- Government’s failure to save lives and property
The attack on the Punjab Institute of Cardiology was not a spontaneous outburst of anger over some provocative act but a well-thought-out, coldblooded action carried out by over 300 lawyers in violation of the law. As the Interior Minister has put it, a dispute took place between doctors and lawyers three to four weeks ago and the matter was resolved.
The restoration of an independent judiciary through a movement spearheaded by the lawyers provided them a sense of empowerment. A small number of euphoric lawyers subsequently started resorting to lawlessness for their own benefit. This was the time when the elder members of the community should have reined them in. But keen to win bar elections, they decided to look the other way. The errant section of the community beat up police, helped criminals escape, tortured media reporters and at times did not spare even the litigants. They attacked members of the judiciary to seek verdicts of their choice. The acts of intransigence were often ignored.
Things worsened as Mr Imran Khan and his exuberant followers entered the political scene and introduced a culture of intolerance by ridiculing the opposition leaders. The PTI’s trolls used abusive language on social media and issued calls for aggressive action against the opponents.
In the present case, Intelligence agencies took the anger brewing in a group of the lawyers lightly. The police force, thoroughly demoralised due to the frequent shuffling of its officer corps and having no directives from above, waited impassively till the lawyers had vandalised the hospital.
Unwilling to accept its failure to resolve the dispute between the doctors and lawyers and to give clear directions to police that could have saved three lives, the government has accused the PML-N for being behind the mayhem.
The announcement of a lawyers’ strike by the LBA is equally unfortunate. Bar leaders elected to offices depend on the lawyers’ votes. So, they have a tradition of supporting the handful of black sheep in black coats despite knowing that they have indulged in a misdemeanour.
Unless the government takes its responsibilities seriously, at times the lawyers, at other times the doctors or some other organised social group, will break the law, causing tragic losses of life and destruction of property.
