“A SAUDI Arabian appeals court today upheld a sentence of a month in jail and 50 lashes awarded to a businesswoman for ‘cursing the morality police’ and ‘for calling police liars’ (Aug 18).

No indignant shrieks of human rights violations or restriction of freedom of expression will be heard. Nor are there calls for democracy nor will these come from the West which is otherwise quick to censure or to apply sanctions or ‘liberate’ into the stone age lesser countries that breach those wonderfully variable moral codes.

This happens fairly regularly there, so it does not take too much imagination to know the swift and terminal outcome of those ‘deviants,’ even if errant and well-meaning princes of the realm, who would incite the population with calls for freedom and revolution to overthrow a repressive regime. And the West will murmur in silent admiration. Isn’t democracy crazy?

Dr Mervyn Hosein

Karachi

(2)

IMRAN Khan has flip-flopped repeatedly on his promise to keep his ‘freedom march’, peaceful, betraying the nation when he called for a civil disobedience movement and then saying that he would lead a procession into the red-zone.

This indicates his failure to gather one million supporters for this march, besides lack public support. Both Mr Khan and Dr Qadri have created a chaotic situation in Pakistan for their vested interest. Although they have raised some genuine concerns, they have opted the wrong way to achieve their objectives. The government has shown leniency to the PTI and PAT’s demands, forming judicial commissions to address their concerns. But both have rejected the offer, bringing the country to the crossroads of destruction or military takeover.

Mr Khan incited the crowd for civil disobedience without visualising its implications. When he saw negative reaction, he incited the mob to cross the red zone.

He is very immature in politics and needs to learn more before instigating the masses to stand up for something that is stupid and undemocratic.

Mohammad Ashraf

Winnipeg, Canada

(3)

MY heart bleeds at what’s going on in the federal capital. Every argument by Imran Khan, coupled with threats of trespassing the red zone, reinforces his image as that of a hollow leader.

Emerging as the leader of the second largest political party in Pakistan after the May 2013 elections, Mr Khan had a golden chance to prove his political mettle and try to make a difference in things in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He should have taken some inspiration from Narinder Modi, the current prime minister of India. Mr Modi had only the state of Gujrat to rule for quite a long time but his efficient governance resulted in people voting for him as India’s prime minister.

Mr Khan is an egoist who believes in crossing all boundaries to get his way. He is inciting his followers to resort to violence and still claims that his sit-in/march is a peaceful one.

Claiming to be a ‘leader,’ he calls on his followers for civil disobedience against a democratically-elected government. He needs to affirm the fact that he’s no Gandhi or Mandela, both of whom conducted marches for quite solid reasons. Mr Khan has always spoken against government officials who evade taxes but what message is he giving by instructing his followers to evade taxes?

Mr Khan is also responsible for breaching the trust of the people of KP. The people of KP had voted for him because they wanted him to be there when they needed him the most. But when monsoon rainfalls wrought havoc in KP, we see the KP chief minister dancing to the tunes of songs in Islamabad. Isn’t this the height of non-seriousness?

His apathetic attitude is surely paving the way for a military rule in Pakistan. It is time to say goodbye to democracy after what Mr Khan is determined to do.

Marria Qibtia Sikandar Nagra

Lahore

(4)

ALL the countries in the world celebrates their Independence Day with great fanfare and maturity dedicating themselves to the greater prosperity and progress. Unfortunately such a commitment seems a distant dream for the people living here. We are constantly bogged down in trivial events which, on the whole, makes the lives of our people miserable.

It is time we too, including the government and political parties, showed maturity and made the celebration of our independence a remarkable event. Let sanity prevail.

Abdeali Nafar

Karachi

(5)

YOUR editorial ‘Inglorious ending’ (Aug 18) conveyed a strong message to the nation. This is a matter of great concern and has raised questions about the stability of a nuclear-armed nation of 190 million people.

The 2013 elections saw the first civilian government transfer of power when Nawaz Sharif won a landslide election victory. Many analysts and commentators are baffled that just a year after an election Imran Khan is now embarking on civil disobedience.

His threat of mob rule is very unreasonable and disturbing. “The path he has chosen is one of protest,” said Samina Ahmed, South Asia director of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group think tank. “Now the question is: does he have a strategy beyond the protest?”

As former president Asif Ali Zardari said, “Democracy will not be served by calls for civil disobedience nor by a stubborn refusal by any side to engage in a meaningful dialogue on political issues”.

Waris Shere

Winnipeg, Canada

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2014