ISLAMABAD: I was in a state of turmoil on October 28 when a three-day old newborn died in the Liaquat Bagh area of Rawalpindi, due to possible suffocation caused by tear gas used by law-enforcement agencies to disperse protestors belonging to both PTI and the Awami League. Amidst the drama of Imran Khan and Sheikh Rasheed and the egoistic stupidity of the government, a human life was lost.
We call it democracy saying it’s the right of the public to protest, but why does it have to be at the expense of chaos and death? Who is to be blamed? We are claiming each other’s lives because we are too blind to look inwards and instead blame others for who they are. If this is democracy then I would say it is useless. Ziaul Haq once said, “Democracy is like a hat which has been tangled because everyone wears it,” and this is what has happened to our democracy. I know what is written here will never cross the thick brains of our leaders, but I have one simple request: please stop playing politics over innocent bodies and please wake up as it is already too late.
Syed Hammad Raza
Published in The Express Tribune, November 3rd, 2016.
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