Amidst the terror prone aura of the country, there is a definite need for preparations and arrangements in the event of an attempted attack; An idea which many institutions across the country have both invested in and explored. Perhaps the most notable, and simultaneously worrisome, addition to the list has been that of Lahore’s Allama Iqbal Medical College.
The prestigious government medical school filmed their own preparations for such attack in a video that was shared on the college’s official Facebook page. Perhaps the filming and posting was an attempt to spread awareness of how ‘prepared’ the college feels at the present, or to send the terrorists a message, one that details exactly how they plan on preventing their potential attack.
The video was promptly picked up by medical students’ meme pages on Facebook, where the preparations prior to the release were likened to a ‘mock shooting’ rather than training
Moreover, the video was dubbed with audio from the film ‘Raees’ and edited with other AIMC events and times the Principal of the school had spoken to the media.
The video itself does not only detail the arrangements they’ve made and the security organisations of the country that they plan, and might eventually need to be, coordinating with, but also features a pounding action-filmesque track that transforms the college space to an episode of ‘Homeland’.
The dramatic music ushers in the arrival of the Principal of the College, a character that is ever present in the video, who painstakingly watches over the security personnel and the person playing terrorist, one whom the Principal is obviously invisible to.
Shortly after the Principal registers his presence, the students are told to evacuate the vicinity, and to not be alarmed when armed forces enter the campus. The students’ cheery and sardonic expressions invite this decision.
A quick fade shifts the scene to the lecture complex where a masked gunman, who apparently can’t speak for himself, gets one of the college staff to voice his threat for him. This man, equipped with speaker phone threatens the college students, who now have their head down, to not lift their faces or be prepared to be fired upon.
Meanwhile, the dimensionless entity that is the Principal observes the spectacle whilst, security forces earnestly wait for their que of exactly four seconds (post announcement) to neutralize the terrorist.
The video then, showcases a montage of sorts which shuffles from neutralizing more terrorists, , rescue 1122 personnel saving lives and a staff member screaming ‘Bachao! Bachao! Jaldi ao!’, from the top his lungs, perfectly mimicking an actual emergency threat.
The video culminates with the Principal thanking all the security organisation involved and especially the SHO and Vice principal after promptly being reminded to do so on film.
Though security drills should, in all cases, be encouraged especially given the terror-prone climate of the nation, but to dramatise and film the effort that too with an absurd attention to the most trivial of details is in bad taste.