ISLAMABAD: “The Peshawar and Kot Radha Kishan tragedies have raised some serious questions about the Pakistani state and society. Any failure of government and civil society in taking timely remedial measures to arrest this trend is fraught with dangerous consequences for their own very existence. That such traumatic experiences continue to relapse is only because of inadequate response generated by the state and society which share the responsibility for an act which is no less than criminal negligence. Unfortunately, this is a tendency which consistently revisits our land to mock the individuals and institutions responsible for protecting the life and property of their citizen. And if both state and society would persist with their indifference, history will make a sorry judgment on our nation”. These thoughts were expressed by participants of ORE dialogue forum in press conference.
Khurshid Nadeem, Chairman, Organization for Research and Education (ORE),along with other member of” ORE Dialogue Forum, .Dr Khalid Masud, ex-Chairman, council of Islamic Ideology, Senator Zafar Ali Shah, Vice President PMLN, Mufti Abdul Qavi, President Ulama PTI, Shahid Gilani, President, Rawalpindi Group Of Colleges, Aamer Rana, Director PIPS,Romana basher, Director PDF, announced the joint declaration of forum in a press conference. According to the forum “rule of law in Pakistan has become a mere dream. While the state continues to show its weakness in implementation of laws, it is despicable that people have taken it upon themselves to express their emotions through a pseudo-legal code. Social institutions shaping public perception have used religious and other sentiments to play with people’s emotions and are thus indirectly responsible for inducing such lawlessness. The gravest aspect of this state is that the platform used for imposing such provocative messages was none other than the sacred institution of mosque. This practice was yet again seen in Kot Radha Kishan incident. Had religious institutions played a responsible role, the same platform could have been used to ensure respect for rule of law. Similarly, the police also stands accused of committing injustice. Unfortunately, over time men of police and other law enforcing agencies have been found involved in acts of terror and murder. The latest incident in Gujrat also involves a police official which points towards a moral turpitude spread across state and society whose persistent indolence in ensuring protection of minorities is putting dent on our national interest which has not only distorted our image in the world but has also threatened our core economic interest. This state of affairs calls for a concerted action to warn the public and private institutions about their responsibilities.”