IT was the British high commissioner in Islamabad who set the ball rolling with a comment on the political scene in Pakistan, followed by the United States House of Representatives, and now the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. What is happening in Pakistan is nothing new. If anything, the period between 2018 and 2022 was the worst in many ways. Where were all these foreign individuals and bodies at the time? Why have they chosen to comment on allegations of electoral rigging and imprisonment of political leaders now?

Shakir Lakhani
Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2024