And a paralysed government
Sadly, it is not really surprising that Dr Shakeel Afridi’s former lawyer, Samiullah Afridi, was finally gunned down while the government watched from its usual distant window. He had been receiving death threats for a long time. That, in fact, was what prompted him to distance himself from the case. And according to reports, he had informed the government about threats to his life. But with no help, or official security, forthcoming, he left the country for a while, before returning to a gruesome, though unfortunately expected, murder.
While it is investigated exactly which faction of the Taliban carried out this ‘hit’ – more than one claim has come up – the message is pretty clear. Unable to reach the imprisoned doctor himself, one of the spokesmen explained, the Taliban simply decided to take out the ex-lawyer in return for “Sheikh Osama”. And, of course, it’s not like this was an isolated incident. Just as Samiullah breathed his last in Peshawar, two lady health workers and a police guard were killed in Mansehra, because they were administering polio vaccine to infants in the area. Their killings take the number of polio killings, since Dec ’12, to 71. And what has the government done about all this? Yes, there have been tall promises, also the provision of a little extra security, but what about that national narrative that is so essential in facing a brainwashed enemy.
Consider these killings in the wider context – bombings of imambargahs and churches – and the government’s paralysis becomes more apparent. What, then, of the National Action Plan (NAP) that was supposed to bring the official machinery together after the Peshawar tragedy? In the present situation, the government is not providing adequate security to civilians at the forefront of the war against terrorism. True, the army’s brave soldiers are at the centre of this existential war. But doctors, lawyers, journalists and worshippers who must operate at other front-lines of this fight must also be protected. The lawyer’s killing will not only deter others in the profession, but also give the doctor, fearing similar fate even in jail, a chance to flee. And the polio attacks means Pakistan will remain one of the three countries in the world where the virus remains endemic. Unless the government wakes up immediately, this fight will slip out of control.
