Army and Polity in Pakistan

S Akbar Zaidi’s ‘Pakistan: A Political Movement in the Making’ (June 2) gives renewed hope to the people of Pakistan and also to their neighbours. There is no denying the fact that the chain of events which have unfolded after the unconstitutional removal of the chief justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court, are unprecedented if not revolutionary, as suggested by the author. It is also noteworthy that for the first time in the last six decades the Pakistani army finds itself on the defensive against growing people’s opposition and dissent.

But the larger question that persists is why democracy is not able to establish its roots in that nation. Further, it also needs to be examined why many people in Pakistan and outside believe that the army is a lesser evil than the large number of radical Islamic groups that might gain legitimacy in case there is a power vacuum in the Pakistani polity.