What we sadly have seen is that the initiative rests with terrorists because of the mediocrity of the security forces.
LAHORE: A lone, allegedly deranged man and his wife, intercepted by the traffic police at the 7th Avenue, managed to sneak through numerous check posts, were finally confined to the Jinnah Avenue, where they became the centre of attention through irresponsible 24/7 media coverage and an incompetent police unable to bring this drama to an end for over five hours. While this episode exposed the incompetence of the police, the executive and civil bureaucracy, it also sadly opened our eyes to the role of the media, which having gained independence, has failed to behave with maturity and succumbed to this madness dictated by ratings and an insatiable greed for advertisements.
After the 9/11 episode, the independent media in the US and the rest of civilised, democratic world have more or less adhered to a moral code of ethics, where they have restrained themselves from live telecast of acts of terrorism, preventing terrorist groups monitoring these live telecasts from planning evasive measures to defeat the security apparatus’s plans for surprise measures necessary to meet the situation. The other very evident lapse was the failure of law enforcement agencies to cordon off the area, allowing families, etc. to gather there as if there was a circus going on. This is the same Islamabad police, which like their counterparts in other cities of Pakistan, would not allow even a sparrow, let alone a crowd of people, when a VVIP is passing by. The terrorist threat Pakistan faces demands a responsible well-trained security force, fully versed and equipped with the latest technology, weaponry and surveillance equipment with standard operating procedures in place to take evasive measures on the spot immediately, instead of seeking directives from higher-ups.
What we sadly have seen is that the initiative rests with terrorists because of the mediocrity of the security forces, in most instances. What if the gunman and his wife were part of a well-coordinated terrorist attack, and our media, motivated by ratings, was providing them a live telecast feedback to help them plan actions needed to counter those taken by law-enforcement agencies? The unfortunate reality is that there is enough funding available to procure more than the needed number of bullet-proof limousines fitted with jammers, executive jets, etc. for our VVIPS, but no funds to equip our security forces with basic tools to protect citizens from the dangers of frequent terrorist attacks.
Malik Tariq Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2013.
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