KARACHI: Aftab Qureshi was an excellent doctor and an excellent human being. We are all deeply pained to see him go in such a barbaric manner. While doctors have been particularly victimised for sectarian, ethnic and financial reasons, every citizen of Karachi is vulnerable to kidnapping, theft, mugging and cold blooded murder from the moment he/she steps out of their house.
As educated citizens and professionals, we have not been fair to ourselves by resorting to reactive first-aid treatment to every such tragedy. We consider each killing as a one-time event and close our clinics for three days, hold condolence meetings, press conferences or give protest statements. For thousands of unknown innocent people who are robbed of their valuables every day by gun-toting bandits, we do not do even that.
On the other hand, the government does everything in its power to patronise and promote the citizens to take up arms. It has issued around two million licences with monthly quotas for each parliamentarian. Thus, we have become the only country in the world where the state is itself the chief patron and promoter of kidnapping, killing and lawlessness. Under these circumstances, unless all peaceful citizens leave this country, they would continue to be killed or looted by the patronised mafia, randomly, as well as chosen targets.
There is only one way to put an end to this suicidal course: eliminate the root cause. Can citizens, doctors, professionals and the civil society organisations, regardless of their other differences, not agree on one basic issue: That no citizen, regardless of his rank or status, rich or poor, religious or secular must be allowed to possess, carry or display any weapon of any bore — licensed or otherwise. Providing security is the responsibility of the state, and it must not be sublet to private armies. We demand cancellation of all gun licences issued so far and a complete withdrawal of all weapons. Also we should not vote for any political party that has militant wings or is not willing to publicly announce that it will de-weaponise Pakistan.
Unless we all agree and organise ourselves on this one-point agenda, we would continue to await our turn as the next possible victim to be killed, kidnapped or looted.
Naeem Sadiq
Published in The Express Tribune, June 5th, 2012.
