…SINDH has a season which finds no mention in any calendar but that has the muscle to change all months and years…. Presently, the season of protests is at its peak, but unfortunately, the rulers are not feeling its heat. However, people through their protests have clearly conveyed the message of the brand of governance they have. Abject poverty, unemployment, kidnapping, robberies and terrorism have made life miserable. People have taken to the streets to remind the rulers of their obligations. The administrators have not proceeded except for taking formal notice of the issue. When there were monarchies, there was no law; if at all there was, it was the will of the king. …Though today we have no monarchy, we have laws, but almost the same methods are applied with little difference. Even today, the will of the administrators is greater than the law made by parliament. Hence people are left with no option but to protest, which is escalating by the day — from burning old tyres to self-immolation. But rulers have never felt the heat of these protests and fire. Today, they may be unable to award those who oppose them with the kind of punishment meted out to Anarkali, but still do not fail to operate the state's coercive machinery against them.

Protests are a show of no-confidence…. These protests disclose that the mandate has not been respected and the priorities of rulers have changed. They also tell of how the gap between palaces and huts has widened … Protests reflect the mood and will of the public, and policies are formulated and set accordingly. But our rulers have become immune to protests. …There is a need to feel the heat and understand the language [of protests]. — (Dec 11)

Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi