Years of failure by state and its paid establishment to protect lives, property and basic rights of citizens on issues of public interest resulted in widening distrust and disconnect between rulers and ruled, leading to rise in incidents of mob violence and acts of vigilance such as brutal killing and burning of two men suspected of being involved in acts of terrorism by angry residents of Youhanabad in Lahore. The writ of law must be established and criminals, irrespective of their political, bureaucratic or religious affiliations, must be punished failing which chaos and anarchy threaten our survival.
Institutionalised corruption and patronisation of criminals by security agencies in connivance with inept political godfathers have driven ordinary citizens to desperation and taking laws in their hand. This has been happening for decades now, starting from Co-operatives and Samad Dadabhoy Scam, and now powerful land grabbing mafia which has penetrated corridors of power depriving ordinary law abiding citizens of their hard earned life savings in dubious schemes such as 1989 CDA E12 Balloting and the most recent DHA Valley Islamabad.
Such is callous disregard for public welfare that a Dubai based construction company, blacklisted by their government went on rampage in Pakistan, collecting billions for luxury apartments giving full page advertisements when State Bank regulations prohibit such transfers of money through proper banking channels.
This is a country where property tycoons gift billions to ruling elite in exchange for freedom to vandalise and plunder law abiding citizens of their lifelong savings and land. Successive governments, both civil and military, have allowed Karachi to be hostage to criminal mafia making it most dangerous city of Asia. So lucrative was criminal economy that terrorists based in Afghanistan chose to move in there for their share of larger pie.
Finally after over two decades of brutalisation by extortion collectors, who had no hesitation to torch alive over 289 labourers in Baldia Karachi for refusal by factory owners to pay extortion money, has the state decided to crack down and restore writ of law.
M T ALI
Lahore
