Criticism is a never-ending sport in our country. This is because to sit in the seat of opposition hurling negativism at everything is very convenient. This is what currently besets the democratic government of President Zardari. Critics are indulging in constant mudslinging and have actually created an environment of depression doing that. Efforts are being made to deepen the cracks that have appeared in the morale of the people over the last decade. Fingers are being pointed at the President himself. The waging tongues, though, tend to forget that the President has done rather well so far. He has astutely managed the criticism over the fighting going on in Kashmir. He has also brilliantly overcome the Indian verbal attacks after the Mumbai carnage. The matter of the drone attacks has also been handled very diplomatically. The President has also risen above the unproven corruption charges that have tailed him in previous years. Critics might project the notion that Pakistan is on the brink of some kind of disaster and facing a make-or-break kind of situation but that is not true at all. Pakistan is certainly going through a difficult time with a multitude of crises facing it, but it is not failing in doing the needful. The leadership is doing its best to avert these crises. Smart policies are being framed to steer Pakistan out of troubled waters. -MAHA MASOOD, Lahore, January 10.