Who watches the watchmen?
Five years after PML-N promised transparency, progress and improvement, the country is gearing up for another general election. There is no progress in eliminating load-shedding (the promises made were dismissed as a spur of the moment, off-script emotional declaration), transparency is apparently only acceptable when demanded of and not by the opposition (or the judiciary — as the government hems and haws over the LHC’s order to make the Model Town report public), and the police force is either sporting new duds (Punjab’s camouflage uniform) or aiding and abetting terrorists and high profile criminals.
So much for improvement.
This should shock the civil society and parliamentarians into calling for an intense inquiry into the incident and strict punishment of those involved. The striking incident is an explicit example of the lack of training, standard operational procedures and accountability in the police force with cases now registered against more than 10 officials. But what is truly hair raising is that it implies what many have feared as Pakistan grew further embroiled in the war on terrorism: an increase in the influence of religious extremism in the people charged with defending both the law and Pakistan’s citizens. If we can’t trust our guardians — who do we trust?
