Sir: Innocent people including men, women and children are being killed every day in broad daylight in various parts of the country, be it Karachi, Quetta, Lahore, Peshawar or any other city, town or village in the country. The number of fanatical and intolerant people is increasing in society, and nothing is being done to control crime and killings in this country. Shockingly, all state institutions seem explicitly and implicitly at daggers drawn with each other, be it parliament, the executive, the judiciary or media. The heads of different state institutions seem to have placed their ‘ego’ first and not the country and state organs. The culture of mutual trust and respect is on the decline. On the contrary, the culture of mistrust and distrust is thriving in the country. The same is true of people; they simply do not trust the state institutions and state machinery with the exception of the superior judiciary in the country. The breed of ruling elite we have in the country has no moral compass, so they feel free to do anything they want without a fear of accountability. We at worst are people whose moral vacuum could better be described as mortal turpitude. Our pseudo-intellectuals employ an incredible amount of hard-hitting rhetoric about the necessity to rid society of the present political dispensation but do not offer wise words to the nation to leave their petty differences. Unfortunately, today our Pakistani society has become one that does not offer a reward for good, nor punishes the culprit nor believes in coherence. Of course, the country is facing critical challenges but time, energy and money are being wasted over cosmetic measures. A meaningful life and society is one that registers growth in intellectual, economic and education sectors, but unfortunately, we have commercialised and criminalised our society, therefore a worse fate may be in store for the people of Pakistan. HASHIM ABRO Islamabad