The Centre can not hold.

The political cauldron is on a boil, every master chef,apprentice or busboy throwing in a pinch or two. The resulting concoction is not smelling too good. The appetite for the present dispensation seems to be on the wane. The recent events in Karachi ,the apathetic attitude of the government towards the carnage, all indicate a complete disconnect.The general malaise afflicting our country political and economical, all indicate something is askew. Karachi is our only port and the gateway and hub of commerce, if it comes to a standstill so does all commercial activity in this country. It is also a microcosm of the larger picture, all ethnic components of the country are represented there. The strife and tensions amongst them are reflective of the tensions and forces of dissent at play in Pakistan at the moment. To use them for any short term advantage or political clout is perhaps the most foolhardy approach. The failure to bring Karachi to normalcy will signal a failure of the conventional forces, political and military and certainly signal a beginning of the end.                                                                                                                                                                                         The forces who will benefit are the extremists who thrive on chaos. They come into play whenever there is a crisis in this country be it natural disasters or man made ones. They are organized and somewhat united while the so called liberals are fragmented. They have at their disposal sizable resources, human and material and use them well. It is a time to wake up and smell the coffee for the moderates  or else they shall be history. Stand up and be counted. Bickering and trading insults over the raison d'etre of this country and whether it was actually born on the 14th or the 15th of August 1947 is just strengthening the hands who are waiting to hijack our country. Let us not walk into this trap. Extreme views whether left or right have to be shunned.
The mainstream political parties also must understand they can not continue to exploit Democracy any  longer. If indeed it is a system promising a government of the people, for the people and by the people, then they had better start delivering the for the people component. Time is running out and sadly so are excuses.