The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan has been blatantly bashing the institutes of the country for their lack of performance. This Thursday, they criticised the intelligence agencies of Pakistan for their poor performance during the Faizabad sit-in and also called out the media for spreading hate in the country. They even went ahead and rejected the reports of ISI and IB on the 22 day long dharna and asked for a detailed report on why the efforts of the state and its institutions failed. The decision of the SC to take suo moto notice of the situation should be commended because we as a state should be aware of the impact of our decisions - and why certain decisions work out and certain do not.

It was very brave of the Supreme Court to challenge the role of ISI in this case. To question why they are drawing a huge sum of the taxpayers money if they cannot deliver is admirable. The job of the intelligence agencies to help and facilitate the government in such situations. How and why were the protestors armed during the protests are two very crucial questions which an intelligence agency should be able to answer. This is the capital we are talking about, if that vicinity cannot be protected then it is about time we consider how the country can be kept safe. Justice Mushir Alam was quick to point out how their network is spread all across the country, and it was strange to see that the ISI was unaware who provided batons at the protest.

Similarly, SC questioning the role of media in this case is something we should all consider. There is a reason why the government opted to go with a media blackout instead of letting the media channels to keep broadcasting. Justice Faez pointed out how chaotic the situation already was with the protests going on, and with the media fanning violence - the people were further pushed to worry more. He also emphasised on the fact that in such times the media should not decided who the enemy. The government is already under a lot of pressure and needs to be able to do its job without media pressure.

It is about time both the institutions question their role and facilitate the government in the best way possible.