A violent mob was permitted to enter the capital and lay siege to the most sensitive part of the Red Zone
JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: What a coincidence that when Nawaz Sharif was scheduled to arrive in Washington to attend the fourth Nuclear Security Summit, he was chairing meetings in Islamabad on proposals to break the Islamabad siege. Whether you call it compromise or conniving at undesirable activity, a violent mob was permitted to enter the capital and lay siege to the most sensitive part of the Red Zone. The mob gave full opportunity to the outside world to finger-point the gaps in our nation’s security protocol. We ended up showing the world that we capitulate before the show of street power. We also showed them we enter into dialogue with hypocrites, who openly incite the crowd for violence against our prime minster, army chief, chief justice, and interior minister, and that we try to pacify these elements who lead the destruction of public and private property worth millions. All of this reinforces the suspicion that the infamous doctrine of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban is not yet dead; it’s very much there but portrayed differently.
I dare to ask few questions here: why was Mumtaz Qadri allowed to be buried in the proximity of Islamabad? His burial place has become a permanent security threat for the capital. Why was the warning issued by intelligence agencies on possible entry of mobs into Islamabad on Qadri’s chehlum ignored? Why did the police give safe passage to a violent crowd to enter Islamabad while destroying whatever it found in that 10 kilometre-long patch? Why didn’t law enforcement come into action, other than guarding a few vital buildings? What precedents did the crowd leave for the next sit-in is incite the crowd to violence and then enjoy the hospitality at the Punjab House and shine in the electronic media?
The protesters’ leaders say it was just a trailer and the full picture is yet to come. That’s why the Nuclear Security Summit may not be the final one; more to come, thanks to Pakistan’s compromises on security issues.
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, April 5th, 2016.
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