The hesitation of the Punjab government about publishing and making available to the public the Model Town incident inquiry report by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi is unfortunate.

This is violation of the principles of democratic governance in which accountability, transparency and open-ended policies reign supreme.

After the 18th Amendment these core values of our Constitution have been further consolidated by the insertion of Article 19-A in which freedom to access information has become a fundamental right of every citizen.

The question arises: if the Butler report regarding discovery of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq can be disclosed to the public in the United Kingdom, why then cannot the Punjab government disclose and make the Model Town report public?

If this incident had happened in a developed country, the prime minister, along with his cabinet, would have resigned. Unfortunately, in Pakistan the rulers are indifferent, arrogant and ignore the needs of the principles of democratic governance.

In such circumstances when the government’s legitimacy and moral authority is in jeopardy, the government should not have given the impression that it is averse to the needs of circumstances.

Sheraz Zaka
Lahore

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2014