Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space.
Disappearance: A drama?
Playing a political drama, Ali Amin Gandapur reappeared in the KP Assembly a day after being declared a ‘missing person’ by his own party. This came on the heels of a resolution passed for his recovery, sparking more confusion than resolution. Gandapur claimed he was safe in the KP House all along—curiously evading the notice of the Rangers and Islamabad Police. PTI misled the public about his preplanned “disappearance,” and all this activity unfolds like a poorly scripted drama.
Gandapur’s mysterious disappearance and sudden reappearance after 24 hours have created a rift between PTI’s leadership and its rank-and-file workers. At crucial moments of protest, he was tear-gassed, shelled and arrested in the streets. These abandoned foot soldiers are rightly questioning why the party’s leader deceived and misled them during a disorganized protest. The message was clear: “You are on your own.” This abandonment is not new, and the disconnect between the leadership’s rhetoric and its actions has not gone unnoticed, even by the most ardent supporters.
Creating disturbances in Islamabad, provoking unnecessary tensions and making inflammatory statements just days before the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) moot—a crucial event—shows a lack of foresight and strategic thinking. At this stage, one can argue that PTI’s aim is to pressure the Establishment into a dialogue, but its erratic actions may have the opposite effect. The party’s current approach, stoking public chaos while its leaders remain in safe spaces, is not the conduct of a responsible political entity.
If the party continues down this path of reckless leadership and disregard for its grassroots, it risks not only losing the trust of its own people but also its relevance in the political landscape. Political movements require sacrifice and strategy, but they also require responsibility—a lesson the PTI leadership seems to have forgotten.
MUNAWAR SIDDIQUI
Lahore
Misusing religion for crime
Criminals are employing a dangerous tactic by exploiting religious values to harm people. They scatter pages of the Holy Quran on the ground, knowing that both children and adults will pick them up out of respect.
However, these pages are laced with a chemical that causes anyone who touches them to faint, making them easy targets for kidnapping. This not only endangers lives but also deeply disrespects the religion.
To combat this, we must educate our children and communities about the danger and encourage reporting any suspicious activity. Law enforcement must act swiftly to apprehend the criminals responsible. By working together, we can protect both our people and the values we hold dear.
TALAL RAFIQ RIND
Turbat
Summit sabotage: PTI’S missteps
The protests by PTI workers appear to be deliberately stirring tension during the SCO summit in Pakistan on October 15-16. Such provocative actions should be discouraged to safeguard the country’s image ahead of the important event.
The SCO summit is a critical event for regional cooperation and security and sabotaging it would be detrimental to the country’s prosperity. Every party indeed has the right to peaceful protest, but timing matters the most, with the SCO summit nearing, such actions can be seen as disruptive and counterproductive.
The federal capital became battle ground, PTI workers were not stopping and KP spokesperson Barister Saif was giving instructions to reach D-Chowk at any cost despite knowing that ICT authorities had enforced Section 144 and the “Peaceful Assembly Act” across the federal capital, restricting public gatherings and procession as part of tightened security measures till October 17.
PTI wants the politics of chaos and unrest, this whole fuss created a curfew like situation in many cities of Punjab as well as in the federal capital Islamabad, no party has created so much disruption as much as this party is creating, Such actions will reciprocally affect PTI and harm Pakistan’s international reputation. Instead of gaining political mileage, PTI should focus on respectful engagement and let the SCO summit proceed smoothly.
AREEBA ALTAF
Larkana Sindh
