BOMBS IN PUNJAB

The mysterious bomb blasts that have been rocking Pakistan´s most populous province of the Punjab over the last few months are cause for great concern. The terrorists have so far target ted crowded public places like bus terminals, a railway station and an airport, with the aim of victimising the maximum number of innocents. In this, they are aided by the general chaos that prevails at such spots, besides the general inefficiency of security forces responsible for protecting the lives of people.

The Punjab blasts raise the inevitable questions regarding the motives and identity of the saboteurs, for no one has owned up. While analysts and security experts ponder these issues, the question to be asked is whether prevention and the principle of safety-first are being ignored.

Punjab Chief Minister Arif Nakai touched upon this theme when he blamed the airport bombing on lax security. The Airport Security Force should check all vehicles thoroughly, he said, 'Even if the chief minister was onboard.' In Pakistan and elsewhere, it is often the VIPs themselves who represent security risks, for it is they who routinely bully security guards with the don´t-you-know-who-I-am attitude. This matter achieved national attention when recently security guards at the US Ambassador´s residence tried to check Senate Chairman Wasim Sajjad´s vehicle as he entered the premises for the 4 July reception. Mr Sajjad considered this an outrage, and citing the question of principle refused to attend the reception.

Unfortunately, there is one set of rules for the public and another set for VIPs like Mr Sajjad. Policemen who make the mistake of pulling up ministers´ vehicles for running red lights, driving without licence plates, carrying arms, or having tinted windows (illegal in Pakistan), find themselves on the receiving end of the politician´s ire. In a culture where indiscipline thrives and rules are made to be broken, particularly by those who have the money and power, one wonders how Mr Nakai plans to ensure that VIP cars are checked as they enter Lahore Airport. How long will the ghairatmand (honourable) Pakistani vips deign to suffer such indignity?

Pakistan has come a long way since when Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Founder of the Nation, would not allow his aide de camp have the gates of a level crossing opened even though there was not a train in sight. He wanted to lead by example. Another time, another place: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto urged his driver to drive through a red light because, he is known to have said, 'These things do not matter any more.' If they did 'not' matter in Z.A. Bhutto´s time 20 years ago, they matter less now. The level of vip indiscipline has escalated, and contributes to the culture of chaos. Another aspect that Punjab bombings highlight is the horrendously difficult task of trying to prevent blasts when a) you do not know who is doing it, and b) the limitations of every type of preventive measure. And as usually happens, the concern with security erupts with each new blast and disappears just as abruptly. A demand is made for installing metal detectors on all buses, but gets nowhere. Someone else proposes that emergency doorways be mandatory on both sides of a bus cabin, but no one is listening.

Posters on Lahore thoroughfares exhort the public to be wary of abandoned briefcases, for they could contain bombs. The public is urged to 'ignore the callings of the heart'–presumably a reference to the greed that is activated at the sight of a briefcase all by itself. It is unlikely, however, that the terrorist who wants to maim and destroy would use a shiny, attractive briefcase.