Graphic scenes of deadly riots and disorder gripping the whole country for the second day after former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested on corruption charges very aptly demonstrate “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” At least eight people have been killed according to government estimates but PTI leaders claim the death toll to be much, much higher. The number of injured reaching hospitals is on the rise while heart-wrenching scenes of enraged mobs targetting public installations, and stroming government and military buildings in a bid to register their uproar have been picked up by media outlets across the world. That political representatives from countries like the US and the UK are calling for restraint as they talk about “respect of democratic principles and the rule of law” is enough reason for the political elite to open their eyes to the beginning of a perfect disaster staring in their faces. With schools closed and educational authorities forced to announce delays in the examination schedules as black smoke billows out of blazing buildings, there is little that sparks hope. Internet restrictions continue as human rights organisations express alarm at the suspension of fundamental human freedoms. The armed forces also appear to have had enough of the backfoot as a statement referred to protests and the ensuing scenes of plunder as a “black chapter.” While the leaders of Mr Khan’s party are trying to pacify heated sentiments, repeatedly calling for peaceful demonstrations, cooler heads are yet to prevail. Instead of lighting up tinderboxes with mentions of “exemplary punishment,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would have been better off making his people see reason and ensuring their confidence in the justice system remained strong. A legal battle should never have been about good and evil but about the ability of the state to pursue charges against the defendant. As long as both the rulers and the ruled snap out of this dystopian narrative, take off their tinted glasses and start looking at reality as it is, the “nefarious designs” of the few would continue to steal the limelight away from the causes that actually matter. *