A FEW days ago a man falsely accused of blasphemy was released af ter 18 years of near solitary confinement and fear. His life is gone.

Many moons have gone by since Mr Sanjrani coasted to a continuation of Speakerhood! Of the 64 who vowed to oust him were the bought, threatened or otherwise conscienceless 14 quislings.

Between these two seemingly unrelated events are numerous examples of state and governance gone terribly wrong. Apart from some muted sounds as of fury, the heavens still do not f all.

The semantics of Islamic ethics and fundamentals of democracy apart, the progressive import of these is reflective of the entire nation. We are largely a theatrically devout noble people that have few qualms on jumping ship for pecuniary or power benefits. Years of living under delusional indoctrination has seriously limited the ability of this stunted populace to separate reality f rom hallucination.

Let`s take notice of two news items. One, an Indian Supreme Court judge opined: `criticism of the executive, the judiciary, the bureaucracy, the armed forces, cannot be termed sedition. If we stifle criticism of these institutions, we shall become a police state instead of a democracy.` The other was the UK Supreme Court`s unanimous verdict saying Johnson`s suspension of parliament was unlawful.

Telling is the subsequent statement by Gina Miller, the initiating activist: `It`s a win for parliamentary sovereignty, the separation of powers and the independence of our British courts. Crucially, today`s ruling confirms that we are a nation governed by the rule of law`.

Over the years, with noble exceptions, the judiciary`s concessions to the `doctrine of necessity` and the abject failure of the rule of law, is allowing Jinnah`s Pakistan to become a self-destructive hydra. The people are lemmings moulded by forces of discord rather than as nation-building stakeholders.

Dr Mervyn Hosein Karachi