“From the carthage, then I came, burning, burning, burning, burning”, said T. S. Eliot. But he may not be alone; many other inhabitants of this planet are also burning. They are burning in the fire of misery, in the fire of devastation and in the fire of bombing.

Others are burning in the furnace of prejudices, hatred and apartheid. The most recent expression of this chain of prejudice, hatred and violence can be found in our very beloved homeland heart, Karachi. Every day is a day of pain and every night is a night of suffering.

Whether it is a news channel playing up breaking news or a front page of a daily newspaper, both report about Karachi’s deteriorating law and order situation.

Why are they ruthlessly killing people  indifferently? Where do they plan all such unholy actions? What is the motive behind such audacity and all the hostile attacks? How are they able to escape the law enforcement agencies? Why is the government and the concerned agencies showing apathy towards this situation? Most importantly when will this violence be over?

The state’s utmost responsibility is the security of life and property of its subjects. Whether it is a police state or a welfare state, this responsibility is unanimously a settled one. But the government seems quite impotent over the issue. Even the Supreme Court seems to be a toothless tiger in this matter.

There has been no improvement in the situation even after the SC hearings in Karachi. I was astonished to hear the AG’s reply when the court asked him to inform  as to how the provincial government has planned curbing violence in the city.

His indifferent reply was “the score of today’s killings is six”. This is the level of apathy and non-seriousness on the part of the concerned authorities.

The common response of our interior minister is “there are foreign hands involved”. More than eighty people have been killed in the last tensome days and there are no good omens for the coming days. It is damaging the social and economic life of the city and also hampering the soft image of Pakistan.

The need of the hour to carry out a collective effort on the part of the political parties, ulema, civil society, government, judiciary and all other relevant authorities concerned. We should keep our eyes and ears open. In case something unusual happens, we should report it to the security and law enforcement agencies.

AHMAD ZIA TULLA Sargodha