Most targeted killings are carried out by killers riding a motorbike
RAWALPINDI: “Two armymen killed”, read a news report on July 27. What is the big deal? It is just a routine matter. Not a day passes when someone is not killed here or there. Leaders pay the perfunctory lip service to the dead, attend a routine funeral prayer and announce some death toll for the family and then feel complacent to have done their jobs.
Most targeted killings are carried out by killers riding a motorbike. Even in this latest case, there were four of them on two motorbikes who escaped as usual, and will probably never be tracked down like scores of them before. It is a familiar occurrence that there are always two men riding together, one doing the shooting and the other riding the bike. Since a motorbike is a small, handy and extremely manoeuverable vehicle, the killers weave their way through the heavy traffic and easily vanish in nearby streets and alleys.
One wonders as to why such a simple fact is not understood by law-enforcing authorities and why pillion riding is not banned in cities where required. Since the rule would be hard on families, children under 12 and ladies without veils could be exempt from such a ban. Two male adults should not be allowed to ride on a motorbike together. This would cause uproar from commuters but at times, one has to take the bitter pill to eradicate a big menace.
Recalling pre-partition and even early days of Pakistan, ‘doubling’ even on a bicycle was an offence and strictly penalised. None raised any objection to it. My dear law-enforcing whiz-kids must ban pillion riding for good and save many families from becoming destitute. Life is much more important than the pillion riding convenience afforded to a few.
Colonel (retd) Riaz Jafri
Published in The Express Tribune, July 30th, 2016.
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