It is against national interest of Pakistan, if the elected executive, or paid civil and uniformed servants of the state were aware that its nationals were being murdered, slaughtered and kidnapped, while they failed to perform their primary constitutional obligation. A government exists to serve the people of the state. What is more important, party discipline, or the national interest? It does not matter what motivated Zulfiqar Mirza to state, what he did on oath of Holy Quran, but the content of charges and allegations that he made, which he claims are substantiated by documentary evidence. It is the state executive and establishment which has failed, if they were aware of the extent of crimes that were being committed and the identity of criminals. People of Pakistan were being murdered in cold blood in Karachi and all the instruments of the state have failed to protect them. It is time the state performs its primary obligation to protect the lives and property of its citizens, instead of being slave to the political compulsions of those who are elected, be they in government or in opposition. It is the people who are the primary asset of a state and the reason for establishing a government and not vice versa. The interests of Pakistan are more important than the individual interest, or misplaced ego, of its political elite or the establishment, or the interests of other countries. This country has been wronged by those who have no stakes in this country and what is happening in Karachi is because of such individuals with split loyalties, who live with their families and assets abroad and who have nothing to lose if Pakistan (God Forbid) collapses. MALIK TARIQ ALI, Lahore, August 30.