Can one commit mass murder and then simply walk away terming the incident an “accident”, an “act of nature” or an “unavoidable misfortune”? I will term whatever happened on September 11 in Karachi (and in Lahore, as well) a mass murder committed by all those made responsible by law to ensure safe working conditions in factories.
Obviously, these were not isolated incidents. Even though an accident of this magnitude has not taken place before, but accidents in factories in Pakistan are a dime a dozen. These factories are murder traps only to make money. Industrial labor standards and city government’s bylaws demand factory design/layout to take care of emergency exits, alternate fire exits in multi-storey buildings, smoke and fire detection systems, fire extinguishers and water sprinklers, industrial grade electric wiring equipped with devices to prevent short circuits.
The Karachi inferno, which will be remembered as the worst industrial disaster in Pakistan’s history, is neither the first one nor will it be the last one. Only the number of victims may vary in future disasters; the reasons for the fire erupting will be the usual ones consisting of negligence and ineptitude: lack of boilers inspections, electric short circuit, inappropriate storage of explosives and chemicals, temporary wiring to connect the standby generators. In some cases, even the factory may not exist as an industrial unit or may not have an approved building map and lease plans.
If I can get away by paying a 100-rupee bribe to the traffic police, the factory owner can also continue to operate by paying appropriate bribes to boiler inspectors, civil defense authorities, building control, labor welfare and anyone else concerned with an official inspection tag.
Will we ever spare some of the amount we spend on weapons and useless projects and paraphernalia on some real projects?