The martyrdom of Pakistan Air Force Group Captain Asim Tariq in a supposedly well-secured part of Islamabad earlier this month must prompt decisive actions across Pakistan to substantially lift policing, primarily for the protection of future innocent victims.
A tragic aspect of the cold-blooded murder of an unarmed but brave victim became a powerful reminder of the insecurity spreading across Pakistan, as the country celebrates its fast-growing global profile and a half-baked return to stability. Neither of these two can substitute for the ever-widening internal gaps across Pakistan that increasingly haunt the country’s future outlook.
Group Captain Tariq, to his credit, will remain a national hero for his courage to protect a young woman, visibly being kidnapped by one of her co-workers. Even as the culprit brandished his handgun, Group Captain Tariq refused to back off from intervening in this matter. He will always stand as a role model for every Pakistani for all times to come, as a brave son of the soil who laid down his life for justice.
Yet, the victim’s commendable role will neither bring back his life that was so needlessly wasted, nor change the widespread shock unleased through the nature of this event. For now, any Pakistani, irrespective of their social profile, except for the well-protected VIPs, must feel vulnerable in a country where terrible crimes in broad daylight are no longer rare or unprecedented.
Following this tragedy, there are two glaring lessons that must be learned immediately: First, the state of Pakistan, which has become increasingly obsessed with extending protection to the high and mighty, notably those already well protected, must change its priorities. This obsession with providing safety foremost to those considered powerful has, by default, triggered a wider neglect of Pakistan’s common citizens across the board.
In the meantime, one natural outcome of this trend has been a failure to fill the gaps in the protection mechanisms where it matters the most – protecting the lives of Pakistan’s ordinary citizens. It was therefore hardly surprising that the location of Group Captain Tariq’s martyrdom, on an average day witnesses heavy presence of the police around the movement of VVIPs. Yet, when this brave son of the soil went down while protecting an ordinary citizen, he did so without any law enforcer intervening to protect him.
This murder in broad daylight is a powerful reminder of yesteryears in Pakistan’s not-too-distant history, when police patrolling across urban areas included the well-trained motorcycle-driving traffic sergeants. They were backed by police patrol vehicles plying the urban areas, demonstrating the presence of law enforcement in a visible manner.
The martyrdom of Group Captain Tariq was a powerful reminder of the state of Pakistan losing its grip on the grassroots, over two decades after the country embarked on the very ill-advised devolution of authority. That exercise sadly unraveled the government’s writ that had once maintained relatively tight control across the length and breadth of the country. To back up the policing mechanism of that era, Pakistan’s district administrations, with the judicial magistracy present, maintained order in ways that seem to have vanished today.
Second, Pakistan’s ordinary citizens are meanwhile seldom armed with access to means of self-protection. With this area largely neglected, it is not surprising that some have reportedly turned to illegal weapons, for a variety of reasons ranging from personal protection to offensive criminal action. And it is even less surprising that the murderer in the case of the group captain, the 20-year-old Saad Abbasi, reportedly carried an illegal handgun.
In the aftermath of this tragic killing, the authorities in Islamabad have taken credit for successfully pursuing and arresting the culprit within hours, using technology tied to his cellular phone SIM. Yet, this claimed success will neither undo the damage already done nor will it change the ways that Pakistan has slid downwards in securing its citizens.
Going forward, a series of decisive actions is necessary to not just stem the rot. More importantly, the rot must be reversed beginning with urgent actions.
A cornerstone of this exercise must be an urgent review of government administration at the grassroots level, beginning with an intensive examination of Pakistan’s worsening outlook in its post-devolution era.
This review must begin simultaneously with an urgent change of priorities. The resources of the police already deployed to unnecessary VIP duties must be withdrawn in favour of public service where they are needed the most. The top priority in this exercise must fundamentally ensure a fresh and comprehensive deployment of resources to protect the public.
The exercise to vastly lift the protection of Pakistan’s public at large will remain incomplete unless backed by a widespread campaign to educate the public on ways of improving their personal protection.
The martyrdom of Group Captain Tariq will be in vain unless decisive action is taken immediately to reverse the damage unleashed by the current insecure environment.
The writer is an Islamabad-based journalist who writes on political and economic affairs. He can be reached at: [email protected]
