There is no doubt that the country is in the grip of complete lawlessness. All government entities including hospitals and educational institutions are suffering from this malaise. Government school compounds and playgrounds are being used for wedding parties and students are sent on forced leave. According to media reports, this is happening mostly in Punjab, where the Shahbaz Sharif wants to educate every child. This does not happen in civilised societies.
In government run hospitals, medicine is not available due to budgetary constraints, emergencies are closed on flimsy grounds threatening lives of suffering patients. Doctors, our messiahs, are on strike for the last 32 days in Quetta. Private schools and hospitals are fleecing the public without any check. Who cares for life in Pakistan?
In government offices, that are meant to be for the welfare of the general public, no work is being done. Senior bureaucracy is busy in making self-serving policies. During the last couple of years, hundreds of costly plots have been doled out to favourite bureaucrats in Islamabad only. Merit is being flouted in the matter of promotions and postings. There is no accountability at all. People have lost faith in the civil service of the country.
There is no respect for rule of law. Verdicts of the higher judiciary are being disregarded by the executive. Secretaries and senior officers do not attend meetings of parliamentary committees and Public Accounts Committee.
Precious lives are being lost in Karachi every day. The law enforcement agencies, including the police, are helpless against the killing spree and exploits of extortion mafia. Pakistan Airlines and Pakistan Railways are financially in mess. Mismanagement is the name of the game. Is not this collapse of the system?
Altaf Hussain, founder of MQM, has urged the people to form committees to protect life and property in Karachi during Muharram. This is a good idea but remember when vigilantes come, people’s revolution is not far behind.
ASGHAR MAHMOOD
Islamabad