Liam Neeson’s Role At Judicial Complex Peshawar
Yes, that’s right! A generic version of Laim Neeson’s role has been played within the premises of Judicial Complex Peshawar but not for the movie titled Taken directed by Pierre Morel, rather as an unwanted incident, directed by nature’s lesson.
One of the best movies of it’s time, Taken was released on 30th January, 2009, with the lead role played by Liam Neeson as ‘Bryan Mills’. This story of Bryan Mills is that of a retired CIA agent who loves his daughter very much and reluctantly allows her to travel to Paris where she gets trapped by a group of kidnappers. Her father being familiar with the complexities of the law enforcement system loses hope and patience and hence embarks on the journey of taking the law into his hands to rescue her.
Whereas in Peshawar, even after the recent incident involving loss of human lives owing to security lapse at Quetta Judicial Complex and many others, a less intense but an eye-opening event took place on the 4th of January, 2017 within the center of Judicial Complex Peshawar: an off-duty policeman shot dead two men who were under trial and with whom he had personal enmity. According to some sources the men under trial had killed the relatives of this policeman. The handcuffed men under trial (and already behind bars) were brought to the court of Additional District and Session Judge, Peshawar for the proceedings but could not keep the policeman from being tempted to take the law into his own hands.
The point where the shooting took place comes after multiple security checkpoints by the police and there isn’t much to wonder about what may have led to the untoward incident, as stopping an official designate for security clearance is unfortunately tantamount to disgracing his profession or community, unless you want to cast a shadow over your cordial relationship or unprofessional mistrust over a colleague.
This incident has raised many questions which, like in many other incidents, will slip away from the discussion table and be brushed under the rug. It is certainly a matter of grave concern how the shooter brought a pistol within such barricaded premises during his off-duty time and what made him lose patience and trust in judicial proceedings, despite the perpetrators already being handcuffed and under trial.
It is time for us to be responsible citizens of this country and be role models in our profession and life in general for the sake of our future generations. The cases at our courts need to be pursued efficiently with no important issues of fact or law being unturned at whim while the behaviour of judges must also be humble, knowledgeable and gentle. Through social awareness programs, the gap between the general public and judiciary could be eliminated while people must be motivated and supported to pursue a legal course of action for the redressal of their grievances and conflicts. Law enforcement agencies (LEAs), being the main force in fighting evil, should be regularly monitored for mental stress and must be properly counselled to understand the sanctity of their duty.
Last but not the least, security checks at the main entrance of courts must be enhanced on digital, electronic and scientific lines instead of the traditional checking by hand, while the lawyers community should not be exempted from security checks. A dedicated security checking channel could be made at the main entrance of courts for lawyers so that no one with the fake identity of a lawyer or any lawyer with prohibited material or unlicensed weapon is allowed inside court premises.
I pray that this incident serves as a turning point to make us realize our faults at each level of the social and professional hierarchy and that it does not get repeated in the years to come.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of CourtingTheLaw.com or any organization with which he might be associated.
