So, finally little Ammar surrendered, lay down, and died. He was the son of Mian Ibad Farooq who is a committed PTI supporter. This qualified him as a fit victim of the government dragnet cast to pick up those to be charged for the May 9 farce.
Apparently, the police broke into Ibad’s house more than once. And reportedly, on one occasion, overcome by sheer diligence, they not only picked up Ibad, but also his wife and mother. Ammar was a sick child who was traumatized by the diligence of the police and had to be hospitalized.
For one reason or the other, he was discharged from one hospital to seek admission in another, and then another. And finally, he succumbed. The effects of the diligence were too much for him and ensured that his journey through life would be a short one.
But the goodbye was long. Thousands of emotionally charged people came for his funeral before he was finally lowered into the ground.
The high command will read a watered down account of these proceedings in an intelligence report which will be “put up” to them.
But if they ever needed to get an accurate reading of the public pulse, a few of them should have gone for the funeral. And if the fear of public emotions counselled caution, they should have worn their steel helmets and gone there in a tank.
Even through the steel of the tank they would not have remained unaffected by the passion with which they are hated.
It is not too long ago that Zille Shah was murdered. Suicides by those broken beyond repair are piling up almost on a daily basis. This is not endearing those who are the ultimate power in the land among those who hold them responsible for bringing catastrophe to every doorstep, and for making a dark hovel out of every home.
Just go. Pack up and leave. Over a course of three thousand years the people of the subcontinent have had their fill of armies of occupation!