On January 5th, two major events coincided
LAHORE: On January 5th, two major events coincided, that is, the chehlum gathering for the martyrs of the Faizabad sit-in and the seventh death anniversary of the slain Punjab governor, Salmaan Taseer. While the members of Lashkar-e-Taiba staged rallies and a gathering at Liaquat Bagh Rawalpindi for an address stretched over hours, civil society members could not organise any significant event in the federal capital or in the adjacent districts to pay homage to the assassinated governor, for reasons best known to the authorities concerned. However, in a democratic political setup, adhering to the notion of coexistence is equally important.
For something not as scaled and big as the chehlum gathering, the civil society could have been provided the same cover for organising a vigil on Salmaan Taseer’s death anniversary.
Zainab Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2018.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
