Turning to the army all of a sudden

MQM Chief Altaf Husain’s notorious statement has created additional uproar and confusion in an already devastated country where all the politicians have surprisingly put their differences aside and taken a similar stance regarding the next military coup. The idea of army intervention to clean out the mess created by the corrupt politicians, as suggested by Altaf, has been criticized and mocked by all the politicians who think that it is a disgrace for the country to appeal to the army.

The reason why politicians have condemned this idea is controversial. They either have faith in what they call democracy and actually believe that another military coup is suicidal or are too afraid to lose their power. Whatever the case maybe, at the end of the day it all comes down to people and what they want, after all, we are a “democratic” nation where demands of people supposedly matter. People who support democracy need to be reminded what democracy actually is. It is basically the rule of law where all citizens are given equal treatment and justice with transparency and freedom of expression is guaranteed. This is clearly not the case in Pakistan which means what we have here is not democracy but a corrupt system or the rule of elite which is lethal for the country. Altaf Husain’s statement should partly be welcomed at least for the short run because it’s either the power of the angry mob or the power of the army that can overthrow this corrupt system. A united angry mob and its ability to bring about a revolution in the country is unlikely because of all the differences that exist amongst the people. Thus, the army needs to intervene, clear out the mess, install a patriotic, faithful leader and then leave. Army intervention cannot be a permanent solution because it does not promise absolute perfection and regimes of Ayub, Zia, Musharraf provide classic examples. Moreover, as far as majority Pakistanis are concerned, all they need is someone who can take care of their basic necessities at a lower cost be it a dictator or a democratic leader.