It had, meanwhile, destroyed all of Pakistan’s institutions, from the constitution to the judiciary, the civil society, and, to some extent, the media. It had talibanised its polity by running two jihads simultaneously along its western and eastern flanks, had built a rogue nuclear programme that gave Pakistan a bad name around the world and had unleashed forces that threatened not only their own country, but the world at large. This is besides the fact that the armed forces ate up a bulk of Pakistan’s resources, cornered some of the most important civilian jobs and yet never won, forget a war, even a skirmish of any size against clumsy, slovenly, civilian India.

It is time again now to raise these questions, and destroy the myth of Pakistan’s army having been such a beacon of modernism, such a pillar of stability. That is unfair to millions in a reasonably modern nation that now sees a new democratic yearning. Yes, the Pakistani army is a brilliant, disciplined fighting force, respected by its adversaries. Indian generals are the first to concede that. They will tell you with some awe how no Pakistani soldiers fled, how they fought to the last man, even counter-attacked when dislodged at Kargil, against the heaviest odds. But even the greatest professional army cannot claim an eternal, institutional right to governance and power. In any case the use-by date on such notions is over. That is why the election of February 18 will, at best, be a semi-final, and will bring a more decisive transition later, in its wake.

... contd.