Growing intolerance in society
Traders and security personnel outside a shopping mall in Quetta after an untoward incident: Photo grabbed from video on social media

Growing intolerance in society

Editorial : 

Quetta’s shopping mall incident reveals a growing intolerance in society. It is rightly said that “anger and intolerance pose a serious threat to the wisdom”. The video widely shared on social media showing security personnel directing his gun at a shop is disturbing.

Similarly, a crowd beating security personnel in uniform further compounds the problem. It is irony of fate that both the administration and traders community are defending their acts.

The administration has the constitutional right to ensure the implementation of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to battle the deadly virus. Indeed, there was no justification for the shopping mall owners to keep their shops open on Saturday and Sunday. This simply means taking the law into its hands.

The administration had to take legal action 

The administration had to take strict legal action rather than resorting to straight firing. Government has instruments and institutions to make sure implementation of the SOPs. The use of force has to be the final option.

No sane person can support the crowd torturing uniformed security personnel.

To be very frank, the incident reflects the helplessness of the civil administration that people do not take it seriously. A lot needs to be done on the part of the district administration to restore its sanctity.

The Assistant Commissioner had to adopt a professional approach  

The Assistant Commissioner leading the raiding party had exercised a professional approach in tackling the situation. Use of force cannot offer any solution rather implementation of law offers a panacea to all ills of the society.

Simply, two wrongs don’t make one right. Earlier, the traders’ community was complaining about the firing incident. When the torture of the security man’s footage went viral, the people also criticized the shopping mall owners.

The Balochistan government has formed an inquiry committee to probe into the incident. Hopefully, the committee would submit its report on Tuesday (tomorrow). To be very precise, the government has to fix the responsibility on both sides since videos speak louder than words.

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Quetta Voice is an English Daily covering all unfolding political, economic and social issues relating to Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province in terms of area. QV's main focus is on stories related to education, promotion of quality education and publishing reports about out of school children in the province. QV has also a vigilant eye on health, climate change and other key sectors.