Public opinion: Citizens rally for army chief's extension

SUKKUR:

Scores of citizens staged a rally on Sunday from Rohri to Sukkur in support of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif. They demanded that the army chief continue serving beyond his planned retirement in November this year after taking an extension.

The demonstrators had gathered under the aegis of the National Peace Committee for Interfaith Harmony of Pakistan and carried placards and banners. They took to the streets in Rohri, marching on the main thoroughfares, and reached Minara Road in Sukkur, where they staged a demonstration in favour of the COAS. The participants shouted slogans expressing their admiration for Sharif and demanded the government extend his service period.

Speaking on the occasion, Irfan said, "The Pakistan Army under his command is busy rooting out the hideouts of terrorists and eliminating them once and for all". As a result of the Karachi operation by paramilitary forces, residents of the metropolis have heaved a sigh of relief, he said, adding that Karachi is the backbone of the country's economy, and had been subjected to the worst form of lawlessness for the last two decades.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th,  2016.