Yesterday, a female minister of the Punjab provincial assembly was killed by a man. The female minister was killed because the assassin objected to her being a minister and according to him, Islam did not allow female ministers. According news reports, she died due to her wounds on the way to the hospital.

According to the news, the assassin was a known religious extremist who had been previously been implicated in murder attempts and even in murder cases.

It would be interesting to see if MMA protests and condemns the killing of the provincial minister or it remains silent on the issue. If it remains quiet; its silence would be themost deafening justification of its policies of encouraging religious violence in Pakistan.

The question is why was a person known to be implicated in murders allowed to roam free? Why was no case registered against him? Why did the police not file any charges against him and why was he not tried by any court of law in Pakistan?

These are merely rhetorical questions, because everone in Pakistan knows the answer to them and it is a truth that is not spoken in "polite company".

Where is the law and order and the much touted writ of the government?

Where is the result of the all the promises of "enlightened moderation" which this government keeps on making to the people?

How many more retreats will this government make to appease the religious extremists in hopes of currying a few more votes before this goverment finds its self minced in the mouths of a beast, which it had itself given birth to and nourished?

If one were to be an optimist and look for the "half full glass" in this act of madness, then maybe the lords and pharoahs of Pakistan must have some fear of God put into their hearts that they too are mortals. The demi-gods of Pakistan thought and believed that with all their armed guards and all the police protecting them against all their sins, the Grim Reaper could not touch them. In Pakistan, taxes may be avoided with the right connections, but no one seems to have the right connections to avoid death despite all their wordly powers and influence and monies and religious faith.

It is only a matter of waiting and seeing how the powers of Pakistan react to a lack of law and order, which is increasingly claiming their own members.

The chickens have come home to roost.