road traffic stopping for politicians motorcades

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
1

this happens so often..like atleast once in two three weeks…whenever a minister or the prime minister or president has to pass through a certain road, the whole road is cleared, and traffic all around is stopped until the motorcade of the politician [which consists of like a million cars *rolleyes ] safely passes through..

today we were stopped for about 10-15 minutes…last time it was for more than 20 mins…and who knows how long the cars had been waiting before our car arrived there…and i’m talking about main shahrah-e-faisal here…which is like karachi’s main main road and most working ppl pass thru it…

there was an ambulance among the cars this time.. :bummer: these 10-15 minutes might have been the line between life and death for the person in that ambulance.. :bummer: Allah o Alim…i hope whoever in it was safe…how frustated are the family members gona feel abt this? wont they hate the govt and the system forever if something was to happen :bummer:

seriously…this is really NOT fair…and this is soooo insensitive…soooo wrong…

i dont even get it…what’s the point of blocking the traffic?

-) security?

if a person who has to attack the motorcade wants to, he’ll find a way, as proven in the pres mush attack. clearing up the roads is imho not going to help at all.
and why are our leaders so darpok? and why can’t they give more credit to the public? r they scared to travel on the roads? of their awaam? the pakistanis on the streets are not terrorists.
and besides if the common man is travelling on the roads without protection, then why should our minister get this extra protection?

all this is whats gona cause hatred against them…if they are more confident of the public, they will win hearts…it is by distancing themselves that they grow resentment among the public…

  • ) saving time of our politicians?

*cough *cough ha ha ha rolleyes

should i laugh or cry at this? :rolleyes: as if they do something constructive with their time anyway…

but if the common man, all these job holders, can afford to waste hours everyday in traffic jams, and they can stop the whole economy of the country…thats what stopping traffic on one of khi’s biggest corporate roads shahrah-e-faisal is akin to imho…then these ministers should also be going thru the same system, they r part of the country…

they shud atleast know what the common man is going thru…

why do they take these privileges? its soooooo disgusting honestly…its totally unfair and unislamic…

and yeah…whenever mush or jamali or the cm is passing thru, the roads are cleaned, the sides are painted, the whole thing is prepped up…the khadday in the roads are filled up n so on…

i wonder if they even know what the common pakistani roads r like coz they never really travel without all this happenning to the roads first…

and another thing…sure our politicians may be used to a rich lifestyle, they are all rich waderas and chodhrys :rolleyes: but pakistan is a poor country, we cannot afford such luxuries for them from the public exchequer..if they want luxuries like expensive imported cars and want to govern in style, they r welcome to, but they should pay for this with their own pocket…the average person can’t afford a small car/ motorbike and our politicians travel around in latest model wali imported luxury cars..!!! not just the pres or pm but even provincial ministers!!!

mush had travelled in a pia plane some months back i think, with the awaam…how come that dint become the norm?

our politicians are born in rich families, go abroad for education, come back to the lap of luxury…they r never in touch with the common man and his problems…no wonder they dont even know what is going on in the country and are not able to help…

how can our politicians be sooo insensitive…do they not have common sense? r they totally unaware? :disgust: this issue has been raised sooo many times…but they never take note…sigh…i just keep thinking abt that ambulance :confused:

2

Re: road traffic stopping for politicians motorcades

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by irem: *i dont even get it...what's the point of blocking the traffic?

-) security?

if a person who has to attack the motorcade wants to, he'll find a way, as proven in the pres mush attack. clearing up the roads is imho not going to help at all.
and why are our leaders so darpok? and why can't they give more credit to the public? r they scared to travel on the roads? of their awaam? the pakistanis on the streets are not terrorists.
and besides if the common man is travelling on the roads without protection, then why should our minister get this extra protection?
[/QUOTE]

Of course it's for security. Our leaders are so "darpok", as you say, because their motorcades have lately devloped a tendency to come under terrorist attack.

Clearing all other traffic from the routes accomplishes 3 key functions - it makes it much harder for terrorists to approach the key person's vehicle, thus making a successful attack much less likely.

Secondly, it makes it easier to identify attacking vehicles so they can be neutralised with gunfire. If a government official's vehicle is attacked in the midst of traffic, it will be difficult to open fire on the attackers without killing bystanders too

Thirdly, it protects civilians in case a terrorist attack occurs. As you will have noticed in the recent attacks on our leaders, the bombs tend to kill nearby civilians.

Imagine the carnage if the president's car was sitting in the middle of a traffic jam in a packed street when the car next to it turned out to be a suicide car bomber - the slaughter of civilians would be horrific.

The unfortunate truth these days is that the presence of a senior government official of Pakistan in a public place constitutes a threat to all nearby, because there is a probability of his being the target of an attack. Clearing away all traffic decreases the likelyhood of this occuring, makes it easier to defend the official without collateral damage against civilians, and also protects civilians by making sure they do not get near enough to be caught up in an attack.

And sadly, even ambulances must be prevented from coming through. Because if they were not, the most logical way to attack a government motorcade would be to hijack an ambulance, pack it full of explosive, and pretend to be rushing a dying man to hospital. Once you penetrate the security cordon, it would be a simple matter to accelerate towards the core cars in the motorcade and detonate the explosives.

3

Well thats the way the world goes round. But spekaing as a security specialist depends on who was on the motorcade and by the sound of what your saying, the Pakistan Security Experts know jack sh$T since you always use and block roads that will cause the most minimal public inconvience unless its a state visit/Emergency or absolute necessity as in Rawalpindi.

By the way nice post and hope the person in the ambulance was ok! Inshallah!!!

4

Tha Jackal thanks and inshallah :slight_smile:

MS i wana type a long reply but i’m too sleepy :smack:
lekin, i’ll say this, i dont agree with ur logic and stand by what i said originally :stuck_out_tongue:

5

It happens in the following countries as well:

  1. US
  2. UK
  3. France
  4. Germany
  5. Switzerland ....
  6. Iraq

All the countries do it. It aint new. It is life.

6

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by CM: *
It happens in the following countries as well:

  1. US
  2. UK
  3. France
  4. Germany
  5. Switzerland ....
  6. Iraq

All the countries do it. It aint new. It is life.
[/QUOTE]

Very true. It happens regulalrly in London in respect to the movements of UK government ministers, leading members of the royal family and arrival of foreign leaders etc.

7

Re: road traffic stopping for politicians motorcades

[QUOTE]
Originally posted by irem: *
**there was an ambulance among the cars this time.. these 10-15 minutes might have been the line between life and death for the person in that ambulance.. Allah o Alim...i hope whoever in it was safe...how frustated are the family members gona feel abt this? wont they hate the govt and the system forever if something was to happen *
[/QUOTE]

It doesn't matter if it occurs in other countries as well. Other countries regularly drop bombs on impoverished countries; that doesn't justify our doing it. The ambulance aspect is particularly striking because what if, for the patient who is inside the ambulance, it's a matter literally of life and death? Every single second could be precious, the difference between whether or not the woman, man, or child dies or lives. Is fifteen minutes an acceptable wait for the sick individual and who has the courage to state that acceptability to the patient's loved ones ? If the patient dies because he's been waiting 15 minutes inside an ambulance for falana minister to pass through in his escort, is that acceptable? i am not so certain it is.

8

It never happens in other countries to the extent it happens in Pakistan. Here every two bit wadera has his own army of bodyguard thugs to accompany them everywhere.

9

If you live in Islamabad/Rawalpindi, you get used to it. Especially the area where Musharraf was attacked, people were getting sick and tired of a daily blockade twice, one for the decoy and one for the general himself.

10

Re: Re: road traffic stopping for politicians motorcades

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Nadia_H: * Is fifteen minutes an acceptable wait for the sick individual and who has the courage to state that acceptability to the patient's loved ones ? If the patient dies because he's been waiting 15 minutes inside an ambulance for falana minister to pass through in his escort, is that acceptable? i am not so certain it is.
[/QUOTE]

Of course it's acceptable. It's better than risking the instability that would follow as assasination where terrorists used an ambulance as a disguise to penetrate the security cordon, perhaps even with a terrorist pretending to be an injured or dying man in the back to add a greater show.

11

Re: Re: Re: road traffic stopping for politicians motorcades

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by mAd_ScIeNtIsT: *

Of course it's acceptable. It's better than risking the instability that would follow as assasination where terrorists used an ambulance as a disguise to penetrate the security cordon, perhaps even with a terrorist pretending to be an injured or dying man in the back to add a greater show.
[/QUOTE]

That i have to agree with. It is a normal fact of life. Life aint about doing what is right, it is about doing things for the greater good. They arent always teh same.

12

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Malik73: *

Very true. It happens regulalrly in London in respect to the movements of UK government ministers, leading members of the royal family and arrival of foreign leaders etc.
[/QUOTE]

Well i have studied quite a lot on the CPS : Crown Protection Service and have trained in Manchester and London with ex-CPS officers on CP drills (Close Protection). The CPS have a policy that they only offer certian levles of protection and road blocks are only deemed necessary if there is a sensitive state visit or Royal Visit. Ministers get little support as for city mayors they just get a Hallmarked car and a Bodyguard.

Living in Rawalpindi, i have become use to it often, every morning 8:30 mushy leaves Army House, and thats when we are stuck next to zardari's house. But it must be done... :)