RECENT LY, I walked back from a small café in Islamabad`s sector F-6 to where I had parked my car, only to find there was not a single car in the whole parking area.

The areahadbeencordonedoffby the traffic police, who seemed delighted at myplight over my misplaced car. On inquiry, I received a rather crass response from the man incharge, who suggested that I should look for it in the area adjacent, since all the cars had been `lif ted`.

After this unwarranted act on their part, I went to confirm whether I had been careless in parking my car in an undesignated area; apparently, I had not been. My car, along with several others, had been relocated without the owners` permission to make space for welcoming a foreign delegation.

I was pressed for time and too dispirited by the absurdity of the man`s response to argue with him and make him realise how belittling that was for me.I felt completely robbed of my rights, not only as a resident but a citizen of this country. At what point, I wonder, do we draw the line? Mehreen Mariam, Islamabad