Major upcoming events are postponed and the business community seems to be suffering a great deal
These incidents not only disrupt the normal life of the people, but the economic and trading activities as well. The idea of investing in a country plagued by terrorism is alarming to outside investors
Terrorism in Pakistan has been a major issue in recent years. Along with these terror attack, the state has clearly failed to ensure basic human rights to the people of Pakistan, sometimes playing a central role in these violations, damaging basic infrastructure and economic opportunities.
Common citizens live in a state of constant fear, and the denial of the state to acknowledge these issues adds fire to the flame.The inability of military and state to take control of the situation has taken thousands of lives; and the most common word used for us ‘scapegoats’ is martyrs, which is clearly diverting the attention of people from the real issues.
These incidents not only disrupt the normal life of the people, but the economic and trading activities as well. The idea of investing in a country plagued by terrorism is alarming to outside investors. It creates a commotion in the production cycle, which causes a delay in meeting export orders around the world.
This further creates uncertainty, reduces confidence and increases risk perceptions among investors; which then leads to lower rates of investment and lower economic growth in the country. Thus, the Pakistani market ends up losing its market share to competitors.
Furthermore, cancellation of certain annual events that take place in the major cities of the country, including Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi also adds to the national exchequer. Among the upcoming festivals, Lahore Eat 2017 has been postponed twice due to security threats, whereas Lahore Literary Festival 2017 (LLF) is set to take place in the coming week.
The occurrence of these terror incidents does not only put at stake the lives of innocent people, but also the money and time involved in organising and financing such events.
It’s not only the city or the people involved in such events face loss, but the entire country.
“On a daily basis the country suffers a loss of around Rs100 billion,” said All Pakistan Traders Association (APTA) President Khalid Latif while talking to DNA.
“Lahore being the hub of events faces a loss of Rs15 billion alone.”
Moreover, the APTA president said the federal capital Islamabad faces a loss of around Rs40 billion in the aftermath of a terror attack; which is not a small amount for businesses.
For events like LLF, during which international delegates are to visit the country, the fallout of these terror attacks compromises the security of delegates along with the citizens.
DNA tried contacting the management of LLF to know what security measures have been taken from their end, but no one was available to comment on the topic.
The effect on the economy of the country is huge as investors are now uncertain whether to invest in the country or not.
The nation should stand united and make sure that the people don’t give in to the threats of the terrorists. Life must go on
“People have started investing abroad and there is nothing that the business community can do about it, unless the government or the military acts upon preventing such incidents in the future,” Khalid said.
In addition to this, the fallout of these terror attacks on annual events is also one of the major losses for the economy.
The organisers of the Eat festivals, who recently held a successful event in Karachi; ‘Karachi Eat 2017’ and were all set to organise the ‘Lahore Eat 2017’ festival this weekend, have had to postpone for a second time.
While talking to DNA, the organisers CKO Architectures and Latitude CRS said, “As a consequence of the recent attack, the most immediate effect has been the postponement of the event, yet again.”
“We’re currently in consultation with the authorities to determine the best and safest way to move forward,” they said.
Due to unforeseen circumstances and an earlier red alert issued by the government, they have been forced to postpone for the second time.
Earlier, the government did send a heads up to the organisers about a threat alert for Lahore and advised them to hold back the event.
Taking their recommendation the event was postponed by one week. Following the Lahore attack, the event has been postponed until the organisers get further clearance from the government.
The myth is that public events with a huge crowd are open to such attacks, the solution to this is never to lock oneself, but to make sure the government and security officials take appropriate preventive measures.
“The target of the Lahore attack was actually not ‘soft’; the terrorists managed to breach one of the most important areas in the city, right in front of the Punjab Assembly, and actually targeted the police,” said the Eat festival organisers.
“The purpose of the Eat food festivals is to inspire hope. The Karachi Eat festival became iconic precisely for this reason: that it took on the role of a cause, the cause of reclaiming our public spaces and not giving into fear,” the organisers added.
What should be done?
For events like the Eat festivals, where a large crowd is expected the organisers should make sure that the security measures are extremely stringent.
“We will provide private security, cameras, metal detectors, etc. However, the real security is backed by the intelligence agencies with the police on board fully,” the Eat festival organisers said.
We also partner with the city district government to provide us foolproof security, work closely with the Punjab police, traffic police,” they said.
They further added that if such an attack happens in the future, the organisers will be working with 1122, as well as the Punjab Police, Fire Department, and Quick Response Force.
While it is the job of the state to provide full security to each individual, as responsible citizens we leave nothing to chance. We are confident in the security measures we already have in place.
Adding to that Khalid Latif said that if the nation doesn’t act upon such attacks right now, then the economy of the country will have no future.
“Operation Zarb-e-Azb will be a failure and we will be back where we first started,” he said.
The effect on such events in the future
The nation should stand united and make sure that the people don’t give in to the threats of the terrorists. Life must go on.
The purpose of such terror attacks is to make the people of Pakistan scared.
“We strongly believe that the best and only way to counter terror is to continue to live our lives without fear – having taken every conceivable precaution,” said representatives of CKO Architecture and Latitude CRS.
In light of the recent attacks in the past week, the need to work together with the law enforcement authorities and security agencies is a must to ensure the success of the economy, businesses and events in the future.