Hollow claims cannot stop terrorist attacks
In a skewed logic Rana Sanaullah has held the protesting chemists and druggists responsible for the tragic incident on Monday. As he put it, had there been no protest, the incident would not have occurred. The constitution allows aggrieved citizens to protest within the parameters of law while it is the government’s duty to provide security to the protesters. The government was forewarned about a possible attack in the vicinity of the Punjab Assembly. As the government failed to stop the attack despite the 8,000 CCTV cameras, the Integrated Command and Control Centre and a Dolphin Force, this only exposes the myth of the Safe City Project, indicating that something is seriously wrong with the security system in Lahore.
The Lahore traders have frequently called upon the government not to allow the protesters to converge on the Mall. Three months back Lahore High Court reprimanded high ranking government officials for allowing the protesters to block traffic for hours on the Mall thus disturbing the entire city traffic. The court called for a report from the Chief Minister also. Instead of carrying out the orders the government went into appeal and a division bench issued restraining orders against the decision till the next hearing which has yet to take place. There is a perception that the government has itself set up a bad tradition of accepting demands under pressure only rather than on the basis of their rationality. The pharmacists had the examples the successful protests of the organisations of the Young Doctors, LHVs, famers, and visually impaired persons. The government threatens the protesters, and if they refuse to be cowed down the government surrenders.
The administration could have stopped the pharmacists from converging on the Mall had it taken the warning by NACTA seriously. Hoping that the owners of the drugs outlets would fail to gather a large crowd and would feel disheartened and disperse, the government let them gather till the crowd became unmanageable. This provided an opportunity the terrorist network had been looking for.
When the nation elects dozens upon dozens of Rana Sanaullah's election after election, fully knowing what they are and how they have behaved in the past, so why grumble now, you are reaping the rewards of you own doing. When you remove the cause, its effect cannot take place, the cause of all Pakistan's ills is its electorate, hell bent upon electing crooks and brutes in each and every election..
Well said Mr Riaz Ahmad.
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