This photo is from today’s Dawn. It shows protesting lawyers damaging public property in Multan.
The ability to protest against that which they consider unjust is everybody’s right. But there is a fine line between peaceful protest and anarchy. Damaging property is definitely wrong and serves no one’s interest. It certainly does not serve the interest of the lawyers movement for democracy.
Violence is clearly wrong. It becomes no less or no more wrong when it is committed by protesting lawyers than when it is done by government against the same protesting lawyers. Just as we have called out against violence committed against protesters by government agencies, we must also call out aginst violence committed by them.
Anger is neither a strategy nor an excuse. The principle is a clear one: Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it and no matter why.
there is something terribly warped about the logic of those who are writing against lawyers use of violence. it reflects the primitive notions of violence and one cannot differentiate between the violence of the oppressor and the oppressed.
so, what do you do when you are not allowed to protest? your media is in gags? and if you do protest, the police will beat you, abduct you and your family without any charges. listen philistines: freedoms are not granted, they are fought and won. this is what a struggle entails. if a struggle only meant ‘peaceful’ chanting slogans outside the government.
and legally speaking, if there is not constitution, what law are you propagating? i presume the one that musharraf and his cronies have in mind: everything that suits the general is the law, rest may go to the dustbin.
get a political education before teaching us about law and protests.
more power to the lawyers and those who stand up and
What is the fuss all about – ATP posts a lot of stuff that is about resisting and what can be done – and a barrage of comments follows congratulating the blog for saying the “right” thing –
And it posts a picture taken from a national newspaper – to show the other side and there is a hangama here..
This reminds me of the famous sentence uttered by a lawyer activist during the post March campaign: if the decision (on CJ case) will not be favourable, we will set the Supreme Court on fire..
This just shows that we the Pakistanis, whether at home or abroad, are not comfortable with the idea of a civilized discourse. There are some here who have shown the other side of the story and not attacked the ATP the way some have done and dareIsay in a distasteful manner..
what a pity …
Perhaps ATP could create a Brutality Index, which accounts for contextual factors in a protest/conflict.
@ I am beginning to be a little doubtful about these
black coats, representing who ? only Ex CJ, no Sir,
there is something behind, very strange indeed, will comout very soon.
This is totally (almost totally) unrelated to this Topic but I wish someone can write an article or do something about the ‘Sad State of Karachi Beaches’.
http://ko.offroadpakistan.com/2007/09/the_sad_stat e_of_karachi_beaches.html
If the activities of the various branches of military are correctly portrayed in this article then it should make your blood boil. We ‘bloody civilians’ are the 2nd rate citizens of Pakistan!