I WAS shocked to see the way Punjab police handled the situation in Model Town at Minhajul Quran headquarters of Dr Tahirul Qadri. First, there was no need to remove the barriers erected around the headquarters for the protection of Dr Qadri by his workers.

Second, the time selected – midnight – to start the operation with bulldozers was also illogical. It was not an enemy territory that the government wanted to achieve victory through element of surprise. This only showed that the Punjab government was scared of the strength of Dr Qadri’s PAT.

This reminded me of the removal of Gen Pervez Musharraf by the prime minister as army chief while he was in the air. That was also folly as Nawaz Sharif was all-powerful as prime minister and in a position to remove the army chief in his office.

Similarly, Minhajul Quran secretariat could have been surrounded by the police to forestall any untoward incident on the arrival of Dr Qadri. In military terms, it is called ‘laying a siege’.

All incoming and outgoing traffic could have been checked for any weapons or ammunition or undesirable people. The officer in charge of all such demolitions and the minister, whether home or chief minister, who ordered to carry out this operation at midnight should have expected this violent reaction by the workers of PAT.

If the officer on the spot saw the reaction, he should not have ordered his troops to open fire on unarmed public. His unprofessional approach put the country into a great shame.

The announcement by the chief minister of paying Rs3 million to each affected family and constituting a commission to inquire into the incident is no compensation of eight to 10 dead persons.

Nothing will come out of the inquiry as our police are expert in cooking up stories and proving that they did it in self defence. Many such incidents have happened in the past but no government official/minister has ever resigned or dismissed.

Let it be an example where some heads should roll. The chief minister and inspector-general of police, Punjab, DIG operations and other police officers involved in the midnight operation should all resign or be removed.

Col (r) Muhammad Azhar

Lahore

(2)

ABOUT a century ago, in April 1919, the British troops turned the earth red with the blood of innocent protesters who had gathered at Jallianwala Bagh to protest against the arrest of two of their leaders despite curfew.

Brigadier Reginald Dyer ordered his troops to indiscriminately shoot the unarmed demonstrators which left about 400 dead and about 1,200 injured. What Brig Dyer did that day was utterly cruel and ruthless and what the Punjab police did on June 18 in Lahore was not much different in context.

Punjab police opened fire on unarmed citizens on a petty issue of removing the barriers from a public road in front of the house of a renowned public figure. Blocking roads in Pakistan on the pretext of ‘security’ is not something new or unique.

The chief minister of Punjab, who coincidentally lives in the same locality, has also blocked all roads leading to his private residence. Similarly, the road leading to Bilawal House in Karachi was also blocked due to the same reason as reported in the media a while ago. If removing the barriers was the only intention of the police, the private residence of the chief minister, or any other house for that matter, should not be sacrosanct.

Let us see if the Punjab police are courageous enough to remove the barriers from outside the Chief Minister House in Model Town, Lahore, because they surely cause trouble to the neighbours.

But it appears that there was some ulterior motive to be served for which several people were killed and several dozens were brutally injured. The gruesome show put on our TV screens is condemnable and the people responsible for this brutality must be brought to swift justice.

Ahmer Bhatti

Lahore

(3)

THE chief minister of Punjab is well known for suspending serving government officers for any dereliction of duty or on public complaints. He is said to be a strict administrator who never spares a chance to take immediate action on the scene of a crime to express his anger and authority and to attract media attention and public applause. The Punjab CM has suspended countless senior (but only technical) officers during his long, authoritative rule of Punjab.

Hospital medical superintendents were frequently suspended for roaming cats, cobwebs and fused bulbs, for dirty washrooms, for lack of medicine or staff, or annoyance of party legislators. Justice demands that the CM must act as he has been behaving against technical officers, particularly doctors. Suspension from service is considered no punishment except as a disgrace as it helps to minimise influence for a fair investigation.

Dr S. Anwaar Ahmad Bugvi

Lahore

Published in Dawn, June 23rd , 2014