A proper journalist should find out this man’s story, where he was from and the life he had lead up to before this point.
What they did to him in front of the whole nation, in broad daylight, regardless of what either side thinks of the protest, just speaks to the extent
alienation has reached, for both sides to each other.
Pakistani culture has such an egotistical bent that leaves little room for anything but emotional outbursts, as must have been what the LEA personnel thought gave him the justification to do what he did. I say it is Pakistani culture, because this is what the youth watching have learned is the way Pakistani society works. It is the only way anyone is “allowed” to demand to have their say in such a short attention span culture and the entrenched wealth has codified the inequality.
Nothing is organized on either side.
Chaos is the norm, a hallmark not an aberration, and wasting the time of productive people while enabling the hedonistic nihilism of the economic elite is the undercurrent. And then there is this image of a man peacefully praying being pushed over many stacked containers to crystallize that the average person regardless of how idealistic can be so callously be erased. Reminds me of the words of AQ Khan.
The brave soul, in deep pray, was probably praying for a peaceful end to the day and a safe return to his everyday life. Neither he nor the nation was granted that.
I fear the cycle these events will trigger, a never ending cycle of “emotional outbursts” will consume the country for many years to come.
Rule of law is suppose to be every citizen surrendering a bit of their autonomy for the sake of a better together in community. Law and order does not seem like it was restored, but martial law seems to have been declared in all but word.
A Pyrrhic victory for our General Dyers. The weight of the malcontent masses they failed to educate and give purpose will only grow with the population size. The Diapora and residencies abroad will be no sanctuary from scrutiny and judgment either, as the alienation extents there as well. Where ever they go, in these state of affairs, they will have to live, looking over their shoulders to see if their fellow countrymen glare at them with contempt or worse in their eyes. Gone are the days of Gen. Asif Ghafoor and Swift Retort, only 5 short years ago.
P.s. something that never comes up but has to be stated is that how ever misguided the system thinks PTI supporters are, calling them cultists, it can not say these aren’t the real, if not improperly channeled sentiments of a plurality if not majority of the nation. These aren’t people guided by foreign forces, but local people with no experience, trying to cobble together their effort to work within a system that only listen to the person yelling into a bullhorn. The events of the past few days and past years won’t be papered over so easily.
Driving away enough of the most productive people, how will the state even hope to keep pace with India. How will it even be able to defend the nation, in a short time. This week the state has done an own goal. Hurt national defense in ways it itself doesn’t seem to have adequately contemplated. Some give the examples of Yugoslavia, but without unity, what remained of Yugoslavia’s successor state was never again able to adequately defend itself when NATO came knocking in 1999.