Another important element that has been ignored over the past years has been that of entertainment avenues available to the general public. Many reasons can be listed for this but lack of development is among the top few reasons, if one starts enumerating. No playgrounds for children, no parks for family events, no cinemas for good movies, no public libraries for those who are keen on reading and no clubs to manifest the creative potential in this country. All this has been compounded by a culture of extremism.
It started not very long ago but now this lack of interest in entertainment avenues is quite widespread. So much so, that people are now forced to seek thrill out of odd events. This was displayed by the Sikandar saga on August 15, when a person barged into the red zone of Islamabad, brandishing submachine guns. People of the city left their important tasks and gathered at the venue with their loved ones, as if there to witness the shooting of an action thriller movie — displaying total disregard for people’s lives.
Leave aside whatever the motives of the individual were, many facets of society and the authorities were revealed that day. To make matters worse, the media blew the incident out of proportion. We were saved from a longer telethon than we were already subjected to when the drama concluded in just five hours.
The authorities were, it seems, numb at the event and could not even disperse people from the scene. We must learn to act in a socially-responsible manner. God forbid, had Sikandar emptied his guns on the innocent and unarmed citizens, one can only imagine the extent of the tragedy that could have taken place. The media should educate the public, teach it to stay away from such happenings and not participate as bystanders, to avoid potential risks.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 26th, 2013.
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