Terror in Lahore
Dawn Editorial
Monday, 29 May, 2010
If television crews can reach the scene of an attack before police reinforcements, what does that say about the administration’s state of preparedness? — Reuters Photo
Yet another attack in Lahore has killed scores of people and left over 100 injured. Poor security has plagued the city for a couple of years now. The same grim questions arise. Why were the attackers able to enter the premises so easily, especially at sites known to be targets? The Ahmadi community was commemorating the death anniversary of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad earlier this week, so surely more security was warranted for houses of prayer. More generally, reports from Lahore suggest that banners denouncing religions other than Islam had appeared in parts of the city recently. This should have in any case put the authorities on a heightened state of alert.
What have the Punjab police done to improve their operation procedures to respond to an attack? Yesterday, angry scenes at the assault sites were reminiscent of previous attacks in Lahore — ordinary, helpless people unable to understand why they the victims were left at the mercy of militants. If television crews can reach the scene of an attack before police reinforcements, what does that say about the administration’s state of preparedness?
There have been wholesale changes, summary dismissals and major reshuffles in most other departments of the Punjab government. But the police seem immune, despite their poor track record. Simply dismissing or suspending officers is obviously not enough, and in any case due process needs to be followed. The real question is: why this lax attitude towards the one department, the police, that is responsible for protecting the lives and property of the citizens of Lahore?
Finally, why is it that nothing ever seems to come of the arrests made, of the gunmen themselves but also their accomplices? Convictions secured in anti-terrorism courts are often overturned on appeal by the superior judiciary. Sometimes it’s the evidence that isn’t collected with care, other times statements are recorded improperly. Surely, the Punjab government — though this isn’t a problem confined to just this province — needs to at least provide some justice and closure to the victims and their families. Anyway you look at it, it’s a wretched picture, past, present and future.
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