Daily Times

A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

An official statement from Punjab Police has done little to water down the propaganda machinery relishing the alleged battle royale between its uniformed officers and the Pakistan Army earlier in the week. That mainstream politicians were also quick to be swayed away, with some calling for high-profile resignations and others furthering their own agendas at the expense of national solidarity, speaks volumes about how skewed our priorities have become.

Portraying an isolated event as a full-on collision between two institutions of the state does not benefit anyone but the inimical forces. With a seemingly neverending onslaught by non-states on the credibility and capacity of our law enforcement authorities, may it be against resurging terrorism or protecting the writ of the land, expectations of their countrymen knowing better than to be swayed away by frenzied emotions have not been met.

Bringing the proceedings of a transparent and comprehensive investigation into what actually happened on the ground might have been a suitable measure to build confidence and pull the plug on prevailing cock and bull stories. There’s no better way to prevent such unnecessary controversies than ensuring anyone becoming a law unto themselves is tried as per law.

No qualms about that. But have the social media warriors already forgotten the longstanding relationship between military and law enforcement personnel? Last year, army leadership took it upon itself to share the horrors of a heartwrenching attack on Peshawar Police Lines and reassert that the crusade to establish a secure Pakistan needed the two forces to work hand-in-hand. Disaster relief, peacekeeping operations, national emergencies and extraordinary security crises have all seen them repeatedly collaborate with each other with complete synergy. And why wouldn’t they?

Upholding the law and public order may be a police matter but that doesn’t stop the army from stepping in whenever stakes get high and the situation calls for a forceful hand. *