There is little doubt that since almost 9/11, more than a decade ago, the Interior Minister and his provincial counterparts, home ministers, have been focused on protecting the VVIPs, foreign missions and sensitive installations due to their raised security threat as a direct outcome of the war on terror. However, no one can or should support the abandonment of the rest of the country to mobs or terrorists.
Ordinary Pakistanis have been subjected to rising casualties to suicide bombers as well as to terror attacks. The government cannot continue to ignore the troubling fact that it has and continues to fail to protect the lives and property of the people which accounts for the decision of local industrialists to relocate industrial units to other countries and is a major deterrent to foreign investors.
The current number of security personnel deployed to protect our VVIPs as well as the large number of vehicles accompanying each VVIP is not justified on any count. In addition, massive entourages have actually alienated a large number of VVIPs from their own constituents. In an attempt to contain public anger against such huge entourages, the then Prime Minister Gilani stated that he would travel by helicopter. The country is still waiting for the implementation of this sensible strategy.
At present, it appears that the governments, federal and provincial, are focused on safeguarding the lives and property of the VVIPs, which needs a revisit for two obvious reasons. First and foremost, sensitive installations must include major productive sectors including industrial areas as well as trade centres. And second, the government must increase the number of security personnel if their current numbers are not deemed sufficient. Protection to a handful of country's representatives must not be at the cost of the millions of private individuals.
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