Editorial comments, op-ed pages, reports and analyses in the print media or on TV talk shows are expressing great satisfaction over the elections, the rise of the PML-N as a large party, and PTI sweeping KPK etc, but one point that they all missed was the part that Pakistan Army played. The credit goes to General Kayani and his team. Foreign press, like the Toronto Star minced no words, while eulogizing the role and contribution of the armed forces, from withdrawing meddling in political affairs and letting the democratic rulers complete their five-year term, first time in the history of the country.
The democracy in Pakistan is trotting slowly towards maturity and consolidation, perhaps only by the virtue of level of maturity shown by the top brass. Not that the politicians did not leave space for the army to interfere, not that the politicians and intelligentsia did not look towards the army to save them from the most corrupt government ever. There were more than a dozen such occasions when the silent majority in media and civil society felt the need for the army to play as a savior.
I must thank Gen Kayani and his team for the stronger nerves they showed, but they maintained restraint while being in the battlefield, where they faced a shadow enemy who fought them from behind the human shields. It is now time for our political leadership to not only recognize this fact but also make it possible to create a culture in the country where respect for all is assured.
ALYA ALVI,
Rawalpindi, May 15.