A blessing in disguise

Judicial crisis of the recent days came as a blessing in disguise. It cleared the country of many types of misperceptions that had confused the common man and pitted one against the other.
Of course that doesn't mean that some sort of crises should be built up to clear misperceptions but it certainly highlights the ideal state of affairs that prevail in the country in all the pivotal sectors especially in the higher echelons of power.
The facts speak for themselves, which, however, need to be analysed on realistic and historical yardsticks. Let us first take the conduct of most of the rulers of the past vis-à-vis other national institutions particularly the noble institution of judiciary.
The ruling cliques or the ruling individuals, behaved autocratically for most part of their tenures. Even the civilian structures making tall claims of their love for true democracy (and bragging about their heavy mandates) have been behaving equally autocratically.
There are instances when leaders and activists of another major political party of the country would publicly condemn the judiciary and judges. Creating fuss over fuss is not a difficult task to accomplish in our peculiar atmosphere that is almost always marked - and 'charged'- with controversies and polarisation.
The government, despite being headed by a powerful President drawing powers also from his military uniform, rather acted highly reasonably and judiciously to accept the apex court judgement of CJ's reinstatement wholeheartedly.
This wholehearted acceptance is a welcome sign from the angle of national integration. The government in general and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in particular ought to be greeted for showing this much of decency that stands in conformity with the modern-day approach of tolerance and cohesion. The overall ambience has, indeed, been that of restraint that is in reality the hallmark of nationalism.
And whenever any nation's history is written, the government of the day is always credited for good deeds and discredited for follies and foibles. So, when we see sharp controversies and pique coming to an end following the announcement of that landmark judgement by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the government too deserves a pat on the back to some extent along with the judiciary that has done this wonder of putting an abrupt end to society's polarisation and consequential fragmentation.
Things have now reached a stage when we can see the ushering in of a new era of inter-institution harmony, a condition that the nation had been yearning for years. As the country's history goes, the personal motives and stubbornness of most of our leading lights holding decision-making positions have always been impeding the smooth expansion of cordial ties among our institutions and their key position holders.
As a result, the country has been facing marked imbalances and disruptions in the ongoing system that have in turn led to massive deterioration and stagnation. Signs are healthy now. The judiciary that has taken the lead in bringing to halt the institutional frictions and social polarisation, is now expected to conduct itself more judiciously, courageously and nationalistically to produce the end product of greater unity, prosperity and justice.
Justice and fair play now stand guaranteed now that all the key players on the stage have accepted the changed realities as well as the new modes of relationships. Now one can safely predict an early end to the era of jealousies, arrogance and friction, the three menaces that have made the nationals of the same country, enemies of one another.