When searching for explanation in my mind I recalled an incident. I was invited for a talk at the QAU scheduled at an early hour and had felt humbled by the closure of the road for VIP movement. Getting late, I breathed sigh of relief when the traffic started moving and the driver sped out towards the university hoping no more VIP routes ahead. Not to be, as we neared the turn to the university, we were stopped by a traffic constable, of the like who was slapped, saying that the route was closed for the movement of the Chairman Senate. He resided in his nearby village.
Even though I was getting held up where I least expected I felt apologetic to the people jumbled by the side of a narrow road because of my friend, and was shocked after waiting a while when his entourage whisked past us. It put me into painful thinking that even a conscientious person like him would not notice the cost of his travel with countless vehicles ahead and behind him blowing sirens that be aware there passed a person who tried to wield more power than law would allow him. Recalling that incident I could relate to a self-destruct contagion that might have again taken hold of him.
To the constable who was publicly slapped simply for duty his lawful duty I am unable to console for his self-respect and dignity was far higher than the power mongering and influence yielding so-called VIPs, that he upheld the respect and credibility of his duty to do his job of checking the people entering the court. It was not that he had to check only those whom he did not recognize; his lawful duty required checking of each and all. Our worthy VIP could have been thrown into fury if in front of his eyes the constable had let someone proceed without checking. Whether the establishment recognises the constable for doing his duty and suffering the ignominy and torture of a bodily blow publicly, he has seemingly earned the hearts and minds of the people and might remain an unsung hero!
If the country has dark clouds over its horizon it is more because of the so-called elite and if there are some rays of light that promise coming out of the clouds it is on account of the ordinary mortals of the like of our slapped constable, the head of Islamabad Police who registered the criminal case and the civil judge who issued the arrest warrants for initiating the due process of law for justice to both parties.