THERE are three aspects of the violent power protests gripping several cities of Punjab that stand out. The protests have come at a time when the ruling PML-N has held its own rallies against long hours of electricity suspension. Second, the police have shown little ability, and, significantly, little inclination to stop the rioters and arsonists. Three, assets wearing a federal tag, such as electricity supply offices and railways and residences of lawmakers linked to the PPP government in Islamabad have been a favourite target of rioters who have also blocked highways and attacked private property. The police inaction and delay were largely to blame for the loss of life and damage to property and livelihoods. The railways had to suspend 25 trains after the police failed to respond to its calls for help to save a train from arsonists in Kamoki, not far from Lahore.

The Shahbaz Sharif government has a bigger role to keep the protests violence-free than the one it seems to have assigned to itself, while the government is using taxpayers’ money to call for ‘peace’ through newspaper advertisements. However, given the freedom the genie has become accustomed to in the presence of an almost helpful administration, it will not be easy to put it back into the bottle. The violent monster threatens to inspire others to resort to even bloodier antics against future set-ups. The federal government badly failed to go beyond promises on the issue of power generation. Among other major problems, the politics of acrimony prevented a dialogue on the subject that could have held out hope for the ultimate identification of the best-possible solution to the energy crisis. As the politicians and governments stand apart in the wake of Mr Gilani’s disqualification, the answer to the problem has not changed. The road to an illuminated Pakistan begins right here and all parties must understand this. It is not that these riots do not reflect public sentiment but a more responsible course for the federal and provincial governments would have been to sit down together and jointly find a way out of the darkness.