Sir: I would like to shed some light upon a sensitive issue that is becoming quite common in our country. People have invented a new way of voicing their concerns and grievances. They use the dead bodies of their loved ones to protest and get their issues resolved. This is an act of disgracing, disrespecting and ridiculing the dead. No religion, culture or tradition allows disrespectful treatment of corpses. We live in a Muslim country and hence should obey and respect our laws, values and traditions. According to Islamic law, the body should be buried as soon as possible from the time of death, which means that funeral planning and preparations begin immediately. In times of war, most of the dead bodies of soldiers were either buried within the battlefield or returned to the opponent army for burial. Disrespectful treatment of the dead even during war times is a violation of international humanitarian law. The use of dead bodies for protest purposes is an act clearly violating international humanitarian law, hence should be forbidden. This depicts us as an uncivilised and inhumane society. Protest should have limitations and one should not be allowed to put the dead bodies of their loved ones on the streets just for the sake of protest. SIDRA AJMAL Karachi