ISLAMABAD: The sudden execution of former Punjab governor Salman Taseer’s murderer triggered confusion in the federal capital on Monday.
A lack of coordination, planning and preparedness was observed in government departments and it seemed they were not aware of Mumtaz Qadri’s hanging and there were no arrangements to deal with the situation.
Citizens who use private transport learnt about the execution after reaching their offices. Soon afterwards, reports about protests in different parts of the twin cities panicked the citizens. Most of the office goers then rushed to pick their children from schools.
Those who use public transport could not reach their workplaces due to the absence of vehicles. The metro bus service between the twin cities was also suspended without any announcement.
Pims Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram told Dawn that in the morning almost 60pc staff could not reach the hospital due to the unavailability of public transport and the suspension of the metro service.
“We contacted our staff and used our transport, even ambulances, to bring them to the hospital because in case of an emergency it becomes impossible to treat patients without the human resource,” he said.
A letter issued by the management of the hospital stated that Pims would remain on a high alert until March 2.
“All heads of clinical departments and non-clinical departments/supervisory staff are requested to issue emergency rosters, keep themselves and staff in place and be prepared for any emergency situation,” the letter added.
Mohammad Kashif, who works in Zone V, told Dawn that the residents of the federal capital had become used to protests by political parties.
“We saw the protest sit-in of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf for months but never got panicked. Unfortunately, whenever religious parties take to the streets, we start fearing that it would become violent,” he said.
“In November 2013, a curfew was imposed in Rawalpindi after eight people were killed and a market was burnt in a clash between two groups during Ashura procession at Raja Bazaar. Whenever religious groups protest or hold an event we fear that a similar situation can be repeated anytime,” he said.
He said on Monday he and his colleagues left offices to pick their children from schools but the expressway was blocked. “We learnt that Murree Road was also blocked so I used alternative routes to reach the school in H-8,” he said.
Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies remained deployed in metro bus stations to ensure their protection.
Sohail Jamil, another citizen, said the convict should have been hanged on a public holiday when children don’t have to go to schools.
“Even till Monday evening, we were not clear if schools would be closed or not on Tuesday. The government should devise a policy and make arrangements to deal with such a situation,” he said.
Thousands of students of private and public sector schools faced road blockades on Monday because of the protests.
Majority of private educational institutions preferred to observe half-day, putting the parents in trouble who had to rush to pick their children.
“I was on my way to F-10 sector when I was contacted by the school management to pick my children. I had to leave my official work to go back to the school of my children at I/8,” said Murtaza Noor.
“It was a tough day for me. First, I had dropped my children at school but at around 10:30am I was informed by the management that the school had been closed. I had to rush back to pick my children,” said another parent requesting not to be named. A similar situation was observed in a majority of private schools.
The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) cancelled the scholarship papers of science in all schools as Rawalpindi-based students could not reach the examination centres.
While scholarship papers of 8th class, which was slated to be held on Tuesday, has also been postponed. Under the centralised examination system, the FDE conducts scholarship examinations of class five and eight from both the public and private schools.
Director Model Colleges (FDE) Dr Tariq Masood told Dawn that all public schools would remain open on Tuesday. The education activities at Numl and IIUI remained disturbed forcing the administrations to announce an early closure of the universities. Hundreds of students of the IIUI staged a protest demonstration on the campus against the hanging.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1242763/mismanagement-was-order-of-the-day
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