Osama, an innocent 21-year-old, was gunned down and killed by five officers of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) who now, fortunately, face criminal charges. Given that the responsibility of such a body is to shelter civilians from such acts of terrorism, it is appalling that such a pre-meditated act was carried out by members of the CTD. It is undeniable that accountability in its place needs to be carried out but, the government also needs to go a step further and ensure that a strong precedent is set to ensure an incident like this never occurs in the future as well.
According to reports, the fight Osama picked with the officers is being speculated to be the reason behind the murder. His car was intercepted in the late hours of the night and he was mercilessly shot at from all directions by individuals entrusted with authority that is to be utilised carefully in all circumstances. There is no room for harbouring grudges that manifest in horrendous incidences within such a police force, and this is something that needs to be clarified immediately. There should never be a time when members of the youth are too scared to go out into the public, at any point in the day, out of the fear of their life—the sanctity of which is apparently not being respected by official authoritative bodies.
It goes without saying that a serious investigation into the matter is vital not only to bring about justice but also to establish a pattern that has led to such violent circumstances before as well. What enables the system to let officers abuse power so as to incur a fatality needs to be explored and rectified. Reactive arrests will do little to nothing to solve a systemic problem alone; is it policy measures that we need immediately.
https://nation.com.pk/04-Jan-2021/violating-responsibility
Violating Responsibility : edit in The Nation, January 04, 2021
Osama, an innocent 21-year-old, was gunned down and killed by five officers of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) who now, fortunately, face criminal charges. Given that the responsibility of such a body is to shelter civilians from such acts of terrorism, it is appalling that such a pre-meditated act was carried out by members of the CTD. It is undeniable that accountability in its place needs to be carried out but, the government also needs to go a step further and ensure that a strong precedent is set to ensure an incident like this never occurs in the future as well.
According to reports, the fight Osama picked with the officers is being speculated to be the reason behind the murder. His car was intercepted in the late hours of the night and he was mercilessly shot at from all directions by individuals entrusted with authority that is to be utilised carefully in all circumstances. There is no room for harbouring grudges that manifest in horrendous incidences within such a police force, and this is something that needs to be clarified immediately. There should never be a time when members of the youth are too scared to go out into the public, at any point in the day, out of the fear of their life—the sanctity of which is apparently not being respected by official authoritative bodies.
It goes without saying that a serious investigation into the matter is vital not only to bring about justice but also to establish a pattern that has led to such violent circumstances before as well. What enables the system to let officers abuse power so as to incur a fatality needs to be explored and rectified. Reactive arrests will do little to nothing to solve a systemic problem alone; is it policy measures that we need immediately.
https://nation.com.pk/04-Jan-2021/violating-responsibility
Published in Pak Media comment and Pakistan