Ready for a reset?
The violent protests against the Pakistani army following the arrest and subsequent release of their former PM is a sign that the people there have found their voice. What happens next, remains to be seen.
The massive violent protests against the Pakistani army, following the arrest and subsequent release of their former Prime Minister, is unprecedented. Whatever the trigging point, the fact remains that there was an undercurrent and the anger was brewing against the army for drenching the resources of that country and forcing the civilian population to live a miserable life. As the saying goes: ‘Countries have armies but in Pakistan the army owns a country’; allegations of provocations and instigations apart, anger was brewing
up against the army but because of the fear of persecution, there was a silence of the graveyard. The political uncertainty and the animosity between the PML and PTI, of course, has a lot to do with the current situation in Pakistan, but the resentment against the
Pakistani army seems to be across the board. I am a little hesitant to side with the argument that it is the PTI workers who are behind the protest against the Pakistani
army. I compare the situation in Pakistan with the one we faced in Kashmir for a couple of decades. The majority of the people here had no love lost for the separatists and the separatist movement but because of the fear of persecution and intimidation, the poor people could not express themselves and remained mute to the situation for a long time. It was only when the separatists and their militant arms lost grip over their mind space
that people started talking openly against them. This is precisely what is happening in Pakistan. The severest economic crisis finally made the Pakistani people realise
that silence amounts to death of the society. The arrest and subsequent release of Imran Khan only provided an opportunity to the people of Pakistan to vent their anger and frustration against the army. The simmering was there for quite some time and the arrest
of Imran Khan led to a volcanic eruption. It is a popular backlash against the Pakistani army and for the first time in the history of Pakistan, its army faces a direct challenge to its authority. Now, let us wait and watch if it finally leads to the transition of the Pakistani
state.
