Tuesday last has marked a serious warning about public anger at a level not yet witnessed earlier. Angry mobs were finally out on the roads holding rallies and protest demonstrations across the country. They had suffered on different counts for too long and their patience seemed to be ending. The protestors attacked trains, and ransacked various government and private buildings. Traders in major cities from Karachi to Peshawar pulled their shutters down. Sindh and Punjab were badly hit, the details of which are all over the print and electronic media. The situation in Jhang should serve as an eye-opener, not only for the rulers but the entire political leadership of all the parties big and small. The pattern of the protest in all the major cities has changed from slogans and stone pelting to the protests in large numbers carrying batons and iron rods. This is really alarming. In different cities a good number of protestors including women sustained injuries during the clashes between the public and the police. The law enforcing agencies should know better that force cannot quell the wrath of an angry nation. The result is always counter-productive. The answer lies in removing the cause of the contentment of the people. During President Ayub Khan's regime, the government raised the price of sugar by a few annas per kilogram. Hell was let loose in the form of public resentment to the extent that Ayub had to surrender under public pressure. Times have changed. The people have somehow got into a mood of passive injustice because there is no way out from the tyranny inflicted on them from all quarters. There was no relief provided by the judiciary as well. That is what the CJ was alluding to, when he very correctly pointed to the role of the judiciary in the past. This has been going on for a long time. Each sitting government conveniently puts the blame on its predecessors. The people at large suffered silently, because they did not see any ray of hope. "Enough is enough," said the honourable CJ Chaudhry. He has announced that no unconstitutional step will be allowed in the future. The whole nation stands behind the CJ in this noble commitment for the enforcement of justice. People at large have lost trust in the current machinery of the state to bring about good governance. The Founder Father had set a national example of a model government. In the most difficult of time, it consisted of 10 persons - the governor general, the prime minister and only eight federal ministers. And 10 secretaries and the total of the top ladder consisted of only 20 dedicated personalities to run the task of administering the new state during its pangs of birth. A mere comparison with the size of the government reflects the lavishness of our mindset. This state of despair amongst the vast majority of the deprived masses seems to be coming to an end. It is only a natural phenomenon that when pushed through the wall the patience of the oppressed class, bursts out of the limitations imposed on it. When the tolerance level is exhausted, a new phenomenon takes over, replacing the old order with a new one. If the rulers are wise, they remedy the situation in time. There is an old English proverb that "a stitch in time saves nine." Perhaps there is still time to save the situation. If the rulers and the political forces that matter do not pay heed, the present situation is likely to get worse and ultimately drive the nation towards a bloody revolution. I need not quote the causes of the French revolution and others that have followed suite. The great poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz had once said: "A true leader with a vision can foresee, the gathering storm in the rivers Dajla and Faraat through a single early wave of their waters." Long before Faiz, our great poet and philosopher who had the first dream of the emergence of Pakistan have advised fair and just distribution of wealth and resources amongst the citizens of the state in the following words of warning: Jis khet se dahkan ko muyassar nahen rozi / ous khet ke har khosha-e-gandam ko jalaa do. (If the peasant toiling the land does not get his due share of sustenance it would meet the ends of justice if every grain of such harvest is destroyed before falling into wrong hands.) The writer is the president of the Pakistan National Forum