“Stop!” is heard in the vicinity at spontaneous intervals, followed by utter chaos around the markets. Four black cruisers come dashing into the village, with the roads instantly ceasing to allow any other movement possible. Pedestrians hesitate to move one more step, and cars and motorcycles sporadically come to a halt.
“Stop, for your lordship is here!” is something the lordship loves to hear even though literally the sentence uttered is just “Stop and don’t move.”
This is a very telling and extremely common phrase known to Pakistanis almost every day in certain areas when that ‘lordship’ needs something, a grocery item per se.
“All you need is to show us how much power you have. Make us feel like pests whose life has little to no value. “Does it feel good?” is yet almost always a feeling induced in the public made to wait for the roads to open. Whether these lordships are scared of the public on account of security or not, it is true the feeling of pride and power is too great to subside; the monarchical authority that one tries to propagate around his village is sadly a cultural item now.
Often I imagine the municipal ministers and monsters trying to construct their own little fortresses to claim one small part of the authority so loved by mankind.
Most importantly, and tragically, these VIP cars trample down innocent pedestrians, bikers, and sometimes even cars if they dare to penetrate their way. How many lives were lost in the ambulances that stood blaring their sirens, screaming for the helplessness in a constitutional country which fails to realise the misery of its citizenry? If one were to compile and document stories of this silent crime, one could stack a whole book down.
Almost hilariously, I recently came across this meme on Instagram around the Strait of Hormuz. Since Pakistan is among the few countries whose ships were allowed to pass, the meme showed a ship on which was placated with a green number plate, a clear symbol of VIP authority. It is analogous to how these green-numbered plates are always provided the easy way out of challans, ring road tolls, and any other traffic nuance. If it happened to be passing the Strait, it would undoubtedly pass.
This paradox is stark and cruel. In a country already struggling to avoid the chokehold of the economy, this lavish and insecure cultural phenomenon is a burden on our progress. In a country where the ministers and municipal lords fear the public and try to envision submission from them, how can we expect a common ground for understanding to exist between each other and work towards eradicating real issues?
Certainly, our tax money is used very evidently on these very luxurious expenditures which cause our own distress, our delays, and our countless lives lost. Where is the change? Maybe it is so down the road that even if we overspeed to reach the end, we might be stopped midway to give the challan for overspeeding, and the VIP car is once again allowed to reach first to manipulate the end again and stretch the road longer.