LAHORE:
Pakistan, being a nuclear state, is expected to enforce the Constitution across the length and breadth of the country. However, citizens have a right to exercise dissent and protest in a civilised manner. The right to protest is guaranteed by the Constitution, but not the right by mobs to kill and destroy state and private property. Nowhere in the world is this allowed or tolerated.
This country has time and again witnessed such mob violence perpetrated by those that have been brainwashed to unleash menace on the streets and roads. Such people are devoid of any political vision and are hell bent on derailing and demolishing the Quaid’s vision. What is even more regrettable is that fact that religion, gender, caste or colour is used as a basis for such violence.
Those who dare to stand up and protest or demand that Jinnah’s Pakistan be restored are branded as “liberals”, a term normally having a positive meaning but has been reduced to the status of an abuse in Pakistan. Our enemies don’t need to spend billions to inflict harm on this country. We are doing it ourselves. In such a situation, can we really unite ourselves under the flag of Pakistan? It is about time we pondered over our identity. Are we truly citizens of Pakistan, or do we instead jump on any bandwagon we find suitable?
Published in The Express Tribune, November 15th, 2021.
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