Daily Times

It pains me to write that all is not well in our beloved country at this time. To prove my assertions, I will narrate only three incidents within one month that have brought shame to the country and its premier institutions.
As the narrative goes, a Police party led by ASI Nadeem raided the house of Anwar Jutt on the night of 8th April 2024. It was an unusual raid and rather late at night. Perhaps, Jutt’s family was prepared for it because they quickly got hold of this small police party. However, SHO Rizwan came to help his men, but they also got subdued by Jutt and his sons including Khalil who was in commando’s uniform along with one more, Idres who was a sepoy from the anti-narcotics force. It was again the turn of SHO to call for more support which he promptly got and managed to finally arrest Jutt and his other family members who were involved in holding the SHO.

Now, it was the turn of Jutt’s connection with the military that sprang into action and lodged an FIR against the SHO Rizwan who was immediately arrested by the new SHO (Rizwan was quickly replaced after the night raid). However, Jutt was not satisfied with this small action against Rizwan and perhaps requested a more meaningful action against the Bhanwalnagar Police for their illegal action last night. Therefore, the dozens of soldiers from a nearby unit stormed the police station and thrashed everybody who came in the line of attack.

In an era of social media, if somebody thought these incidents would go unnoticed because Bhawalnagar is located in a remote area, was perhaps not aware of the power of this new phenomenon. The video of a soldier’s attack on the police station went viral and brought shame to the country and its institutions. Interestingly, we are used to inaccurate reporting and justifications of wrongdoings, and it started from both sides. Since the military is more powerful, it managed to quieten the police and announced a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) of which the report will neither be true nor accurate and above all will never be made public. The incident was closed as if nothing had happened and all was well. Sorry sir, all is not well, and this should not have happened.

Another incident that brought shame to the country occurred on 5th May 2024. As the narrative goes, the transgender community of Kharian reacted to the alleged ingress into the privacy of one of their member by the local police who took them to the station and beat them up. The community reacted sharply to the uncalled-for action by the police and attacked the police station in strength. They neither left the officials nor the property. As expected the daylight incident was captured by individual journalists and immediately posted on the social media platform. The result was a suspension of the policeman who initiated an illegal act against Hina, the transgender victim.

If anybody thinks that it was a minor incident and does not deserve a mention is grossly mistaken. The rise and fall of great empires take place due to societal degeneration. If we cannot look after our less privileged populace, I think we do not deserve to assume that all is well.

The third incident that occurred on 10th May 2024 was an even bigger destroyer than the previous two. While the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), were protesting against the inflated electricity bills, officials decided to use force to disperse the protestors. What followed next is highly concerning and in line with the agenda of the enemy. The crowd got hold of the Assistant Commissioner (AC) Dadyal who had earlier ordered the use of force against the protestors and thrashed him physically. Moreover, the angry crowd overturned AC’s official vehicle and torched it.
I have been very generous in writing the above paragraphs because what happened to AC would only bring shame and nothing else. Even now if somebody thinks that all is well then there is something seriously wrong.
It’s time to accept that our police have been traditionally hostile and irresponsible in dealing with protestors. The protests occur everywhere in the world and on different issues, but the way police in Pakistan react is uncalled for and unjustifiable. Unfortunately, they do not consider the protestors as humans and one of them, but the aliens who ought to be taught a lesson.
Let me caution the stakeholders once again that all is not well and the enemy’s agenda is gaining ground at a much faster rate. Our enemies had dreamed that the people of Pakistan come face to face with the military establishment because Pakistan can only be defeated when its military loses the support of its people. Please understand that in such a situation, force alone cannot suffice and conflict must be resolved by other means that are more acceptable to the people. Do it now voluntarily, until you have to do it on demand of the people.