On Thursday, while Maryam Nawaz was on her way to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, her motorcade met in an accident with a motorcyclist who was coming from the opposite direction. Abu Bakar, the motorcyclist, succumbed to the injuries and died on the spot.

While an FIR has been registered against the unidentified driver of the police vehicle, the opponents of the current government, the PTI, are leveraging this tragic event to serve their own political agendas. In response to the incident, calls for a judicial inquiry were made by Rana Lal Badshah, a former president of the District Bar Association and a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

This is not the first time an incident like this has taken place. Roadside accidents are one of the leading causes of death in the country. There is no doubt about how tragic this loss is for the family of the deceased but to use this incident for publicity is well beyond contemptuous. Sensationalising such events for political purposes is all part of dirty politics that must be avoided in such a scenario.

It must be realised that such unfortunate events are not deliberate acts on the part of the individuals involved. Rather than approaching the situation with empathy for the bereaved family, it is quite disrespectful to the family of the deceased with the way Rana Lal Badshah called for a judicial inquiry into the case. It is important to seek justice and hold people accountable for their actions, but the nature and magnitude of Rana’s demands seem disproportionate to the incident itself. PTI must refrain from exploiting this tragedy for political mileage as this demand merely gives the impression that it is not interested in genuinely seeking justice for the victim.

The focus, must, therefore, remain on supporting the affected families. It is important for the state to ensure that their pain is not turned into a political spectacle. Road safety measures should be enforced and seeking justice for the family must be carried out in a way that does not overshadow the genuine grief of the families that have been affected.