Mian Nawaz Sharifs suggestion, during a press briefing in Karachi, that political parties with militant wings should be banned from contesting elections deserves serious consideration. There is hardly any doubt that this prescription would strike a responsive chord with the public, particularly with the Karachites, who have been at the receiving end of politically motivated violence. Mian Nawaz further stated that such a ban can be enforced through an amendment in the Constitution. Indeed, any political party that has a militant wing should ordinarily forfeit its right to represent public or come into power. But as we have seen, it is an ugly reality that some of our political parties do have such wings and worse still they have been ruling over the masses at the point of gun. This was again confirmed recently in reports of various law enforcement agencies during the proceeding of the suo moto case on Karachi turmoil. No political party, however powerful, has the right to take law into its own hands or have private armed militias. For the grievous harm they have done to the city, these parties should be held accountable and those elements, which have been responsible for target killings or creating disturbance, must be punished. There should be a public debate about whether parties, with militant wings, should be banned or forced to disband them before conducting any political activity.