Barrister Usman Ali, Ph.D.
The fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad claimed the lives of fourteen newborn babies. Of the fifteen infants in the nursery, only one could be rescued. These children had been brought to the hospital in the hope that they would be safe, yet the very place meant to protect them became their final resting place. Their parents have no words with which to say goodbye, while the state has no convincing answers to offer them.
Several reports, some of them unverified, have emerged about what caused the fire. Only a transparent investigation can establish the facts. But determining how the fire started is only part of the issue. We must also ask whether adequate measures were in place to contain it, evacuate the infants and provide an immediate emergency response. In a ward where oxygen is in use, even a small spark can become catastrophic. Functional fire-safety systems, accessible emergency exits, trained staff and regular equipment inspections are not optional precautions in such facilities; they are basic requirements. The investigation must establish whether these safeguards existed at PIMS and, if they did, why they failed when they were needed most.
Tragically, this is not an unfamiliar story. Sometimes a hospital catches fire; sometimes a school roof collapses; and sometimes negligence turns a passenger vehicle into a mass grave. The location changes, as do the names of those who die, but the response from the state and the political establishment remains largely the same.
The government expresses regret, promises to punish those responsible and announces an inquiry committee. The opposition declares the government incompetent. Television channels devote a few days to special coverage, while outrage surges across social media. Then another controversy or tragedy captures public attention, and the previous disaster gradually fades from the national memory.
Instead of confronting their failures, governments often retreat behind defensive statements and attempts to deflect responsibility. The opposition, meanwhile, treats the tragedy as an opportunity to embarrass the government and score political points. In the ensuing war of accusations and counterclaims, the suffering of the affected families, and the central question of accountability, become secondary. The opposition makes allegations, the government issues denials, a great deal of noise is generated, and nothing meaningful emerges.
The uncomfortable truth is that when today’s opposition was in power, it responded to such tragedies in much the same way as the present government does now. Likewise, the parties governing today often preferred political point-scoring to serious proposals and sustained oversight when they sat on the opposition benches. The roles have changed repeatedly, but the behaviour has not. That is precisely why we remain trapped in the same cycle of negligence, institutional failure and inaction.
This has been the grim pattern of nearly eight decades: a tragedy, official condolences, routine criticism, a few days of outrage, an inconclusive inquiry, collective amnesia, and then another tragedy. We have learned how to mourn disasters, but not how to learn from them. Accountability is promised after every incident, yet we have failed to build systems capable of identifying and addressing dangers before more lives are lost.
Inquiry committees are not inherently the problem; their ineffectiveness is. The public is rarely told whether a committee completed its report, what it recommended, whom it held responsible or whether any of its findings were implemented. Reports disappear into government archives, and once public pressure subsides, the matter is quietly forgotten. In this way, an inquiry becomes a mechanism for managing public anger rather than a means of delivering justice and reform.
The investigation into the PIMS tragedy must not end by blaming a technician, a junior employee or a faulty piece of equipment. If the safety systems were defective, who was responsible for inspecting them? If funding was requested for repairs, who withheld it? If funds were approved, where were they spent? If an emergency plan existed, when was the staff trained to carry it out? If the building did not meet basic safety standards, who authorised the operation of a critical-care ward there? Accountability must reach those who made the decisions, not stop with the weakest people in the chain of command.
The opposition’s responsibility extends beyond simply declaring the government guilty. It should demand that the inquiry report be presented before Parliament and that hospitals across the country undergo comprehensive safety inspections. The media, for its part, must avoid broadcasting unverified claims or turning a human tragedy into a spectacle. Its duty is not merely to show grieving parents in the immediate aftermath, but to return weeks and months later and ask what became of the investigation, who was held responsible and which reforms were actually implemented.
Public anger will also matter only if it develops into clear and sustained demands. The affected families need more than financial compensation. They are entitled to the truth, to justice and to a credible assurance that another family will not lose a child in the same way.
The federal government must publish the PIMS inquiry report within the promised timeframe. All hospitals, particularly nurseries, intensive-care units and wards where oxygen is used, should undergo independent fire-safety audits. Annual safety certification, regular emergency drills, clearly marked evacuation routes and an effective system of administrative and criminal liability for negligence are essential. These measures must be introduced before the next tragedy, not announced after it.
The newborns who died at PIMS were not merely a statistic, a news item or an entry in an official file. They were the hope and future of fourteen families. If the report is suppressed, responsibility is shifted onto junior employees and reforms remain confined to paper, it will amount to a second injustice against those children and their parents.
Nations are not safe because disasters never occur. They are safe because, when disaster strikes, the truth is established, those responsible are held to account and the system is changed. The choice before us is whether the PIMS tragedy will become another fleeting headline, or the beginning of genuine accountability and lasting reform.
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