The government decided to play to the gallery by announcing a public holiday in reverence of the Holy Prophet (pbuh).
LAHORE: This is with reference to the article “Choosing dishonour and getting war” (September 25) by Feisal H Naqvi. The government decided to play to the gallery by announcing a public holiday in reverence of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). After announcing the holiday, the government should have designated special places for protest gatherings, where political and religious leaders could have given speeches to condemn the blasphemous video. After that, Friday prayers should have been held and later the crowd could have been dispersed easily. Nothing of this sort happened because the government chose to be a silent spectator and provided full freedom to ruffians and hooligans, which resulted in loss of life and property.
The Quaid-e-Azam said that the first job of any government is the maintenance of law and order but this government has failed to maintain the same. It is high time that those in power mend their ways and take responsibility for the happenings inside the country. Provision of security for the citizens and maintaining law and order should be the top priority of the state, otherwise another round of authoritarian rule may be in the offing.
Omer Mahmood Butt
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2012.
