Just when the perception was gaining ground that the state was finally getting a handle on the existential threat from terrorism, Lahorites have received repeated rude shocks. On Monday a suicide bomber blew up an explosive-laden vehicle outside a “safe-house” located in Model Town, an affluent residential locality, killing 12, including a woman in a nearby house. This was to be followed four days later on Friday with an even more bloody suicide attack in the cantonment area of Lahore, which claimed at least forty-five lives, and four more explosions on the night of the same day in another Lahore area.

This is the first attack of its kind in the province this year, but second within two years in the same locality targeting an investigating agency. Despite protestations to the contrary, it says volume about the scant respect our elected leaderships have for the life and property of the ordinary citizen.

The devastating attack came just a week after Maj-Gen Tariq Khan, one of the most experienced commanders in the war against terrorism, boasted to a correspondent of The London Times that because of the kind of hits the TTP has taken (in recent weeks), it is no longer significant. He said in the same interview: “It (the TTP) has ended as a cohesive force. It doesn’t exist anymore as an umbrella organisation that can influence militancy anywhere.” The general might be right in the strategic sense, but so far as the long arm of the terrorist network is concerned, it retains the capacity to inflict collateral damage on the hapless common man, as it amply demonstrated in Lahore the other day.

The incident is not the first of its kind in a residential area of Lahore. Twice in the past two years the FIA building on Hameed Nizami Road was targeted by a suicide squad of the TTP, and last year the ISI headquarters and the Civil Lines Police Station located on Shahrah-e-Fatima Jinnah was struck in a daredevil attack. Instead of simply relocating such offices, which are prime targets of the terrorists, the authorities simply closed the busy commercial thoroughfare to traffic. The road was reopened by an order of the Lahore High Court, but only after the ISI had rebuilt its provincial headquarters into a fortress immune from further terrorist attacks.

That the intelligence agencies’ offices and their so-called safe-houses are located in residential areas despite their posing a clear danger to people’s lives shows utter disregard for the safety of the common man. Residents living in the vicinity of the Monday blast in Lahore confided to the media that the facility had been there for the past three years and blindfolded persons were often brought there. Security in the form of barriers, checkpoints and policing is stifling for the whole neighbourhood.

Adding insult to injury for the citizen is the manner in which our so-called VIPs move around in vast state-provided fleets of SUVs and police and security escorts. The ailment not only afflicts politicians, government and police functionaries, officers of law including judges of the superior courts but also many opposition figures. It has become a status symbol for many to demonstrate their importance in society in direct proportion to the size and quality of their security detail.

Frequent traffic blocks to facilitate “VIP movement” not only results in delays and collateral traffic congestion, it creates resentment among those who have to wait in long traffic jams. It is indeed a humiliating experience to see our VIPs’ motorcade moving at almost supersonic speed while a policeman is blocking you and your vehicle’s way. Another innovation which has been added to VIP culture is in the form of a vehicle leading the VIP motorcade, warning motorists to clear the way for speedy movement. The Punjab chief minister’s senior advisor, Zulfiqar Khosa, moves in this fashion. The other day the Sardar from Dera Ghazi Khan scolded a journalist for addressing him as “sahib” rather than as “sardar.”

Punjab chief minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has warned the Lahore traffic police, in his trademark admonishing style, to improve the traffic system in the city. Perhaps he is not aware that between him and Prime Minister Gilani, both living in DHA Lahore, the residents of the locality have to suffer delays and inconvenience, precisely owing to their movements.

The federal government is spending huge amounts on the import of bullet-proof vehicles for ministers and government functionaries. Former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, who ordered a number of purpose-built bullet-proof Mercedes Jeeps not only for his own use but also for some key ministers, started the trend. Now with the security threat heightened, virtually every federal minister is demanding a bullet-proof vehicle from the government. Interior Minister Rehman Malik, whose job description is protection of citizens’ security, has distinguished himself for his detailed and well-equipped security escort in Islamabad.

At a time when the country’s economy under an IMF programme is in the doldrums, the VIPs’ regal perks and privileges are not confined to the ground. Moving around in luxury jets at state expense in the name of improving efficiency and better security has become the norm rather than the exception. Apart from the president and the prime minister, the governors and chief ministers of the provinces and heads of defence institutions and intelligence agencies enjoy the luxury of having planes at their disposal.

During the tenure of Mr Aziz, who was ostentatiously fond of private jets from his Citibank days, the federal government went on an ordering spree of modern aircrafts and helicopters. The fleet now includes two Gulfstream jets G4 and G45, purchased at a price of 65 million dollars, and five brand-new Agusta helicopters, purchased for 15 million dollars apiece. Qatar Airways, in exchange for some lucrative routes, donated a luxury-fitted Airbus 310 to the-then prime minister’s fleet. Too expensive to fly, it is rarely used, and is idle on the ground.

The Punjab government bought a Beachcraft three years ago for six million dollars. There is a tug of war between the governor and the chief minister over who has primacy over its use. The Sindh government, not to be left behind, bought a Learjet two years ago for 12 million dollars. The Balochistan government owns a five-year-old Learjet, while the NWFP has distinguished itself for owning an old turbofan.

It is only in a poor country like Pakistan that the concept of leaders flying about in assigned private planes at the taxpayers’ expense is in vogue. Singapore and Sri Lanka rely on time-sharing and charter to economise. Even the Queen of England, despite owning an old royal jet, relies on charter or scheduled airline for air travel.

According to a source well versed in commercial and private aviation, Pakistan is second only to the USA and Saudi Arabia, with the possible exception of India, for having the largest fleet of passenger jets in the public sector, all at the taxpayer’s expense.

Notwithstanding the need for foolproof security measures for our leaders in these turbulent times, the common man feels increasingly alienated when the state fails to take even a modicum of safety measures for the people. According to media reports, both the federal and provincial governments plainly refused to entertain repeated written requests from provincial and federal intelligence agencies to move their offices from residential areas in Lahore.

Ironically, lack of funds was cited as the reason. On the other hand, the exchequer is spending billions on bullet-proof vehicles, helicopters, airplanes and elite security forces to protect the VIPs. The pertinent question to ask is: are there two Pakistans? One for the rich and the famous and the other for the wretched common man, who in any case cannot make two ends meet!

It is sickening to note that while the people of Punjab are under constant threat from terrorism, our provincial leaders are too busy settling political and personal scores on the behest of their masters. The recent exchange of harsh statements in the media between Governor Salmman Taseer and provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah, followed by an exchange of equally rude letters between the governor and the chief minister, are totally out of sync. It is time the higher leaderships of both the PPP and the PML-N put their proxies on a tight leash, instead of patting them on the back.