Hail the heroes.

Byline: Abbas Nasir

IT took an astute social media observer to point out that the amendment legalising the extension given to the army chief - in theory the principle will apply to all service chiefs - won more votes than even the two-thirds majority won by the PML-N's Nawaz Sharif in 1997.

Hence, the Twitter commentator concluded, the holder of the extended tenure enjoyed more legitimacy and popular support than a former prime minister who was voted in with one of the biggest majorities over the past three and a half decades if not longer.

Although this overwhelming expression of popular will in parliament was a public fact, and there for all to see and acknowledge, what its magnitude implies has not been sufficiently debated either in the print media nor on popular TV 'talk shows'.

Of course, this is not to mention one particular talk show where it was indeed discussed but in a manner that made most journalists and politicians and, possibly, even the beneficiary and his institution, hang their heads in shame.

Theories, particularly conspiracy theories, abound about why the minister did what he did, ie put a military boot on the table. Given popular support as manifest in the parliamentary votes for the extended tenure, it would be impossible that the minister who is seen as no less than an 'asset' would embarrass his patrons.

The much-maligned elected civilian politicians may have a lot to answer for but it is equally true that they were never allowed a free hand.

So, who else could have been in his cross hairs? The incident may have caused a bit of unease among some of the more circumspect PTI politicians but, despite the prime ministerial sanction on the minister, it is also widely known that such tactics usually enjoy the boss's approval.

Whatever the case, let us now ignore nasty men, whether in the cabinet or outside, and say 'who cares' as to whether there was method to the minister's madness or simply that his vile instinct guided his actions. In the spirit of the times, let's focus on the positive from here on.

Having a largely dysfunctional system where nothing is institutionalised, you'd be well within your rights to ask, where does our quest for the positive begin? One of the major feel-good factors that is ever effective and never fails, well almost never, is a hero.

For, heroes keep us going through the bleakest of times and renew our faith and hold the promise of a better tomorrow. The unprecedented snowfall this past week...