INNOCENT girls died at a school in Makkah last week. Hapless at the hands of misguided men, their short lives came to an end in an inferno of fire and smoke. And as the facts of the incident continue to emerge, it is apparent that this was more of a criminal act than naught.
The alleged foul actions of some members of the Commission for the Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice who continued to resist the efforts of the Civil Defense personnel in getting these girls moved to safer shelter is an unpardonable act. There was no virtue involved in this unfortunate incident. This was purely an act of repugnance!
With each passing moment, hopes of being saved faded and a life was abruptly terminated as some of these people allegedly fought and argued with firefighters and the crowds who gathered to lend a hand in the rescue efforts.
If proven to be true, those Commission members who may have been directly involved with the promotion of this tragedy must be criminally prosecuted. The relatives of those who perished will demand no less from men who callously aided in the unnecessary death of their children.
This Commission may have lost sight of its agenda and vision in recent years. Under the guise of promoting virtue, they apparently have overstepped their bounds, if indeed these accusations are substantiated by facts. The charter of the Commission must be re-examined and confined to determined areas of responsibilities in today’s times. They have no place hanging around outside schools or shopping malls!
And let us not forget the other culpable parties, such as the Presidency of Girl’s Education. Emerging facts have pointed to the voluminous corruption that is rampant in this organization. This is an organization which has outlived its use. And rather than conduct an honest and fact-finding investigation into this senseless tragedy, its director has been busy in the press in pointing the finger of blame on everyone else!
Let me remind him of some of the facts that have come to light in case he has forgotten. The building was older than that allowed by law to be rented as a school. The maximum building capacity was less than a third of the number of children enrolled. The rent paid for that building by this bureaucracy was five times the market value! Need I say more?
No, undoubtedly this director will continue to fault the cleaning lady preparing the tea or the guard who locked and chained the doors of the school. And not the system for which he is directly responsible! He should have been the first one on the scene on that tragic morning, but instead chose to gather his time and resources behind locked doors in developing the excuses for questions he knew were sure to emerge.
Is there a justifiable necessity for this organization anymore? Or should it be disbanded, and put under the auspices of the Ministry of Education? The argument I put forward to you to support the latter is that banks, which employ a large number of people, both males and females, do not have two separate ministries to report to.
And what of the role of the Civil Defense Department? Would this not be a lesson for them to take their tasks more seriously where human lives are involved? Rather than pester businessmen on the numbers of fire-extinguishers and water sprinklers in empty warehouses, should they not be demanding more of such where young lives are involved. And what about periodic inspections or fire-drills? Is that not part of their charter?
It is indeed a sad chapter of our times. For how long can we allow our society to be locked and chained as the doors were on that school? I wept silently in sorrow then, but I rage with anger today. A rage that will not dissipate until the guilty are brought to justice. Department heads of public service organizations must be made to realize that the ultimate buck stops at their doors and none other.
In the rush to get to the absolute truth, let us not forget the on-going pain of those closely touched by this tragedy. For long after the words in this column have faded from print, the grief of those loved ones these girls left behind shall linger on. Should there not be a price to be paid for all this sorrow?