The country’s capital has been under siege for almost a fortnight now. Followers of PTI and PAT have occupied the capital’s ‘Red Zone’ and, besides other things, they are demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister. The principal charge of election rigging, leveled by the two parties against the incumbent government may be correct to some extent, but unless proven by evidence, this demand is unjustified. The issues of corruption, nepotism, economic and social injustice and election reforms raised by both PTI and PAT are true and their demand to bring a change in the existing system of autocratic governance is undoubtedly needed. However, the path chosen by the leaders is inappropriate.
Our history stands as testimony to the fact that long marches and demonstrations have done more harm than good. They have caused a huge loss to the country in economic terms. The ongoing protests besides holding the capital of Pakistan a hostage has made the already severely battered economy of the country suffer a mammoth financial loss of over Rs. 800 billion. This loss undoubtedly is bound to increase if the protests continue and an early end to the impasse is not brought about through dialogue between the government and the agitating parties.
M. FAZAL ELAHI,
Islamabad, August 28.