FOURTEEN newborns did not need to be burned alive for us to realise how deep the rot runs here. There are equally if not more damning indictments of this decrepit system that play out daily in Thatta, Mastung, Rajanpur, Rawalakot and Bannu. But when babies are locked into a room on fire in Islamabad’s biggest public hospital, with no staff member in sight, there must be a reckoning.

Immediate accountability is certainly necessary, but removing a health secretary here and there is an easy escape for those at a much higher pay grade. Accidents happen, but the perpetual immiseration and oppression of the masses is not an accident. It is by design.

When the interior minister deliberately remarked that the ‘system has failed’ some weeks ago, he neglected to mention that this same system works very well for those with power and money. Once upon a time, as the peerless Arif Hasan documented, Pakistan’s militarised ruling class shared space and facilities with the ordinary masses. Take public universities, for instance. There were also communal parks, cinemas, and even basic health services.

But now those with deep pockets and connections want nothing........

© Dawn