Residents of Model Town, Lahore, were awoken with a bang on Monday morning as a car bomb explosion killed 11 people and injured 61 others near the FIA and Special Investigation Unit (SIU) buildings. The blast, according to law-enforcing agencies, was targeting the SIU building where terror suspects are interrogated, and has left an eight-foot-deep crater at the site.
Senior Minister Raja Riaz has already called for the removal of all offices, residential buildings, and interrogation centres used by the security agencies from residential areas in major cities.
Do you live near the site of the Model Town blast? Was your home, or the home of anyone you know, affected by the blast’s proximity? If you live in Model Town, what did you see or hear this morning? Do you think the facilities of security agencies should be moved out of residential areas?
The following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
What are security agencies offices are doing here in the first place. This is the second time in two years that Model Town has been struck and authorities had ample time to move out of the area since March 2008. Even after today’s tragedy no one will budge because human life is cheap in Pakistan.
If the security agencies cannot secure themselves from terrorist attacks, then Allah have mercy on common men. What are the law enforcing agencies doing? They are only interested in protecting the MPAs, MNAs and govt. ministers. If each agency carries out its efforts earnestly and check each and every street and road randomly at snap checks, surely even the VIPs need not to fear.
For 6 decades, an average Pakistani is more starved, less clothed and housed to feed the elite security forces. Defense establishments and personnel basked in luxuries, foreign travels and their children educated in west etc etc. After all this investment in them, Pakistan is now termed as a bankrupt and suicide-bomber-supplying terrorist country.
When will Pakistanis take back their nation and treat their defense as one of the elements of their nationhood rather than as the dominating one?
Yes these offices should be moved from the residential area because the militants can pass all the roads very easily and security forces can”t stop every car going to that area for security checking.
They should move to the open and separate area.
This debate has been going on for such a long time.
I have a simple proposal for all the residents living near a security agency office. Act like typical Pakistanis and start piling up trash, garbage and other similar stuff in front of these offices (re: create road blocks of your own) to make them inaccessible. Make their lives as miserable as they have made yours with introducing security checkpoints, blocking & redirecting traffic.
You take out such “shame & blame” trashing rallies for a couple of weeks and slowdown whatever work these security agents do; they will move out (idea is if they really are doing some sensitive stuff which is critical they cannot afford such complications)
If this does not help then nothing will because our government (be it provincial or federal) is insensitive and one has to fight himself for his rights in this lawless land.
Not a right option.
Definitely yes.
I think all these offices should be moved out. Imagine if ISI rent a house in Model Town or next door where you live obviously you will feel threatened of an eminent attack. I noticed people in Pakistan still blame Obama instead of terrorists, Why?
Being a resident of Model Town, Lahore, today we witnessed 2nd blast. I was a minute drive away from the site of the blast as I daily pass by the mosque of Dr Israr. I urge both Provincial & Central Government to shift all of their Security Agency Offices from Model Town, if remaining, and from all other residential areas before more people lose their lives.
While driving towards the mosque of Dr. Isran I heard the sound of a blast and saw the smoke and drove fast towards the site of blast but then turned to main model town as i feared the 2nd blast (thanks God for letting my mind think at that time). Just 5 minutes before the blast I dropped my son to his school in Model Town “L” block which is less than 200 meters away from the site of blast.
Majid sahab, after hearing the 1st blast, why did you proceed on your journey to your son’s school, and then actually dropped him off “200 meters from the site of the blast”? Wouldn’t it have been prudent to return home and drop your child off in the security of your home?
Next time, (hopefully there wont be a next time but just in case) please go back home immediately.
I had already dropped my son to school (perhaps 5 mins ago) which is in L block…….Yes, after the blast I should have rushed towards the school to pick him instead of going the other way…….but thats what happens in such situations, frankly it was my first time and, hopefully, the last one as well……but then my wife along with my brother reached there in no time and took my son back………I, as still surprised HOW FORGOT MY SON AFTER THE BLAST??….
I do agree with ‘Pak_Crazy’ that Punjab is full of militants, but what the civilians can do? It is also a fact that people can not do any thing for their own safety because the government does not allow them for this. People of Punjab should raise their voices as that their government should stop this borrow war “War on Terror” by truce, otherwise militants will become unstoppable and goes abroad (India, Iran, etc).
If you replied YES ! then what about police stations near your houses ?
but its true that these types of security offices like FIA, SIU, ATC should be moved from residential areas.
Salaam,
I think such offices should not be in residential area, otherwise the people will suffer.
The state government should take precautions, more or less Federal Government is also responsible for the death of civilians, when they know that they are fighting against terrorism, they should also expect reaction from them.
Afghanistan, NWFP, Islamabad, Swat, South/North Waziristan, Karachi Lahore. Violence by fighting spreads violence by fighting. Bombs are taken to those places, that can be reached. FIA and other buildings out of Model town? Then expect a bomb on a school etc……or whatever building can easily be attacked. A probable solution will go the same (long) way: Afghanistan, NWFP, etc……. . Therefore I call our holy man, Obama, to talk, not to fight. Talking will also spread talking.
Yes they should, but then I am bound to immediately think, where should they go? perhaps to a commercial area: NO, in Cantt.. areas: I would say, NO, in secluded places outside city: perhaps yes… but again they would be an easy target like Manawan Police Training Center. Ambulances / Aid Workers would not be able to reach in time and thus it would need more time to shift the injured to the hospitals.
So, in my view, there should be an “Agencies-Square” in every major city in all the provinces (just like diplomatic enclave / Parliament House in ISB) where all important agencies could have their offices. The area should be guarded to provide fool-proof security and only the relevant people should be allowed to enter into the area. Also, the important captives and officers should all be kept in specially-made bunkers. Moreover, these “Agencies-Square” should not be in the outskirts of the cities rather they could be allotted sufficient space inside the metropolitan areas.
My idea could be flawed but i guess, it CAN work!
OK what would you say about the attack on the GHQ in Rawalpindi. When the garrison is unsafe nothing is safe. These militants must be uprooted.
It does not matter whether the offices are moved or not.
Fact:
1. Punjab is full of militant groups. They are roaming free on every street corner of the province so please explain to me how moving out Govt. buildings out of the city will make the place any safe?
Can they not target shopping centers, mosques, schools …?
Very well said. Why the police and various so called intelligence agencies not strike first to prevent all these atrocities and carnage? What exactly are they doing to safeguard the people of Pakistan?
All this has been happening for the number of years now, and these agencies are failing spectacularly. Somewhere, someone is not doing its job properly, heads must roll.
Moving the offices out of residential area is not the right solution. It’s the total failure of our intelligence network. Such attacks can only be prevented by intelligence information. We have to hit them before they leave their hide out to hit the cities. Our agencies has failed so far. 90 % of the security is used only for VVIPS. Our rulers use these agencies for their interests. Why don’t we deploy police in all over the city as they are deployed at the time of VVIP movement? I think common people’s life is not important enough. Why don’t we have security camera’s network in our cities.
Where is the sense in moving security offices out, why should the police run away? They are here to protect the citizens, the militants should be targeted and there should be no let off in this regard, the police and the army should take action against all terrorists.
This time again we point the finger at Taliban & Al Qaeda that they hide and mesh with civilians to use the innocents as shields – well the security forces are doing the same. After the first incident the FIA should have been forced out of the residential society as it is a target & hence pose a clear present danger to the people residing in this society. We can’t expect much from the current Punjab government as they are focused on electioneering, political points scoring & covering scams of their own party members – since the FIA is a federal entity, the federal government should force them out of all residential areas.
I am a resident of model town, It is the second time Model town Residents suffered such horrible blast. Why intelligence agencies are working in residential areas? Why did they not moved after first suicide attack? Please please all intelligence agencies switch to some other place as soon as possible.
I do not agree with Mr Usmani’s comment and his suggestion, making a plea to agencies to move away from model town, simply because people of model town do not want to suffer again. I think this plea has a hint of selfishness. The blood and sorrow of slum people is no less precious to that of anyone in model town. What does Mr Usmani want to say? If this tragedy had happened in any other part of Lahore, would he been less bothered and concerned ? I know, I wouldn’t. An act of terrorism is as bad as it can be, regardless of the fact wherever it happens. Whole nation suffers from its impact. This war is not against a single person, or a particular group, its against the whole nation………. and on a bigger picture, its against the whole region. Only if we realize this!!!
Dear Mr. Omar,
Mr. Ammar didn’t say agencies should be moved out of Model town. He said residential areas. And neither did he suggest they should move to a slum. I myself am a resident of Model Town and for the second time in two years our windows were broken and the people especially children not only in our house but in the whole neighborhood seriously shaken up. The suggestion is to move these offices to possibly the outskirts of the city (with no houses and minimal traffic) and then heavily fortified which they are not in the city. I cross that office almost every day and there was no security near it other than inside the premises.
Residential settlements and office buildings are set along each other in the whole world. There is no logic to suggest that they should not be. Whatever is happening in Pakistan is very sad, and has nothing to do with the fact that it happened because of its location.
If these offices are relocated in the outskirts of urban areas and open fields then it can be very problematic logistically. We need to eradicate the core problem first, i. e, terrorism. And terrorism is directly associated with the law & order, unemployment and lack of education.
I think these should be moved out of the city, as these only jeopardize the safety of other citizens.
Out side the city premises they can have plenty of space to built barracks and stuff whatever they want to.
The offices should be moved out of cities in an open fields. Atleast then the guards would be able to see a suspicious big truck heading their way and could do something about it! In residential areas, you can only pray no one finds out this is a secret agency building; but cannot do anything to improve security measures since after all, its a residential area and creating blockades would be un-acceptable.
Hey Ali Khan,
Your comment has made my day. Such a thought could actually occur. In the open fields a rocket can easily be fired at the security office. No place is safe. there is no green area.
I think the painful thing here is that this very junction; the site of the explosion- I can personally testify to this- has been a thorn in the general Model Town’s population for a while. Noises, conspiracy theories aside- the police barricade diverted traffic in a most inconvenient manner. Also, when I asked about who exactly lived in this building- the looks I got from the personnel warned me that I might get to know the building TOO intimately, if I kept inquiring. So you see, this total lack of accountability, communication and threatening exchanges between civilians and the authorities is leading to an absolute lack of trust.
If you’re going to place a building spot in the middle of a residential place, then be bold, and consult those who were there first- if they will approve or not. And since that proposition of mine itself seems ridiculous; the government should just take a hint, and NOT build nests in the most residential, and historically safe societies we have remaining in our rapidly deteriorating urban centers.
I agree with Azharuddin because it would beef up the security in the area where the office is located. what is needed is increased security. The militants are not targeting the govt offices only they are targeting schools, shopping malls, mosques, etc etc. We cannot move all of these out of the city, instead what the army is doing is right i.e. move the militants out. It is an uphill task but it will in the long run give all of us a very good result.
Please do not try to treat or consider the security offices as some sort of jinx.
Big No!! And I’m totally against the move to remove security offices from the cities. In-fact in the conditions that we live in today, every home in the cities, town and remote villages too should have their own security office. Its a post modern thought though!
More than a security failure, such incidents is a failure of planning. Across the nations urban centers a lack of administrative capacity means a house is rented a billboard go’s up and an office is installed. Not only should such sensitive offices be removed from residential areas in the short-run, but long-run planning must take into account the requirements of such organizations, may it be an intelligence agency located in a residential area or a school that has no where else to go. Properly demarcated boundaries between residential and professional areas is essential to keep civilians out of harms way. As things stand now, such incidents of terror not only attack government institutions but also stow fear amongst civilians and then raise questions such as those posed in this forum which further highlights grievances against the state.