Four young men lost their lives and two others were wounded in a road mishap reportedly involving at least five protocol vehicles of Federal Ombudsperson for Harassment of Women at Workplace Kashmala Tariq on Srinagar Highway late Monday night (1st Jan) in Islamabad.
Initial reports of the incident
According to the initial report, police said the incident occurred on Srinagar Highway at the G-11 signal where a fast-moving white Lexus coming from Golra Mor broke the traffic signal and hit a Mehran car in which five people were traveling.
After the collision, the vehicle rolled a couple of times on the road and crossed over to the opposite lane and collided with another vehicle and a motorcycle. As per the report, the car also hit a motorcyclist before coming to a stop approximately 100 meters away from the spot.
The driver of the car could not flee as one of the car riders was lying in front of his van and the Lexus was traveling along with a couple of other vehicles, including a black Fortuner, bearing government registration number plates as per CCTV recording.
People surrounded the Lexus and the Fortuner and forced their riders to come ashore. Police were called but in the meantime the ombudsperson’s family runaway in the Fortuner.
Soon after, the injured people of the car and a motorcyclist were shifted to a nearby hospital where they were pronounced dead. The dead were identified as Anis Ahmed, 22, Farooq Ahmed, 23, Hayder Ali, 22, and Malik Adil 23.
Police registered FIR
The police have registered An FIR against Kashmala Tariq’s son, Azlan Khan, and apprehended the family’s driver. The police report on the incident said the official vehicle violated a red signal due to the driver’s negligence claiming the lives of the four people.
Police registered the case after a complaint lodged by Mujeebur Rehman who was the injured rider in the incident. The FIR said Mujeebur Rehman along with four others had come to Islamabad in the Mehran car to appear in an interview for a job in the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF).
Kashmala’s son receives pre-arrest bail
The son of Kashmala Tariq has obtained pre-arrest bail after being booked in the fatal accident. An additional session judge in Islamabad approved a pre-arrest bail plea of Kashmala Tariq’s son until February 16.
Azlan Khan filed a plea in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Mohammad Sohail, who granted him bail before arrest against surety bonds of Rs50, 000. Even though, the son of the Federal Ombudsman for Harassment of Women at Workplace did not appear before the court rather his lawyers acquired the pre-arrest bail on his behalf.
Kashmala Tariq rejected allegations
Federal Ombudsman Kashmala Tariq has rejected allegations against her husband and son regarding a road accident. While reacting to last the accident, she said the law must make its line but the media should not level baseless allegations against my family.
Expressing grief over the accident, Kashmala Tariq said that four precious lives were lost that night and she prayed a lot for them. The federal ombudsman clarified that her family was traveling with just two vehicles, not a motorcade. They were coming from Lahore in two cars, one having her and her husband while her son and a police guard were in the other vehicle.
She said they crossed the toll plaza around 10:30 last night, adding that suddenly, there was a harsh impact and they fell towards the front seats. The federal ombudsman said that no one plans such accidents and neither can one be prepared for it.
She also called the deaths of the four youths and the resulting suffering for their families a tragedy and expresses her condolences. However, she complained of being subjected to a media trial and urged PM Imran to review the footage from FWO and take action based on facts.
The accident reminder of the kind of VIP culture
Under the Constitution of the country, every person and citizen is equal in the eyes of law and has basic rights. However, in a country that frequently refers to the constitution as just a piece of paper, some people are more equal than others.
Now in the country, even the police ignore the rules and simply follow the orders of the VIP and riches. Pakistan has such a deep-rooted class system and feudal attitude that even urban public servants consider themselves as VIPs.
Consequently, it wasn’t surprising what happened at the G-11 signal of Islamabad. The mishap was unfortunate, but it was a reminder of the kind of VIP culture that present in our society and its implications.
It is not very hard to spot a VIP in the country. They have special number plates, because they want to, not because the law needs them to. Their vehicles have tinted windows and are followed by security detail. The funds being paid by the people are public property thus far the money was being illegally spent on giving VIP protocol.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) before coming into power, had vowed to get rid of the culture of VIP protocol. Later, the government banned the VIP culture at airports for “influential people” including politicians, judges and military officials as part of the new government’s austerity plan, despite the ban, several incidents including innocent people’s deaths, traffic jams due to the VIP movement in the country.
The authorities should strictly discourage the use of security and protocol squads on public places and roads, which creates a culture of fear and impunity among the public. Lastly, a transparent inquiry should be conducted into the reported deaths and complete findings should be made public and anyone found responsible must be taken to task.
