THE Sialkot incident was not the first of its kind in our society. What is more important is to understand how we have reached such a state of affairs.

Brutality and militancy seem to have entered our psyche. How did this happen? Interestingly, in countries where deterrence in the form of capital punishment has been stopped, crime has not increased.

There has been a long history of such violent punishments which has been attributed to long authoritarian rules in which the common man experienced frustration and anguish from oppression.

The situation needs a two-pronged approach. The first is a campaign launched by intellectuals to form small groups around the country denouncing this psyche of violence. This should also be further reinforced by writing articles and books to denounce such violence.

The other important method is to have these messages incorporated in school textbook lessons. This invariably means a common curriculum or syllabus for all schools in the country and eradicating the foreign educational institutions which are a bane of Pakistan.

The sooner we wake up to this approaching disaster the better it is to save Pakistan society.

ZAFAR OMER
Lahore

(II)

DOES it come as a surprise to anyone that the reporter who recorded the Sialkot incident and exposed the culprits was beaten up so badly that he is now hospitalised?

This was in spite of the fact that he had asked for security which, of course, he did not get. Does it need to be a rocket scientist to understand that the person's life would be in danger? Who is responsible for what has happened to him?

Who is going to bear his medical expenses? Who is going to ensure his safety once he comes out of the hospital? These questions beg for answers, and the Punjab government needs to respond.

AMBREEN ALTAF
Islamabad