In what can only be called a heroic, historic and headline-worthy moment for freedom of expression in Pakistan, Lahore High Court struck down the notorious section 124-A of the Penal Code on the grounds of inconsistency with the constitution. That it took an overwhelming 163 years for a functional democracy to shake its hands off a colonial curse recklessly used as an exploitative tool does add a tinge of regret to an otherwise phenomenal victory. Government after government enjoyed the sight of shackled journalists and political activists for the mere crime of raising an uncomfortable question only to hide behind the perfect legal cover. It’s what the law says, the draconian voices would smugly announce. But now that the judiciary itself has realised the error in its ways and redrawn the boundaries between criticism and sedition, many would be forced to walk a tightrope. This annulment has come as a much-awaited first step in the right direction that would lead us all towards a thriving democracy: one where anyone and everyone is empowered to be as critical as they wish and the leaders (civilian and military) realise that the onus lies on their shoulders alone. We, at Daily Times, have always cherished ourselves in calling a spade a spade from the very first row. These very pages kept sounding the alarm bell whenever the Damoclean sword inched lower as a reminder to the authorities that it was not their job to hand out traitorship certificates. No matter how profusely it bled at the altar, every government has deemed it appropriate to loosely categorise all indiscretions of its rivals as “sedition.” However, as representatives of the common Pakistanis, people sitting in the august houses should have been the trailblazers in unlocking the anachronistic chains. Their unwillingness to look beyond the political aspirations and brutalise their own people would remain a distasteful footnote in this golden chapter of securing fundamental human rights, albeit a little too late. Mahatma Gandhi’s striking criticism, “Affection cannot be manufactured or regulated by the law,” should serve a lesson or two to those still believing in the sanctimonious baton. *