By: Asem Mustafa Awan
A small child selling balloons to children like him in the park nearly lost his life when he was mauled to near death by dogs owned by rich elites in Iqbal Park Lahore.
The child stood in the park selling balloons. He was making a living and trying to survive in land of the pure which only supports elite as others here are just barely surviving.
The United Nations figures shows Pakistan population below poverty line is 25 per cent while the truth on the streets and on the road speaks otherwise, it could be three times more and not less. The lock down has shown it all. Millions faced food shortage besides work and are still faced with uncertainties as what will happen next.
There is no mechanism in place that can ensure all will be well. It is people looking after people and Pakistan takes its strides. The government if it exists is still in the process of negotiations and making committees that result in nothing.
The balloon boy is slap on the face of all these policy makers who have presented slide shows for the uplift of millions but this one exception ruined it all for them as it showed all the loop holes in policies that are for the people.
The elite with their expensive pedigree dogs walk past the child who feared for his life resulting in adrenaline to which the dog retaliated. The rest is a story of screams and pain which the entire nation does day in and day out.
The Family Park in Iqbal Town, Lahore specifically has directives that it is for women and children. The question arise, why these elite with their dogs were in the park and why its owner couldn’t control the dog.
The developed world has rules where the dog walker has to ensure the safety of the animal as well that off the people that are there and there are muzzles on dogs which have aggressive behavior.
Sadly in land of the pure the laws are there but the implementation is not seen.
Now what happens after the incident. Will the child get compensation is a question that will remain unanswered as there is possibility that anyone asking the dog walking elites can be meted with the same fate as that off the boy.
The newspapers are filled with various reports in which feudals of Pakistan released their dogs on their workers who dared to standup to them and its repetitive on yearly basis.
The dogs itself is not to be blamed as there are no ‘bad dogs’ but ‘bad owners’. Dogs are just their prized possession for display and often put in fights where they fight to death pleasing their cruel masters who have elephant egos.
In developed world the dog owner gets fined besides punishment and dog is destroyed. The out of court settlement from the dog owner happens when the aggrieved accepts a compensation that is mutually agreed and dog life is saved. Dogs are the most important member of the western society as with destroyed family structure it’s the dog that is the only companion that shares their woes and responds equally.
It is never the dog, it is the owner that the dog represents and in the case of child getting mauled by the dog depicts clearly the mindset of the owner who had other motives besides walking the dog in the family park.
This scribe regretfully will not follow the follow up of the story as nothing is going to happen and the child will be a story that will have no end as it is a regular happening in land of the pure.
This scribe however promises its readers if some action is taken against the rich elite will share it with its readers.
The child would be back selling balloon in few days and life would go on as usual. Such is the sad state of affairs and tomorrow there would be another story and it will be more horrifying and gruesome than the earlier one.