Whither safety of life?

MONEY and murder are stuff that film and fiction are made of. But sometimes reality can be stranger, and more tragic and troubling too. When a wealthy former army man died in Lahore in 1985, little could he have thought that he was leaving behind only troubles and tears for his family. During the last decade or so, his wife, a son and a daughter-in-law have been murdered; his second son has been missing since 1997 without a trace; his properties, worth billions of rupees, have been illegally occupied and ornaments and cash looted, swindled and robbed. On Friday last, the Lahore police handed over jewellery weighing 1.5 kilograms in gold and Rs500,000 in cash to the late soldier’s daughter-in-law who now lives in the United States with her three children fearing for her and their lives. These were reportedly recovered from a suspect who allegedly died in police custody a month ago.

But this custodial death is not the only complication that the police have caused in the case. Together with politics, the law enforcers have a lot to answer for in the murders, abductions and robberies that have hit the former officer’s family. One of the suspects is allegedly an activist of the ruling party in Punjab. Another person involved in the entire case is a former policeman once notorious for killing criminals in encounters during the mid to late 1990s. He later became a leading gangster, hired assassin and land-grabber in Lahore. Now residing in Dubai, he has been addressing press conferences and releasing large advertisements in newspapers on the details of the case. Police claim they have involved Interpol for his arrest. They may or may not be successful but the message from the whole case is loud and clear: the state can no longer protect the people and in some cases its current and former functionaries are behaving as badly as the worst offenders. With insecurity having become synonymous with our part of the world, safety of life and property is something people can only pray for.