The protest

The interior minister, Shehryar Afridi, has said that the “state would not use the stick against the TLP leadership but embrace and engage them in dialogue”. The minister, however, must remember that it was the government’s constitutional duty to protect the lives and property of citizens, who were being harassed and abused by a charged mob that even torched a multitude of cars and motorcycles. Amidst all this, the state was nowhere to be seen. The government should take effective steps to punish the people who held the country hostage for three days.

Malik T Ali

Lahore