Recognising our heroes

We think too little about our heroes: those who prevent bombers from striking and inflicting huge losses of life, choosing instead to give up their own to save others. In Rawalpindi, a police guard and two volunteers were killed while stopping a suicide bomber trying to enter an imambargah. Many more would have perished had the bomber succeeded in breaking through the police picket. Others are, of course, targeted simply because of the uniform they wear — such as the five troops killed on December 18 in North Waziristan when a truck laden with explosives was rammed into a check post where they were offering prayers. There have been many other similar acts of courage over the years from policemen and other personnel linked to agencies, as well as volunteers, which have acted to stop bombers from reaching their targets. We need to do more to hail these persons. Members of bomb disposal squads, at least ten of whom have died in recent years while defusing bombs, also rank among them.

While we are quick to criticise the police and other forces for failing to stop terrorism, we are too slow to note that a significant number of constables, guards and others have been killed while trying to prevent terrorist attacks. It is, of course, the lowest-ranking members of forces, those posted at barricades, gates and entry points, who most often die — and their lack of training, poor equipment and inferior protection make them especially helpless against such attacks. Little effort has been made to build the morale of these persons. We need to do that, as well as build their capacity. As we have seen most recently in Rawalpindi, they are central to saving lives. They deserve greater appreciation and acknowledgement as part of our overall effort to combat terrorism and all the horror it has brought to our lives. Without the sacrifice made by those posted to protect us, these horrors would have been even greater — the toll of lives across the country claimed by terror attacks would have been significantly higher.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2013.

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