Even today, many people think that a military strongman will be better than the current weak government.
BERLIN: Your editorial of April 19 titled “Words of wisdom” was good. The history of Pakistan is filled with shameful stories. ‘Clean’ men overthrowing civilian governments is one. Another is the acceptance of military intervention by the general public.
Even today, many people think that a military strongman will be better than the current weak government. Pakistan’s economic and social development have also been stunted, as the military has sucked up resources. In economic terms, educated Pakistanis think their country should be a Turkey or a Malaysia by now. Instead, it lies below Yemen in the UNDP’s rankings of human development indicators. School enrolment ranks below even Sudan. And this can be understood better if one realises that the state spends twice as much on defence as on education.
The civilians must put their act together and make democracy work. As Libya shows, it is not easy to get rid of a ‘strong’ man. In a democracy, however, it is far easier since people can just vote out of office a leader who is bad or unable to deliver.
Sharif Lone
Published in The Express Tribune, April 20th, 2011.
