by Mehreen
I don’t understand why we need check posts in the Cantt area in Lahore or really at any other place. Why isn’t the security of every citizen a priority when it comes to terrorist attacks or other potential threats? Oh right, we have never been equals.
I confronted this reality for the first time today at an entry point when I saw how shamelessly our army projects itself as our guardians and yet have no sense of empathy towards the ordinary citizens. Like many people I was struggling to make my way to my destination and was forced to change rides just so I could gain entry into a so-called high security area. I resisted for 15 minutes but eventually, I was given no choice but to make arrangments for myself.
I felt terrible and I only then was I able to relate to the many people, who I have seen or heard sharing such experiences of the state apathy and abuse. I had never imagined how dehumanising the process is. It just made me see things so much more clearly.
In an Uber later today, the driver told me that some young guys had tried organise for a protest in Sadar but they were beaten to death. The Army and the Punjabi police are the biggest perpetrators of these crimes against the citizens of Pakistan.
Just imagining how our world really works, makes me feel like I am trapped in an unusually brutal system.
