I WAS under the impression that one of the much-touted achievements of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government like banning protocol squads for all VIPs was being implemented in letter and spirit. I was disabused of the notion as I travelled from Abbottabad to Rawalpindi recently.

As my vehicle approached Haripur, the traffic grew dense and a typical bumper-tobumper movement ensued. As the car driver plodded on slowly we heard a loud blaring siren behind us. The sound emanated from the leading car of a VIP squad trying to clear the road space at all cost. Since there was no space to overtalce, our driver continued in his lane.

At Haripur on finding space he made room and let the following squad of four vehicles overtake us. Before that happened, theleadingcartried to approachus menacingly close with the second armed guard gesticulating angrily.

At Haripur the traffic police stopped my car and when asked the reason tried to come up with the unbelievable and trumped-up excuse that our car had tried toovertake the VIP squad four times.

This was a blatant lie. I accosted the traffic police with the facts. They still demurred and tried to browbeat me. I was left with no option but to introduce myself as a retired officer of the armed forces.

Has the KP government rescinded its earlier decision to ban all VIP protocol in the province? Brig(r)RaashidWalifanjua Rawalpindi