The security crisis is a well-versed topic for all of us. No need to get into that. Sentinels are posted at each and every point where a threat is anticipated and places where you could just randomly stroll in before, well now there is an extensive list of security measures you must comply with in order to gain entry. Educational institutions are just one example of places where security has been heightened to the highest degree. And very well so! What with the threat letters and phone calls being received by schools and universities alike, it is a consolation for the distraught parents to know that at the expense of the substantial—and thoroughly irritating—security measures that have been enacted as of recent, their children are safe and guarded.
When I look at my own university, especially after the IIU attack, the security was upgraded even more. The entrance procedure each morning became a veritable ritual of checking and cross-checking at different posts all along the way from the main entrance to the classroom.
I didn’t really mind it so much because I knew it was for our safekeeping. There were slight skirmishes with the security guards sometimes if you came in a different car which didn’t have a sticker; or someone in your van had forgotten their university ID card or similar issues. Apart from that, each day as I entered the premise, I knew that any psycho would be hard put to enter the grounds without arousing suspicion and be forestalled immediately.
Safe with that knowledge, we were waiting in line at the main entrance last week for the security guard to come to our car and check our ID cards. As he approached, we all stuck out the cards in front of us so he could see them quickly and let us pass. It is still a mystery to me what any of us had done, but he rapped on the window angrily and said, “What are you doing that for?” There were 6 of us there, and we looked at each other in perplexity, not knowing which one of us he was addressing and why. He then went to our driver’s window and motioned him to park the car on the side. We were getting late and as far as we knew, we hadn’t done anything wrong, so I opened my window to ask the security guy why he was stopping us. The next thing I know, he’s yelling at our driver this time and asking him what did he think he was doing, and then he stuck his arm inside the car and hit him.
In that moment I was completely flabbergasted. What the heck had just happened….we were all completely stupefied! The guard’s arm receded, only to come back again in full swing and hit our driver again and again and again. God knows how many times he hit; all I know is that the guard wrenched open the door, grabbed our driver by the collar and dragged him out on the road, continuing to beat him all the while. One of my friends started crying, all the other guards swarmed around us and faces gaped and gawked out of the line of waiting cars.
I was dumbfounded by this turn of events and remained where I was for some time, but when I saw the blood pouring out from our driver’s mouth and the sound of my friend crying beside me, I got out and tried to make some sense of the education.
That was one of the most chaotic scenes I have ever witnessed, and needless to say, we made sure that guard got kicked out that very day. What I keep thinking whenever I think about that scene is: Why were the guards there in the first place? For our protection? It’s a university so we, the students, we’re the priority right? The whole idea is to keep us safe from all the extremist radicals out there, safe from mad men who wouldn’t think twice about harming us, safe from all the militants? Now if the very people whose job is to protect us from such extremist elements become extremists themselves, what happens then? If they get so wrapped up in their sense of duty, that they begin to harm the very people who they should be keeping safe, what happens then? If we counter extremism with extremism……what happens then???
Exactly what happened to us.
I know for a fact that if I had been a guy instead of a girl, the guard would have had no qualms in beating me up too. I said these same words to the guy who was in-charge of our university’s security matters. That was probably the only thing that kept us safe. We had to stand in the middle of the road, yelling at the guard to stop beating our driver, making a complete spectacle of ourselves in front of everyone. It was scary and it was demeaning. The other guards came forward, but they just stood there asking us what happened. None of them actually made a move to try and stop the beating. One of the students got out of his car and stopped the scuffle. On the other hand, when we were on our way to complain to the DG, so many people came forward to stop us from filing the complaint. They told us to let it go, that he was just a very emotional guy.
When he was called in the office later to apologize to us, I asked him why he had hit our driver. He said that he had pressed the horn while he had been checking our cards. As far as any of us could remember, that was not true. But even if it were, did it justify his actions even one slight bit? Is that even a reason to beat someone? God forbid, if that very day there had been people in the drive waiting to bomb our university, it would’ve been child’s play for them to enter the grounds while the entire security staff stood there in the side lane. I know that’s a pretty far-fetched idea, but still, anything could have happened.
This is just one small incident, and after the news about our escapade became common quite a few other people came forward about how some of the guards had misbehaved with them or their family members who came to pick/drop them. They are probably just following their duties to a fine point, but in circumstances like these, there is a very fine line between using and abusing your power. The gravest danger isn’t always from external parties. Sometimes the destruction starts from the inside. The very people you trust turn on you, and the protectors become the oppressors.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
ASSALAMO ALAIKOUM WRWB
hmm thats a really bad incident – dont know what to say really – may be the guard was letting out all his frustations on the poor driver. Lets hope the situation in Pakistan improves.
I still remember Islamabad without these barricades and the smooth traffic flows. All this terrorism has made everyone conscious of safe-guarding themselves for any unfortunate incident. But yes, sometimes the security process if taken to a point where it just becomes irritating rather than comforting.
A sad incident! Intolerance in our society is mounting by every passing moment, we have no threshold level and a little incident will spark a verbal and physical assault, we see this on our roads, university and even restaurants. If we can put a tab on our rage at an individual level it can result in incremental decline in such incidents of violence
“moat Ka Eak Din Moye’en hay”