POLITICS is a different ball game in Pakistan. As if it was not daunting enough on its own, it turns friends into foes and then foes into enemies. Everything is fair and yet nothing is fair; all at the same time.

Into the eighth decade of its existence, one would have hoped that Pakistanis have learned some political lesson, but, unfortunately, that is not the case as the country continues to get exploited by power-hungry bureaucrats.

Having said that, there is never a feeling of doom and gloom among the people. They are always free-spirited and full of life. Though their voting preferences may change over the course of years, their basic aim is to strengthen the roots of democracy while standing by their country’s important institutions. And to the institutions’ credit, they have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the nation through some of its darkest times.

The only way forward is to strengthen democracy while lending our full support to the armed forces so that the nefarious plans of our enemies could be neutralised and we, as a nation, could progress by leaps and bounds.

Syed Fawad Ali Shah

Sydney, Australia

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2020