State vs. the right to protest View(s):Events in Pakistan earlier this week coincided with the first anniversary of the events that reverberated throughout Sri Lanka bringing out an eerie resemblance; a grim reminder of how close countries can get to a state of anarchy. The Sri Lanka State was on the brink of collapse. The sometimes excessive use of state power to retain the status quo – only when the agitators confronted the armed forces, drew the ire of human rights defenders backed by Western embassies in Colombo. These are not issues limited to Pakistan or Sri Lanka, but a perennial problem multi-party democracies are grappling with, more so nowadays. Does the state law office not exercise a mind of its own in regard to these matters or do its officers just rubber stamp ‘bad bills’?

Source: Sunday Times May 14, 2023 01:14 UTC