What a coincidence, when Nawaz Sharif was scheduled to arrive in Washington to attend the fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit, he was chairing meetings in Islamabad on proposals to break the Islamabad’s siege. Whether you call it compromise or complicity in crime — a violent mob was permitted to enter the capital and lay siege around the most sensitive part of the Red Zone. Mob gave full opportunity to the outside world to finger point the gaps in our nation’ security protocol. And what we ended in showing the world — we negotiate with goons whose profanity-laced speeches and slogans can’t be watched even on social media, let alone on electronic media, we enter into dialogue with so-called religious leaders who openly incite the crowd for violence against prime minster, army chief, chief justice, interior minister, we tried to pacify those characters who proudly lead destruction of public and private property worth of tens of millions. It reinforces the suspicion that the infamous doctrine of good and bad Taliban is not yet dead; it’s very much here but portrayed differently.
May I dare ask few questions? Why Mumtaz Qadri (MQ) was allowed to be buried in the proximity of Islamabad; his burial place has become a permanent security threat for the capital; why the warning issued by intelligence agencies on possible entry of mob in Islamabad on MQ chehlum were ignored; why police and Rangers gave safe passage to a violent crowd to enter Islamabad while destroying whatever it found in that 10 KM long patch; why LEAs didn’t come into action other than guarding few vital buildings; what precedents the crowd left for the next sit-in: use obscene and profanatory language, incite and charge the crowd for violence and then enjoy the hospitality in Punjab House and shine in the electronic media?
Religious leaders say it was just a trailer, full picture yet to come. That’s why the Nuclear Security Summit may not be final one; more to come, thanks to our compromises on security issues.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arabia