I would like to draw the attention of the public and also the concerned officials to the incident that marred Sialkot and all Pakistanis alike. It seems that we Pakistanis have unfortunately become maniacs. Whether it is celebrations, sorrow, anger, we take the stride to the highest limit.

The torture of two brothers by the mob has shocked me and I am sure many other Pakistanis alike; not only the very act is horrendous, but also the constant airing of the horrendous video by TV channels in every news bulletin. Please for the sake of the families of the deceased and all Pakistanis stop this cheap advertisement of barbarianism.

Our police, the defenders of law, are spineless. Not all of them, as we have the example of the brave Safwat Ghayoor. But those men in black and brown present there and let it happen can be branded criminals.

They not only shirked away from their duty but also gave the killers a free hand to exercise their muscle. In my opinion, this should be considered an act of high treason. They forgot that they were policemen hired to safeguard the lives of the people. It may have been a normal day of routine torture for them, but this time it was not done by them but by the general public who were illiterate, maniac, and criminals to the core. They forgot they were beating humans. I am sure the ones who were beating did not even have the slightest relation to the incident which triggered all this. The very HRCP is nowhere to be seen. I would like to remind the human right workers that those boys too had rights. Are you waiting for orders from your superiors from abroad to raise hue and cry? A very strict judgment should be passed in this case against all those who were involved and those who stood watching. May Allah help us all. May the souls of the deceased rest in peace in heaven.

DR AFZAL
Lahore

(II)

WHY should the police have intervened when the victims were not their colleagues who most of the time are busy making money? They were two brothers who were tortured to death by a mob who suspected them to be robbers.

It seems as if a theatre was going on under open sky where mob was the killer and 14 policemen were silent spectators, or protectors to complete the process of social justice.

Section 155-C of the Police Ordnance came to help soon after the murder of two innocent youths who were dubbed robbers by rivals to take revenge of what they did in the cricket match. The police claimed having arrested some of the nominated accused but not all those who announced the victims to be robbers, torturing them with wooden sticks and iron rods and hanging their bodies with a tree and tried to burn these.

How many further suo motu actions will be taken by the? Why do reforms not take place in the police departments? Why are all of them corrupt and why do they take bribe on the roads all the time? Why they help in increasing the crimes and supporting the accused instead of eradicating them? Why do we call them policemen instead of official criminals? Answers to these questions are very simple but what can be done in this respect when the whole system is corrupt.

BACHA HUSSAIN
Karachi