The Punjab Police was shown on TV beating people who were lying naked on ground in full public view while the policemen 'lashed them on their behinds with a contraption that had a long piece of rubber tire attached to a club. This equipment of torture, called a Chittre, is ubiquitous in police stations all over Punjab and widely used against the common man. The Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif has not made any comment on this televised outrage, has not even bothered to visit the place or sent any of his army of aides, not even his law minister. The policemen reportedly resorted to this open air beating of these helpless men because they had sent a number of complaint letters to the police high ups including the IG Police and CM Shahbaz Sharif. The media, meanwhile, has been too busy in Zardari-bashing to notice. It has almost forgotten that its main role is to protect the people of Pakistan and 70% of them happen to be in Punjab which is ruled by the Sharif brothers. It is high time they were also examined by the media, for a change. -DR. KHURRUM SHAUKAT YUSA-FZAI, Peshawar, March 3.