Shahbaz Taseer’s kidnapping (III)

KARACHI: If someone as privileged and affluent as Shahbaz Taseer is not safe from being kidnapped in a busy part of the country’s second-largest city in broad daylight, what chance to ordinary Pakistanis have? This is the second major incident of kidnapping to have happened in Lahore in the past couple of weeks. While some may say this is not the time for a blame game, surely some of the responsibility for acts such as these lies squarely on the shoulders of the Punjab government. In particular I would like to single out people like the Punjab law minister whose proclivities and affections for certain extremists and sectarian outfits are an open secret. Here’s hoping and praying that Salmaan Taseer’s son returns home safely.

Natasha Iqbal

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2011.