The ever-present scourge of violence hit Rawalpindi on Friday when clashes between two groups turned deadly, killing eight people and injuring dozens more. Details are hazy in the fog of violence. The violence soon spread to many other parts of the city. The situation got so out of hand that the hapless law-enforcement agencies could do nothing to stop it and a 24-hour curfew was imposed in Rawalpindi. That a curfew was needed, and that too in one of the country’s biggest cities and the military’s headquarters, only goes to show how impotent the government is when faced with violence of this kind. It is not as if violence wasn’t expected on Ashura which has, sadly, become a time when the danger of bloodshed lurks everywhere as people go about their rituals uncertain of their own security. So it should not be a surprise that things quickly got heated. This is where the police should have been prepared to step in and take charge of the situation. Instead they retreated and only imposed a curfew, bringing life to a halt. The army had to be called in but even that did little to quell the violence.
Law Minister Rana Sanaullah has ordered an investigation into the incident and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has also directed Punjab Chief Minister to do the needful, but the history of such investigations is mixed at best. All too often the violence recedes in the public’s mind and any report that is issued turns out to be a whitewash. Given the sensitivity surrounding violence of this nature, any investigation should avoid apportioning blame to a particular group since that could spur fresh clashes. It would be better to focus on the failure of law-enforcement officials and ascertain why they didn’t intervene to stop the bloodletting. Officers need to be held accountable, starting at the very top. The Punjab home department should also have known the route of the procession and so figured out that this particular area could be a security hazard. Why was the procession allowed on a route where chances of a confrontation were imminent? Given all that we had heard about the security measures taken for Muharram, this represents an abysmal failure on the part of the provincial government. We also need to reflect on the sad state of affairs that made this incident so unsurprising. Hatred based on religion and ethnicity has become so common in the country that it has now ceased to shock the conscience. Until we can change this mindset incidents like Rawalpindi will happen with increasing frequency.
Law Minister Rana Sanaullah has ordered an investigation into the incident and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has also directed Punjab Chief Minister to do the needful, but the history of such investigations is mixed at best. All too often the violence recedes in the public’s mind and any report that is issued turns out to be a whitewash. Given the sensitivity surrounding violence of this nature, any investigation should avoid apportioning blame to a particular group since that could spur fresh clashes. It would be better to focus on the failure of law-enforcement officials and ascertain why they didn’t intervene to stop the bloodletting. Officers need to be held accountable, starting at the very top. The Punjab home department should also have known the route of the procession and so figured out that this particular area could be a security hazard. Why was the procession allowed on a route where chances of a confrontation were imminent? Given all that we had heard about the security measures taken for Muharram, this represents an abysmal failure on the part of the provincial government. We also need to reflect on the sad state of affairs that made this incident so unsurprising. Hatred based on religion and ethnicity has become so common in the country that it has now ceased to shock the conscience. Until we can change this mindset incidents like Rawalpindi will happen with increasing frequency.
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