Sir: The rulers of our country have, once again, demonstrated that they are not averse to using violence against their own citizens. The incident has tainted the image of the Punjab government. It reminds us that innocent souls can no longer find solace in Pakistan. They are frequently bothered by one accident after the other. Once again, Pakistan is in the limelight in the national and international media for all the wrong reasons. The unfortunate incident of violence at Karachi airport and gang rapes across Punjab were sufficient eye-openers, yet the government failed to ensure security measures when members of the state machinery, the police, shot Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers. The ghastly incident has injured our consciousness.The apparent reason — as no one would be able to know the exact truth due to twists and turns in the inquiry reports — put forward by the authorities for the widespread violence against political workers is the placement of barriers before the PAT secretariat. Placing barriers is not a novel practice, especially after private security beefed up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre. Therefore, it is not surprising or illegal if Qadri’s house had been barricaded to thwart any untoward accident. But the action taken to remove these barriers reflects the sick mentality of those who use the police to fulfil their personal whims and wishes.More importantly, protesting for genuine representation is the fundamental right of every citizen, including Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri and his supporters. He was justly treated by the previous PPP-led government. But the incumbent rulers have, to a great extent, failed to prove themselves as genuine democrats.Nevertheless, we are anxiously waiting to see the real picture of the incident and the exact faces of those who were behind this horrifying incident that has caused shock waves not only across the country, but also plunged the country into infamy across the globe.Naeem ur Rehman JalbaniKarachi