The political elite of this country either suffers from a complex or have some other hang-ups, because a caravan of thirty motorcades poses more of a security risk than a protection. In fact it looks obnoxious and is a wastage of tax payer money. This seems to be more of a sickening mental ailment. Have we forgotten the recent incidence of a DPO in Punjab who got a young cricketer arrested just because his car overtook him?
In UK, other than Queen, there is no such protocol even for PM. This is a legacy of British Raj, where their subjects on duty in occupied colonies would move around with security. These British officers dare not behave in this manner in their own country. Unfortunately our political elite and bureaucracy seem to be obsessed with this facade of moving around with scores of vehicles and continue to live in segregated gated residential societies, a practice that their British colonial masters dare not indulge within UK, where there are no GORs, DHAs or even cantonments.
The moment our disqualified former PM Mian Nawaz Sharif lands in Pakistan he must have this protocol but when he moves around in London, Saudi Arabia and Dubai, he goes around as an ordinary person. This urge to embark on an ego boosting trip is only in Pakistan at tax payer’s expense. This complex syndrome inflicts Asif Zardari, Bilawal, Maryam and even Imran Khan. If security alone was objective, this can be achieved with a bomb-proof vehicle and box security with maximum four police escorts.
ALI MALIK TARIQ,
Lahore, October 2.