Sir: I never thought I would see the day when donkeys became relevant to Pakistan’s politics but here we are. Normally one just speaks of the lotas and moves on, but no, Pakistan had to show the world something bigger and dumber. After Imran Khan’s recent speech, where he labelled people who support the Pakistan Muslim League — Nawaz (PML-N) donkeys, people have seemingly begun to think that actual donkeys are also voting for the party. Just today, a literal donkey was beaten to pulp, subjected to horrendous torture where even its bones broke, and then it was finally rammed into with a car. Why? Because, it was connected to the PML-N by supporters of the PTI. The thing is, PML-N’s workers may just be donkeys, but PTI and its supporters are turning out to not even be worthy of being called animals. When you channel your energy into something so destructive, for no real reason, producing no real outcome, what should you be called? Nothing more than a waste of space. A helpless animal was attacked by people who support Khan’s party to show the world what should happen to the donkeys that support PML-N. God forbid if these people come into power, what will they be doing to actual humans that they despise, when they can’t even muster a molecule of sympathy for a living, breathing, innocent animal. The animal was later rescued by people, so all faith in humanity is not lost. But troubling times are coming ahead if we do not take this ridiculous behaviour seriously. How can any sane person punch, kick, and abuse an animal like this? How do you justify it to yourself? In an online post, the people who rescued the animal noted that, “The Wound near his rear was an old abscess which burst probably when he collapsed. His nostrils have been ripped apart and his face was bleeding from all the wounds. He is not eating much and his body is still stiff yet shaking in fear. His wounds have been cleaned and he has been given pain killers. The girls at the shelter are sitting with him, hugging him, crying with him. He winces at any touch because he thinks each one will hurt.” The value of a living thing is this low for people in this party. The value for human beings even more so because of some twisted sense of accountability that they have. I am no PML-N supporter, and I think their leaders are as corrupt as it gets. But if this is what Naya Pakistan will look like then I want no part of it. Whatever disgusting politics you are orchestrating, leave innocent people, animals and everything in between, out of it. ASIF BOKHARI Lahore Published in Daily Times, July 17th 2018.