THE top leadership of the main opposition party strived hard to drive a wedge between the nation and the state through fabricated narratives aimed at poisoning the minds of its followers and turning them into rebels. It fostered a political culture of abuse based on blatant lies through hired keyboard warriors.

The party used every occasion to malign and destabilise the country financially and diplomatically by approaching inte-rnational agencies and national stake-holders. Having failed on all counts, the party then decided to change its tone and tenor, and announced its willingness to engage in negotiations with the government. How can this political cult be trusted again?

While it was quite encouraging to see that sanity had eventually prevailed, the demands put forth by the party leadership for the negotiations seemed unrealistic and impractical. It was no wonder that direct negotiations did not last long.

The nation still hopes that something positive would come out of whatever backdoor contacts that are said to have survived between the government and the opposition. The country surely needs peace and stability instead of turmoil.

Prof Sajjad Khattak
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2025