THE tragic deaths of newborns in a fire incident at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) have put the whole nation to grief. There are different versions about what initiated the fire. The first narrative, as reported by firefighters and Rescue 1122 staff who reached there, was that the door of the ward was locked, and there was no one around. The emergency doors were also locl(ed. The same was reported at the time of the fire at Gul Plaza shopping mall in Karachi, where at least 80 people were burned alive.
All I have seen on television in the wake of the tragedy, however, is petty politics.
I could only conclude that the Pims tragedy had been taken over by politics, with every political party trying to use it to settle some score with someone. The press conferences and the talk shows are mainly for political fights, and political worl(ers were brought there for raising slogans. In such an atmosphere, there is little hope of positive result and betterment in the country.
Malik ul Quddoos Karachi