The Buck Stops Here

In 1945, US President Harry S. Truman put a plain wooden sign on his Oval Office desk: “THE BUCK STOPS HERE”. It was a rejection of the old poker phrase “pass the buck”, meaning to pass the blame to someone else. Truman’s point was simple: the final decision, and the final blame, ends with the person in charge. Since the birth of Pakistan, we have seen various tragedies and in every case, including the most humiliating and tragic separation of our eastern wing, we are still unsure who was the main culprit, as no one had been punished for criminal negligence. Leadership is all about presenting oneself for any failure because victory has many fathers. Rarely have we seen in our life any head of Government or military taking that responsibility or ownership and surrendering his rank or appointment. Two-member criminal gang arrested for street theft, fraud On the morning of August 26, 2026, a fire broke out in the Mother and Child Health ward on the third floor of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad. By the time the smoke cleared, 14 newborns were dead. After 14 infants died in PIMS Hospital, who takes responsibility? Parents stood on the road outside, waiting. “For two hours I kept crying and wailing, ” said Jaweria, whose days-old baby died. “The fire erupted at 6: 00 am, rescue and authorities reached at 9: 00 am, ” said Khurram Mehmood, who lost his 3-day-old daughter. To hell with you, rescue team and police if you can’t save a single life. Babies burnt to death there, but nobody could save them. Witnesses spoke of locked doors, thick black smoke, and guards allegedly preventing people from leaving. Only 1 of 15 infants in the nursery was rescued. Then came the statements. Authorities blamed a faulty air conditioner. Then a nebuliser blast. Officials rejected claims of delay, while witnesses said rescue took hours. The most disturbing was the scene where the Health Minister was seen using offensive language with the aggrieved families and later giving a political statement that he presents himself to the Prime Minister for any inquiry. No, Sir, you don’t pass the buck to the Prime Minister, but your conscience should have forced you to leave your office and take responsibility for this criminal negligence. Days later, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif suspended 8 officials and called for criminal proceedings. The hospital administration was blamed for failing to implement fire safety protocols. An inquiry found no alarms or sprinklers in the nursery, and that emergency services were not contacted until six minutes after the fire began. But in the first 48 hours, no one said the three words that matter most, I am responsible. When President Truman mentioned that “BUCK STOPS HERE”, he meant 3 things: No excuses – You don’t blame Congress, the weather, or the last guy. Second, No scapegoats – When Korea went bad or when he fired MacArthur, he owned it publicly, and lastly, Control what you can – You can’t control every crisis. You can control whether you dodge it. What happens when no one says “The Buck Stops Here”? Auqaf secretary inspects ongoing development, renovation works at Data Darbar The PIMS fire wasn’t just a technical failure. An interim inquiry found the hospital had a previous fire in July and failed to fix safety gaps. The nursery was in an old building. Oxygen lines may have accelerated the blaze. In a “pass the buck” system, everyone points sideways: Hospital says “It was an electrical fault”, Rescue mentions, “We arrived immediately”, Witnesses*: “It took hours”, leadership blames hospital staff and politicians blame bureaucracy. Meanwhile, parents ask: “Why did the doctors and nurses leave the children there? ” This is exactly what Truman warned against. When responsibility is diffused across committees, departments, and contractors, no one feels the weight. And when no one feels the weight, 14 babies die. 2, 496 police personnel deployed for churches’ security Epictetus, the slave-turned-philosopher Marcus Aurelius, taught the same: You can’t control events. You can control your judgement of them, and your actions. A hospital administrator can’t control every electrical wire. But they can control whether alarms are installed after the last fire. Whether exits are unlocked and efficiency of Emergency Response. Nurses could have ensured safe evacuation of babies. That’s where the buck stops. To his credit, PM Shehbaz Sharif did suspend officials and order an investigation, saying “those responsible for criminal negligence do not deserve any concession”. Punjab province also ordered reviews of hospital fire safety. But suspensions after tragedy are not leadership. Leadership is the sign on the desk before the fire. General hold-up conducted against helmetless motorcyclists across city For Pakistan’s public hospitals, for corporations, for every institution, the lesson is Truman’s: Put someone’s name on the decision and audit safety like lives depend on it because they do. When system fails and lives are lost, don’t form 3 committees to blame the air conditioner; rather, stand up and say: “This happened on my watch. ” Fourteen families in Islamabad will never hear their baby cry. No report will bring them back. But we can honour them by building a culture where “The Buck Stops Here” isn’t a slogan on a wall. It’s a practice, because in the end, leadership isn’t about who gets credit, it’s about who takes responsibility and ownership when there is none to be had. Punjab govt promotes 46 PMS officers to Grade-18 As Truman knew, and as those parents on the road outside PIMS learned the hardest way. If the buck doesn’t stop with someone, it rolls over everyone. Such accidents are not coincidence or innocent mistake, but a series of neglect and apathy. All those from top to bottom couldn’t break the chain of events or intervene to stop such an occurrence is manifestation of rotten system and lack of accountability. Air Marshal Aamir Masood (Retd)The writer is the CEO of Omer e Rawan Foundation.

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