Shocked by the assassination of Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, and the consequent indifference on the part of the leadership, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday, in an emotionally charged moment, announced to tender his resignation in closed door cabinet meeting. However, he was prevented by his cabinet ministers from doing so. The courage demonstrated by Prime Minister Gilani to quit his post in protest of the tragic murder deserves appreciation. The public that is sick and tired of its leaderships apathy would definitely be relieved at Prime Ministers gesture to sacrifice his premiership for the sake of highlighting poor law and order situation that is claiming innocent lives. In the same vein, he went to the extent of saying that if no other person comes forward and genuinely expresses remorse, he would himself shoulder the blame for this tragic incident. These are times when the country finds itself in the grip of lawlessness, so much so that the scourge seems to be getting the better of our security apparatus. And not surprisingly, it is the law enforcement agencies and the Army fighting this so-called war on terror who have been hit the hardest by the miscreants. However, this is all the more reason why security agencies should raise their vigilance. It should not be forgotten that Mr Bhatti was the victim of this poor system of policing prevailing in the country. Concerned police officers in Islamabad especially CPOs contention that the minister had himself declined to have the security escort with him is rather unacceptable as it reeks of typical excuses on the part of the department. Given the fact that police was well aware of the threats hurled at him in the past, under no circumstances it should have agreed to let him move all alone. Yet again their fault has not only cost a precious life but has besmirched our image the world over. Today, critics in the West have been provided with an opportunity of pointing a finger of accusation at Pakistan for being an unsafe place for minorities, a baseless charge, that the minorities here would themselves summarily reject. The government must initiate a thorough inquiry into this gruesome killing and make a horrible example of the culprits. In this point in time it would only be nave to hold the factor of Mr Bhattis previous statement about Blasphemy law responsible for the incident. The world community must also understand that. No definitive statements should be made, nor should anyone jump to conclusion until actual killers are caught.