Assaults continue

Despite tremendous clamour in the country, assaults on leading journalists have failed to abate. This time it was the turn of veteran columnist Ayaz Amir who had a remarkable career as an army-man, diplomat, legislator and TV analyst. He was assaulted by the now proverbial unidentified men in Lahore and could be seen visibly distressed with bruises on his face. The incident comes just a day after Amir delivered a speech at a seminar also attended by Imran Khan in which he criticised the role of the country’s military establishment while also pointing out issues with Imran Khan’s reign as the country’s prime minister. The language used in his speech was inflammatory enough to ruffle feathers and the assault he was subjected to is believed to be related to it. Though the campaign to silence critics by force has become the new normal in Pakistan yet many thought that such senior political commentators may get away with the wrath of the ones they dared to criticise but the attack on Ayaz Amir indicates in clear terms that age or seniority has no consideration for the perpetrators of violence on free speech. The cynical conclusion is that nothing will come out of the investigations in this respect and the might will keep on reigning. TW