CHAOS, anarchy and brute force prevailed in Lahore on Dec 11 as the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) was attacked by a charged mob. Heart patients in critical condition were subjected to physical torment and agony, with their life support attachments forcibly removed by the protestors who destroyed expensive medical equipment essential to cardiac patients’ survival. For Pakistanis this day, like Dec 16, should live in infamy.

It is humanity and civil society that perished in the attack on PIC. Obedience to the law is a mandatory and not an option, or else the law of the jungle will prevail. If politics are devoid of ethics then an unjust society follows. What is tragic is that our ruling elite still feels no red line has been crossed. When power flows from the barrel of the gun, unruly mobs resort to force as a show of power.

We have failed to understand the fact that the Quaid-i-Azam’s struggle was to create a nation-state for “we the people”, their welfare, human rights and dignity. Unfortunately the intrigues by the elite in the 1950s and thereafter, started the reversal of Jinnah’s legacy and vision.

Malik T. Ali

Lahore

(2)

THE attack on a state-of-the-art government cardiac hospital by none other than those said to be lawyers has shamed all Pakistanis.

It is sad that we hear deafening noises about endemic corruption all around the country. Unfortunately, there is no mention of the most important aspect of corruption, the root cause of all evils prevalent in the social environment.

It is moral corruption which has eroded all our ethical and religious values for we have lost all sense of direction and sight of our national goals. To understand how deep a hole this nation has dug itself into, ponder what happened at PIC Lahore.

The ‘warring factions’ in this sorry saga belong to the most educated elite of society — doctors and lawyers. The victims were hapless innocent citizens of this unfortunate country who don’t have access to justice or resources. When will the sensitive and conscientious sections of society stand up for these helpless people? Who will redress their plight?

Dr Nasreen Ahsan

Karachi

(3)

WHO in their right mind would attack a hospital no matter what was the provocation, torture the sick and destroy very expensive hospital equipment, which is public property? What happened at PIC Lahore is a blot on the nation. Some serious soul-searching needs to be done if the country is to progress and prosper.

Zafar Hussain

Halifax, Canada

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2019