Attack on artistic freedom.

THE public opening of the Karachi Biennale 2019 on Sunday was marred by controversy when unknown men forced the partial closure of one of the installations at Frere Hall. In hindsight, it shouldn't have come as a surprise. The 'offending' exhibit by Adeela Suleman was a requiem for the hundreds of victims of alleged 'encounter specialist' Rao Anwar. Evidently, the disgraced former SSP still enjoys the support and protection of certain quarters capable of acting secretly and with impunity. Instead, the evening ended with a hapless KMC official attempting to defend the indefensible before a press conference held by members of civil society in protest. Worse still, by yesterday morning, the rest of the exhibit had been vandalised. Later that evening, the KB19 team released a craven statement distancing itself from the artwork.

Among the feeble excuses made by some against this exhibit's display is that it tarnished Pakistan's and its law enforcement's image. But it was this fiasco and the events which inspired the artwork that do actual damage to our credibility. Such claims are premised on the notion that art should be...