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Prado power: Licence to abuse

Prado power: Licence to abuse

A gang of thugs beat up an innocent man just because they happened to have big cars and armed guards.

Neha Ansari November 21, 2010

My friend’s brother, Saad, was driving back home from work on Shahrae Faisal when a car behind him honked frantically to get ahead. Even though Saad was in the fast lane, he was apparently not fast enough for the Prado on his tail.

He took a little time to slow down and moved into the next lane to give the impatient driver some room.

Instead of just driving by, or perhaps offering a subtle note of gratitude, which we rarely witness on the road, the Prado sped ahead and swerved sharply in front of him.

Four boys, maybe in their late teens or early twenties, got out of the tinted black Prado, accompanied by two armed guards. They forced Saad out of the car and one can only imagine what ensued – Saad was hospitalised for three weeks.

Here, all logic and reason becomes irrelevant and somewhat useless. Logic asks why and how. Why did these four thugs beat up an innocent man and how did they get away with it? However, I am left with nothing but the sound of silence.

How was Saad at fault? Or my aunt, who was recently driving her children, her nephew and nieces back home from a mehndi? Yes, it was late. But did that give another fortress of a car the right to follow her around and harass her and the children for 30 minutes, if not more?

No. It does not.

What’s sad is that the perpetrators of such hooliganism are meant to be the so-called educated lot in our society. These boys probably study in elite private schools or perhaps in universities abroad.

Since when did having guards and a luxury car give one the licence to do whatever they pleased? Obviously, they have the guards and the car because they have a politically influential relative. But when will such people realise that such things do not justify a sense of entitlement?

Until then we – the people who have not fallen victim to this savagery – stand as helpless as Saad and my aunt. We can’t even join ‘em to beat ‘em.

WRITTEN BY:
Neha Ansari A sub-editor on the Karachi pages of The Express Tribune

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (55)

Ahmed Khan | 13 years ago | Reply Also, we have been on serious decline on the scale of morality, ethics and spirituality!

Ahmed Khan | 13 years ago | Reply @Liaquat Ali: That is very true..PPPs revenge via democracy..

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Abbas Bhai | 13 years ago | Reply ** obviously it did not happen without a reason........... your friend saad might have had done something.........(gestures or something) lets just say i was very close to your friend saad when it happend,,,very close indeed... **

Syed Ali | 13 years ago | Reply The Saad incident mentioned in the blog reminds me of another incident which had happened with my uncle. This dates back to the 1990's. My uncle who was driving his car on Ferozepur Road, Lahore, slowed down and then stopped at a place of congestion and let an old lady cross in front of him. Lo behold! the wrath of a Chaudhry sahib, who was in his Pajero (remember the good old days when there was only Pajero and no Prados and others of its ilk were to be seen on the roads) which was behind my uncle's car, was more than apparent when he had to stop and step down of his Pajero alongwith his Kalishinkov. He blurted the question to my uncle that why did he stop the car and my uncle replied to it to let the old lady cross the road. Came the second question more angrily, "Was she your mother that you stopped the car for her?". This time my uncle replied that she was my mother's age so she was like a mother to me. On hearing this the man straightened his Kalishinkov so that he could point it towards my uncle but luckily for my uncle, a fellow passenger of Chaudhry was listening to all this talk, intervened and requested the Chaudhry to let it go. My uncle would say to me that most probably the "dua" of that old lady saved him that day. This being 21st century, it looks like that instead of things getting better they have taken a turn for the worse specially when you start to hear these sort of things happening on the roads of Islamabad and the culpurits being all "well-educated". But I guess these culpurits are definitely literate but not educated.

Maqsood Kayani | 13 years ago | Reply "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". This maxim is nowhere more true than in Pakistan. Although it appears to be exclusively a third world syndrome, it also occurs frequently in the first-world western countries. Only, there it is known as "Road-Rage", in which one reacts when one's rights are infringed upon. For us Pakistani 3rd-worlders it is different. Here the "Prado-Culture" denotes the class-divide i.e. the rulers, Jiyalas and Mutvalas are above the law and the Ghareeb-Awaam have to abide by it. I suggest that the General-Public a.k.a. Ghareeb-Awaam, who are at the receiving end of the "Thugs-In-Prados", should form "Vigilante-Squads". Whenever and wherever a Ghareeb-Awaam is being thrashed by Thug-In-Prado, the Vigilante-Squad should be summoned who should bash the Thugs-In-Prado's heads in. Good Riddance !!! Pakistan Zindahbaad.

Zeeshan Qazi | 13 years ago | Reply As we all know, this culture has spread rigth from the top and now its a custom in our 'land of the pure' that: "In Pakistan, as soon as one gets any power (however trivial), the urge display it necessitates violation of law (as its only meant for commoners). Among other means, this includes black tinted windows, fancy number plates (or plates displaying political affiliations), violation of traffic laws and mistreatments of masses. Needless to say such behaviour stems out from the economic and moral Corruptions (haram ka paisa) which these so called powerful lay pride in! Corruption unfortunately is nothing to be proud of (this value is missing now a days as ppl r respected due to their possessions and not their manners). Still believe all this can be corrected within no time only if the man at the top is sincere n honest. But then alas! this is too much of an asking...

Talat | 13 years ago | Reply @Danish, what, you thought we are having a serious discussion? @Sahar, "take your car, give u a suzuki as well" what if i don't have one of my own....i want to reiterate my question, do u people in fact believe that it happened....I doubt it...

Danish S. | 13 years ago | Reply I don't understand why so many of you guys are ranting against Prado? Its just a car, its the people who drive it who are responsible in this incident. Even if you ban all luxury vehicles (which is the most ridiculous suggestion I've ever heard in my life), the guy who acted like a jerk in Prado will still act like a jerk driving a Mehran! Its the armed guards that we need to ban not the vehicle!

Anonymous | 13 years ago | Reply Shameless pathetic people.im never buying a prado no matter how rich i get :P ths is a sad incident.its incidents like these that make us Pakistanis so scared to raise our voice.There is no freedom in this country.u r a slave to these Khappays and GA bla blas forever.We need humans here.Its high time real human leaders led this country. God bless Pakistan.

Erfan | 13 years ago | Reply Prado is notorious for these activities. I remember once in Ramadan a motorbike hit a prado from behind I guess but I came late and this guy took the bike guy from Collar and beat the crap out of him and all the other bike people were standing and watching. This happened on the main road of Bahadurabad entering Tariq Road (Qubee Outlet). I felt bad for him and as all the other people I didn't stop him from beating that guy. I regret that

Saad Durrani | 13 years ago | Reply @Sahar: I think you read my answer to Sarah. I did reply yours above that. To bring equality, we need to bring some equality in our material possessions as well.

Sahar | 13 years ago | Reply I do wish there was a "flag for spam" button though.

Sahar | 13 years ago | Reply @Saad I noticed you shared the link to your blog a few times in this thread. If I was interested I would have clicked on it the first time i saw it. I do agree that the parents are to blame, and then their children as well when they grow up into young adults and become responsible for their own actions. However, blaming the car or asking for a certain model of a car to be banned is ridiculous and counter-productive. @Talat- sure, giving a mehran to all the people in Pk who dont have any car at all would be great. But how bout I take your car away and give you a suzuki as well? And btw you're banned for life from having any other model. Happy?

Saad Durrani | 13 years ago | Reply @Sarah: LOL. That last sentence of yours made my day. You should read my novel theboulevards.posterous.com There is a problem with parenting though. Parents exchange their positions with money. They have a formula Child + Money = Happy Child

Saad Durrani | 13 years ago | Reply @Sahar: Yes. There was a quite a discipline in Karachi. the traffic police started to make people wait on the signals and they asked people to respect Zebra Crossings. There were less political association going on. Like it or not, there was a positive change back then until this hoard of clowns and crooks came to the rule. I am not saying it was utopia but it was good till it lasted. Nowadays, everyone is such hurry.

Talat | 13 years ago | Reply Sahar, you can not advocate communism on the basis of some incident which might not have even happened n if communism means mehran to every citizen, I am up for it.

Talat | 13 years ago | Reply Is it a true incident. As a citizen of Pakistan, I now find it hard to even believe the media people.

Sarah | 13 years ago | Reply i meant. NOW extinct

Sarah | 13 years ago | Reply Nadir's right, this has ALWAYS been the case just perhaps more noticeable with the excess coming about of Prados the political upper crust of society is neither educated nor will ever have the decency DNA. problem with today's generation is the parents. way too lenient on this generation of miscreants those polished few are not extinct "ohhh bacha, you got a D in Maths! GOOOD JOB. Here's a PRADO and an AK47, GO NUTS"

Danish S. | 13 years ago | Reply We get to see and hear these kinds of horrid stories all the time because Jinnah's Pakistan is not how he envisaged it. His first order after the creation of Pakistan was to provide Law and Order to the citizens. Its been 63 years and we're yet to see law and order prevail in this land of the pure. Unless our govt., be it democratic or dictatorial, puts law and order as its top priority, nothing can be or will be changed.

Sahar | 13 years ago | Reply If you thought people in pakistan were disciplined two years back, i dont know which pakistan you've been living in. they should be banned on the road? as opposed to where else? the ocean? even if you wrote an article against the car instead of just a rant, you'd be hard pressed to find people who are swayed. lets just ban all cars except suzuki mehrans. maybe then the mindset of the nation will be collectively humbled as an immediate result and everyone will start to behave. because communism is the answer.

Saad Durrani | 13 years ago | Reply @Syed Nadir El-Edroos: Well, the attitudes were better some 2 years back. The people in the city started to behave like humans and then it was all a mess. Pakistan was a bit more disciplined, not its free for all.

Saad Durrani | 13 years ago | Reply @Syed Nadir El-Edroos: @Sahar: Well, on the road yes. Bigger cars make bigger egos and I was lazy to type a bigger rant.

Syed Nadir El-Edroos | 13 years ago | Reply To everyone claiming that "demoracy" has something to do with this...do you all really thing that such behaviour began over the previous 2 years?

Sahar | 13 years ago | Reply and another thing- why do people think banning things is the solution to everything?

Sahar | 13 years ago | Reply @Saad Durrani- you seriously think the CAR is the problem? Massive eye roll.

Amer | 13 years ago | Reply Khappay Khappay Prado Khappay!

Saad Durrani | 13 years ago | Reply The gift of Democracy Over the years, the attitudes have changed in Pakistan especially in the last two years. Halt the import of these cars indefinitely.

Bilal | 13 years ago | Reply Some retired air force officer shared his part of story at dawn, He wrote that Some teenager (who was driving land cruiser with Dubai number plate) with guard had beaten that officer and his son,,. That guy also called the police who joined him to beat that officer. Officer sadly said if there was not any respect for retired officer, what can be expected for an ordinary man. He raised the question that why the Land cruiser with Dubai number plate was travelling in Karachi? and why police joined the guy to beat officer and son. Surprisingly, After couple of weeks, the Chief Justice took notice of the letter and gave orders to strictly ban the cars with other number plates than Pakistan.

Saad Durrani | 13 years ago | Reply And I thought I was being dramatic with my fiction blog theboulevards.posterous.com A very same incident happened to a retired Air Marshall. This is what Sadaf tried to highlight a week back in her blog post.

Ahmed Ilyas | 13 years ago | Reply Most of the time if you see the people who break traffic signal and beat people on the street...they have green or blue number plates..

qiyounet | 13 years ago | Reply Written opinions too you, the top you, good blog, worthy of collection and the like, I will always come later, thanks for sharing

Muhammad Adnan Khan Qadri | 13 years ago | Reply i witnessed the same incident when four guys came out of a black Hummer at nazimabad bridge and started to beat an alone office guy after pulling him from his alto. I just can't express my anger and feeling of insecurity. And yes all this was done by some elites probably members of the family of a political figure. Salute to the lame Democracy!

miks | 13 years ago | Reply This problem has gotten a lot worse since the PPP have been in power. Suddenly a massive proliferation of white jeeps with dark tints, many of them with PPP flags. Most often these jeeps have police guards following. Landlords with political backing on a power trip. Sick

Amina Ansari | 13 years ago | Reply OMG, my TAXES paid for the Prado

MAD | 13 years ago | Reply @Hasan: I sense you're are part of the Prado brigade then. Yes I drive slow is that a crime. I do remember being verbally abused by a couple of guys in a similar vehicle a couple of years back incidentally near Bilawal House because I took too long making a U turn 9I was waiting for the incoming vehicles to pass by). this was shortly after the present government came into power (all pun intended)

MAD | 13 years ago | Reply I do tremember a recent incident when I erfuse to move over for a car simply because of the pointless honking and high beam despite being stuck in a traffic jam. eventually I noticed that the car had green GH (Governor House) plates. I consider that a lucky escape.

Hassan | 13 years ago | Reply Till the time we dont collect and raise our voice against these people nothing will change, the police and the law enforcement are a mirror to the society they protect. I understand the frustration that most feel but dont understand the helplessness expressed by everyone above me.

Ali Haider | 13 years ago | Reply The same people when driving in the US or UK obey all traffic laws. They can not even dare to think about doing anything there becaue of one and only one reason: justice. They will get their a-- kicked if they do it. Also, this has nothing to do with PPP govt. We have been like this since ages now. It is almost obvious that these are some rich, uneducated (even though they may be studying in schools abroad), and frustrated kids on the loose. They deserve the same treatment next time around. I hope saad gets better soon.

Hasan | 13 years ago | Reply There are always two sides to a story and even here, I am sure, Saad must have done something more than just 'that' to annoy those spolied brats.

Deen Sheikh | 13 years ago | Reply I agree with Nadir El Edroos, for such Prado Brats, these events are just everyday war stories, they share in their living rooms when they are not out and about creating road chaos.

Waqqas Iftikhar | 13 years ago | Reply Pakistan Peoples' party - P for prado - make the connexion

Yousaf | 13 years ago | Reply These are the cancers of our society, better avoid them, if you can not, beat them. I am not in Pakistan so don't know much about this but I am sure I would have had a fight these society moles.

Shahryar Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply Well, we wanted democracy & that’s exactly what we got! The politicians were crying democracy, but there was democracy during Musharraf’s time. There was an elected government which was running the affairs far better than now. All these politicians were dying for coming into power so that they could make more money! She gave her life not for the people, but for money & power!

Omar | 13 years ago | Reply Power has gotten to the minds of our politicians and their relatives. They don't seem to know that with greater power comes greater responsibility. Instead, they seem to know that with greater power, comes greater irresponsibility. The poor fella was not at fault, not at all. But he still is lucky that someone wrote about what happened to him. There are hundreds of thousands out there who do not have anyone to write about them ...

Sahar | 13 years ago | Reply This has been happening for years now. Stories like this are a time a dozen. Wish they were still shocking.

Sana Saleem | 13 years ago | Reply This is all not so easy and even possible if the police is aware of its duties. But all problem lies with the police. It is least interested to participate in keeping peace in the city.Its a game of money and the police are sold !

Talha | 13 years ago | Reply Fact: Pakistani men are the most insecure, complex and incompetent in the planet. What else do you expect?

Rado Prado | 13 years ago | Reply In the land of the Pure, in a country run by the hooligans driving their cars with no number plates and simply a sign saying PPP is enough reason to call Pakistan a failed state.

Tanzeel | 13 years ago | Reply Welcome to Pakistan

Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply You are very right, and deserve the creidt for highliting such matter, in times like these there are other issues of apparently more improtant and critical, but this problem which apparently many would regard as minor reflects on our overall character as a nation. Such episodes in one form or the other happens with all of us in our daily life, may this be driving habits, car parking, behaving in bazaars we have broken all records of misbehaving. And something which to me is most alarming that we generally have started keeping quiet about such things. God may help us.

parvez | 13 years ago | Reply Its good you brought this up. What happened to poor Saad is a reflection of what is happening to the poor people of this country on a daily basis, and just like Saad they are helpless.

Sarah B. Haider | 13 years ago | Reply Glad you voiced it Neha. But the problem is not confined to teenage or the young lot. Grown up men are not lagging behind either. The worst happens with pedestrian females who are not privileged to travel in a car, are harassed on the road every now and then. As soon as you are out to cross the road, people increase their speed so that they can speed by the ladies. What if they die in an accident? People don't care as long as the woman is not their own family member and they are 'forced' to respect them. Others' daughters and sisters are nothing but muft ka maal for them. Sometimes they pass remarks, and sometime blow horns and some even touch them. I had literally seen a man spitting pan on a girl's Kameez while she was crossing the road. And this man in his late 40's was driving a brand new Lexus. Just imagine the humiliation she had to go through. This nation is surely inhabited by few human beings, and outnumbered by animals. Sad but true.

Syed Nadir El-Edroos | 13 years ago | Reply Yes, I am sure those same people must be really proud of themselves! trading war stories when they get back home on how they did this or that and got away with it!

Liaquat Ali | 13 years ago | Reply Enjoy the PPP's democratic rule!

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