Daily Times

The last thing anybody wants right now is to reopen the wounds of the poor souls related to the victims of the terrible, terrible Murree catastrophe. But since government spokespersons have done what they always do whenever they are at a loss for answers, the record needs to be set right; for the sake of the innocent people that lost their lives, especially children, if for nothing else. At least their families should be spared the agony of being forced to become cannon fodder for the political battles of a government on its last legs.

Just like the soul-shaking motorway gang-rape incident, and the brutal murder of a family by police officers in front of little children in Sahiwal, the Murree tragedy has once again exposed the PTI government as without any sense of responsibility or credibility. By shifting the blame around and making flimsy excuses, the government is only rubbing salt in the victims’ wounds.

It was utterly shameful for the information minister to imply that people who were stuck in the snow that horrible night lost their lives because the previous PML-N administration did not do what was needed about the province’s infrastructure. Most Pakistanis were already fed up with the present government blaming the previous government for everything that goes wrong, especially with the economy, even after four years in power. But now they have gone too far. The fact, as investigative reports will no doubt show very soon, is that there were no such disasters in the time of the previous administration because the then chief minister of Punjab took the trouble of making sure everything was in order before, repeat before, the onset of the tourist season.

The present CM of Punjab only troubled himself to take an aerial view of the area; more like royal surveying the expanse of his kingdom than a servant of the people.

Locals are already being quoted in the press saying that this year’s snowfall amounted to three feet, whereas there have been instances of seven feet of snowfall during the last administration. Yet no harm was caused to anybody’s life and property precisely because the chief executive of the province personally went to all potential trouble areas and made sure there was adequate machinery and staff to deal with any emergency that might present itself. And the biggest inconvenience that people suffered was being told to turn back halfway, or go somewhere else for their vacations because places like Murree were full and potentially dangerous for any more traffic.

Things were not so this time when government officials fired off celebratory tweets when they saw the huge rush of cars headed towards the hill station. And even after the disaster, the present CM of Punjab only troubled himself to take an aerial view of the area; more like royal surveying the expanse of his kingdom than a servant of the people. It is not short of a travesty that people were left to die like this and also treated to the spectacle of the sitting government blaming the previous government for something that went so horribly wrong under its own watch, for which only it is answerable.

The first question that must be answered is what happened to the snow clearing machines that were bought in the time of the PML-N government? Why weren’t they clearing the roads as the snow was falling, just like they did when PML-N was in power? And why wasn’t the road in question repaired for two years? Remember this was the same road constructed by Nawaz Sharif, for which PTI used to throw a fit about wasting national resources, etc. And what about reports that the machines were not operational because there was no diesel to run them? There was plenty of fuel for the CM’s helicopter ride, which in itself raises very serious questions that haven’t yet been answered.

It’s now pretty clear that by refusing to learn any lesson the government is only hastening its downfall. If its incompetence was not bad enough, its habit of lying about everything under the sky, and then heaping all the blame on the previous administration, has now made people sick. Why, they ask, was the economy better, people’s lives safer, and things more affordable during the previous administration if they broke everything? And why did the trouble start only after PTI was ‘selected’ to run the country as an experiment?

Now, going by reports in the press, it seems that experiment has all but run its course as well; and the Murree tragedy could well be the straw that broke the camel’s back. All this government has done over the last three or four years is make tall, ridiculous claims, then not follow it up with anything concrete, and finally blame Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif when things go south. Unfortunately for PTI, though, it’s just not possible to fool all the people all the time. And what they’ve been seeing at local body polls and by-elections over the last couple of years is called, especially in such uncertain political times, the writing on the wall.

And that message says it clearly, the people have had it with PTI and look forward to voting it out whenever they get the chance. There’s a strong hint there about how the tide is turning as the general election draws near.

Again, it’s a crying shame that 22 people, including 10 innocent, beautiful children, had their lives cut short just because an exceptionally ignorant and incompetent political party has been given the reins of the most important province of the country as well centre. But people will not have to suffer for much longer because real change is not very far now.

The writer is a LUMS graduate and currently serves as PMLN MPA. She is a close aide of Maryam Nawaz and tweets at @hinaparvezbutt