THIS is with reference to the report `FO perplexed by concerns over security of Chinese` (Nov 1), which quoted a Foreign Office spokesperson as calling a recent statement by Beijing`s ambassador to Islamabad `perplexing` and a stark departure from the long-standing diplomatic norms between the two countries.

I think the spokesperson found the statement perplexing because we, thePakistanis, have become fully acclimatised to the low-grade leadership that we have had since the departure of the founding fathers from the scene. The result is that the countrylagsfarbehind even the neighbour s, while our leaders have kept enriching themselves rather well.

And along with other fields, like progress and prosperity, health, education, even population management, the lack of capacity is very much evident in the matter of security, law and order, and terrorism, on which the state policy has not been consistent.

One example is that of the decision a few years ago taken in the name of peace and reconciliation to allow Tehreek-iTaliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists, who had fled to Afghanistan after a military operation, to return to Pakistan.

I have lived for a decade in Europe and even longer in Africa. Nowhere did I see citiesbeingbarricadedusingcontainers and dug-up motorways as preventive steps to guard against public protests. Instead, the police firmly controlled the situation using `appropriate` force. It is time we took some firm and tough measures, for leniency is surely not working at all.

S.R.H. Hashmi Karachi