A group photograph of 9 people has been published, showing CM Punjab receiving the report on the Murree tragedy, in which officially 23 citizens lost their lives because of the callous disregard to the safety of citizens and criminal negligence of those hired by the state to protect their lives. This should have been a sombre occasion, not an occasion to be publicized, with few members smiling, in utter disregard for the sentiments of those who lost their kith and kin.
A nation-state is defined as a geographically contiguous region, in which citizens with diverse ethnicities and even faiths may live. Institutions are created, funded by taxpayers to serve and protect them.
This criminal negligence by the paid servants of the state in Murree should have been considered a culpable homicide, worthy of stricter punishment, then mere suspension of service, with full pay, only to be rehabilitated later with different posting. Why should the life of an ordinary citizen not matter to the state and the powers that be?
There seems to be one law for the rich and powerful and another for the vast majority of citizens. The 25 December 2012 murder of Shahzeb Khan by Shahrukh Jatoi and Siraj Talpur and the manner in which the trial was conducted and the murderers passing their prison sentence is a sad reflection on the decadent system.
We have witnessed callous disregard in the January 2019 Sahiwal incident in which a couple, their neighbour and a teenage daughter were brutally killed in broad daylight. There are numerous such shameful incidents. The trial of Noor Muqaddam murder is another case of interest.
MALIK TARIQ ALI,
Lahore.