I was traveling the other day on the KKH for condolence. The police at the Dandai check post requested a lift for their Havaldar, Firdous Awan, to Besham.
We chatted, and I was shattered to learn the ex-soldier’s sad story. He had been employed in the police for the last 16 years after his retirement as Lance Naik from the Baloch Regiment. He was in pain, his face swollen due to a toothache, and the prescription he showed me from a dentist was a hefty 3000 rupees. Father of a three unmarried daughters tears welled up in his eyes once we discussed domestic matters. He was remorseful for the blame shifted to the local police for a security lapse after a suicide attack on the Chinese in Besham. This was the second attack of a similar nature, specifically targeting the Chinese.
What is mind-boggling is that instead of ascertaining the motive and the mastermind behind such attacks, we indulge in a blame game, with the police being the easiest scapegoat for anything that goes wrong, whether it be terrorism, corruption, or any other vice in society.
The saddest part is that the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet decided on Thursday to pay $2.58 million to the families of Chinese workers killed in the Besham attack last March. This is another compensation made to the Chinese after the $11.6 million previous payments in 2021 when Chinese nationals lost their lives at the same site.
I wonder if this is an intelligence failure or our lack of seriousness in safeguarding our national interests that resulted in this shameful incident. There is no guarantee there won’t be another such incident, except the certainty that the survivors of those killed will be paid a hefty amount in US dollars, which ordinary Pakistanis will return with their sweat and blood. But then, we are good at robbing Peter to pay Paul. Before I end, may I humbly request our stalwarts in the all-powerful Economic Coordination Committee to allocate some funds for the welfare of the KP Police?
KP is the only province in Pakistan where the police force has suffered and continues to suffer the highest number of casualties day in and day out, yet they do not receive a fraction of the compensation given to foreign nationals. But then, Pakistanis are unlucky not to be ever owned as Pakistani nationals by their own leaders, who have miserably failed to unite them into one nation after 75 long years as a country named Pakistan. Long live Pakistan, where those who suffer are further punished.🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰🇵🇰