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The country was pushed into another episode of agony when four people were shot down in broad daylight as a result of an encounter by Sahiwal’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD). The shootout took down a man, his wife, and their teenage daughter, that too in front of the three youngest children of the family. The Sahiwal tragedy shook the whole nation when the videos of the shootout went viral on the internet.
While CTD has stated that the two men shot were terrorists, it still doesn’t justify the extrajudicial killings. The incident has understandably provoked a huge public outcry. However, amidst this noise, the need of the hour is to highlight changes that seem more crucial than ever in Pakistan after the Sahiwal Tragedy.
1. Reforms in the Police System
The rapidly increasing cases of police brutalities signify that there is a dire need to introduce Police reforms in all the provinces other than Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Extrajudicial killings must not be allowed to be justified in the name of countering terrorism. A suspect is not guilty until proven and thus, the basic right of a free and fair trial must not be snatched from the citizens. Therefore, like the country’s blasphemy laws, the government must ensure that terrorism doesn’t become another tool in the hands of perpetrators.
2. Regulation of Media’s Interaction with Survivors
In Pakistan, the first responders include police, paramedics and unfortunately, media. The latter usually indulge in unethical treatment of the traumatized, asking away insensitive questions regardless of the interviewee’s state. This is exactly what we saw after the Sahiwal tragedy when media couldn’t stop asking the young boy about how his parents were killed. Given this, PEMRA should rather direct its energies towards regulating media’s interaction with the survivors and penalize the defaulters.
Read: Why Mian Saqib Nisar’s Era As The CJP Was More Than Just Politically Controversial Verdicts
3. Provision PTSD Care Training
Physical care is provided by the paramedics, however, it’s the psychological damage that is largely neglected and leaves the survivors scarred for life during any such incident. This is the reason why the government should ensure that the first responders are given Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) care training.
4. An End to Political Scoring
Every time a public tragedy outrages the country, parties from the opposition or other provinces manipulate the incident for political scoring. It is pertinent to mention here that the same party turns a blind eye towards the numerous brutalities prevailing under their own jurisdiction.
The case of PPP fits here just right; as the party indulges in the exploitation of the Sahiwal Tragedy, the province of Sindh still reeks in numerous pending incidents of police brutalities, waiting for justice.
These parties, in the guise of representing people of Pakistan, only take up issues that serve their selfish agenda instead of serving the nation. This selective condemnation and the cruel practice of political scoring over dead bodies need to go!!!!
