Some people attacked the members of civil society who had gathered at Liberty Chowk to mark Taseer’s fourth death anniversary in Lahore on January 4. PHOTO:NNI
Despite the fact that the attack had been witnessed by the police, they were reluctant to register a case immediately. Civil society stood its ground, and rightly so, and belatedly on January 5, the Gulberg police filed an FIR against suspected attackers, with 35 men having been taken into custody, including several who were seen to be involved in the attack. There is a report that the majority of the men arrested belong to a banned organisation. There has been a commemorative event for Mr Taseer every year since his death but this is the first time it has been attacked.
While the eventual arrest of the suspected culprits is highly welcome, the initial tardiness of the police indicates where their sympathies lie, and it is most certainly not with those who were holding a peaceful vigil for a man murdered in cold blood. Civil society activists in the wake of the Peshawar massacre are beginning to show some grit and determination in support of their many causes. The protests at the Lal Masjid were similarly treated with some contempt by the police, who only acted to file an FIR when pressed to do so. The FIR in Lahore was only registered after civil society activists took their complaints directly to the police. We hope that the police follow through and that there is an early — and successful — prosecution.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2015.
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This concept of FIR needs to be updated. An FIR makes sense when a crime has been committed and the victim or other approaches the police to register a case.
But in a scenario, where the police is "watching" a crime taking place in front of them, their job should be to stop the crime and arrest the criminals, not wait for an FIR! We've seen the police fail to do this in model town, Faisalabad and now Lahore.
On one hand, you can't blame the low paid cop...he's afraid of arresting the "wrong" person and getting fired. So we come back to the same issue: police reforms.
Agreed with Rahul. When whole nation has abdicated its responsibility then why to blame police. Better reform the mind set of masses. Without it nothing will improve. All small acts will remain cosmetic steps.
My same spoken Language and my local belonging is above any other social or humanistic issue what so ever! I support my people than from "Outsiders"! That's exactly why I could not reject TTP yet!
The way Taseer murder was handled was shameful. And then there were lawers who treated the killler as a hero. Justice was slow and many I know thought it was Taseer's fault for Condeming blasphey law. There were many like IK who said it BB's own fault that she died. It appears many such people are to blame if terrorism has not been eradicated. We became united when children were killed, but other than that many judge events depending on who is being targeted. It is like saying killing my friends is bad, but murdering those whom I oppose is tolerable. If that mentality does not change, be ready for a lot more deaths.
Why should the police risk their lives when the entire society has abdicated its responsibility. Did the government stand behind Salman Taseer? Did the Judges stand behind Salman Taseer? Did the military stand behind Salman Taseer? No, it is only the low paid cop who is the scapegoat.