keep reminding us “commoners” our true standing in society. Our generals, politicians and bureaucrats who, in principle, have duties to serve the public more often than naught have this unjustifiable attitude of superiority towards the common man on the street. The protocol that these men have and the attitude of their guards towards common people makes one wonder what exactly makes the self-esteem and in fact lives of these VIP’s much more valuable than mine or yours.
I mention this all because I have been noticing the guards of these VIPs getting angry, making frantic motions with their arms and shouting at top of their lungs if you make even a slight delay in making way for these gentlemen’s cars and their respective protocols. I recently was driving on a slightly busy Mall Road (very much within the speed limit) that suddenly I heard the sounds of siren mixed with hysterical noises of horn. It was a signal enough that an extremely “important” gentleman, whose time is obviously much more valuable than ours, had to pass through. It so happened that due to a car on my left lane, I couldn’t immediately make way.
But when I did make way one of the guards in the jeep behind the VIP’s car not only shouted unintelligibly at me but also pointed his gun towards me. I was intrigued. I blamed myself for being negligible of the rights of the VIPs and made a note to myself that next time such a mistake on my part should at all costs be avoided. Because even if one of the guard shoots someone someday, the justice, as we see often, would obviously sway towards the VIP and his protectors.
MOHAMMAD ARSALAAN BAIG
Lahore