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| India-Pakistan |
| Graffiti menace |
| 2015-03-03 |
| [DAWN] POLICE in the capital city recently removed graffiti glorifying the self-styled Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... from the walls of buildings in an area where schools are located. Patrols will now be enhanced to ensure that the wall-chalking does not reappear in the vicinity. In fact, the menace of graffiti is very widespread and a big problem in Pak cities and a more energetic approach is required to tackle it. Political graffiti appears on the walls of historical buildings, while posters of electoral candidates are pasted on national monuments too. More insidiously, hate messages are scribbled on walls in large localities in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , and towns across Punjab. The seeming impunity with which these messages are scribbled on the walls shows that they are not considered a big enough menace by law-enforcement or the local administration. Quite apart from desecrating national monuments and historic sites, hate messages along sectarian lines or glorifying groups involved in large-scale atrocities should be a special target for erasure. Yet thus far we have not witnessed any systematic effort to discourage those who insist on scribbling these messages in public places. The police in Sector H-9 of Islamabad have done the right thing in promptly painting over the graffiti and enhancing patrols in the area to ensure that it does not recur. But much more needs to be done in towns across Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard 2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers 3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... -- and in Karachi where last year the Sindh Assembly passed a law against the defacement of public and private property, stipulating punishment for the offenders. The local authorities, including the police and city administration, must play a more vigilant role to erase graffiti promptly, and apprehend those responsible for putting up these messages. The political parties can lead the way by mounting a strong campaign internally to dissuade electoral hopefuls and other political players from using public walls and national monuments as display areas for their messages and slogans. Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, the enormous newt was trying to decide if Gloria was edible... keeping hate off our walls will help keep it out of our minds. |
| Posted by:Fred |