The 2014 Model Town incident where 14 unarmed people including women were gunned down by Punjab police is one of the worst incidents of police brutality in the country. What was worse is that the incident happened right in the center of Lahore, capital of the province governed by the self-professed ‘Servant of the people’, Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The incident was entirely avoidable, if it wasn’t for the conscious or unconscious criminal behavior of the Punjab government.
The fact that those responsible for the murders have not been brought to justice more than 3 and a half years on shows exactly what is wrong with this country. The rich and powerful seldom brought to justice; in this case a provincial government has gotten away with murder, so far at least. In any civilized country the Chief Minister of the province where the incident happened or the Law Minister at least, would have resigned.
But decency and responsibility are words perhaps alien to our political elite, who deem it fit to hold power no matter what happens due to their incompetency or in this case criminal negligence. There should not be even an iota of doubt that those responsible for the model town incident must be brought to justice at the earliest. However, it is unfortunate that the day light murder of fourteen Pakistan Awami Tehreek workers has been politicized by none other than the party chief himself.
Dr. Tahir ul Qadri has been very vocal against the government and has stood by the victims in demanding justice but his demand for justice has a clear political leaning. The part time justice seeker who divides time between Canada and Pakistan looks for justice only during ‘chosen’ months of every year.
With general elections fast approaching, this year Qadri has been joined by Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and a number of other parties who have all decided to back Qadri in seeking justice. The demand for justice for the victims of the Model Town massacre has been hijacked by those with political agendas. It seems that the incident will be used by political parties to put pressure on the ruling government with elections in sight. This, if anything is another injustice to the victims and their families.
