The state has tried to instill terror among people
KARACHI: A very wrong move was made by the government on October 27, in which a crackdown took place in Islamabad where the PTI Youth Convention was about to be held. The PTI workers were pulled, beaten and forcefully dragged by the Islamabad police. Female PTI workers were also disrespectfully treated while being arrested.
The PTI Youth Convention was a general meeting, not a protest. Secondly, the way workers were arrested is not acceptable, as evidenced on camera footage. The move could create several problems for the PML-N government as it is not a sane move. It could enrage citizens of the state and make trouble for the government itself.
In a democratic system if people find something unjust in their society or country, then they have the right to protest it. Many protests have taken place in the world and were never attacked. When the Panama papers were released to the media, a huge wave of protests took place in Iceland against former prime minister Sigmundur Davio Gunnlaugsson, who used to own an off-shore company. He thus resigned. Similarly, environmentalists have been demonstrating for years without facing trouble. In September 2016, protests were held for refugees in the United Kingdom and no crackdown took place despite opposition.
In a democratic state, people have the right to demonstrate their disapproval to certain actions in the form of protest. The government cannot marginalise a group of people with the excuse of a ‘crackdown’, held even before the PTI’s main protest day. The state has tried to instill terror among people, so that they won’t participate in the protests.
Saroj Rizwan Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2016.
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