Healing the wounds of the nation.

On January 20, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr took oath of office as the 46th President of USA. The Presidential elections were held on November 3. It had been a close race. While Biden managed to get 306 electoral votes, Trump got 232. The voter turnout was the largest ever (46.8 percent), and 81 million Americans voted for Biden, Trump trailed with 74 million. The country is the oldest constitutional democracy of the world where incumbents have usually managed to get a second term in office unless a major debacle has taken place. Jimmy Carter lost the elections in 1980 to Ronald Reagan due to the US Embassy Hostage crisis in Iran. George Bush Sr lost in 1992 to Bill Clinton, mainly because of being over-confident after winning the first Iraq war. Donald Trump campaigned hard for his second term. As an anti-establishment politician, he had created his own constituency. He came from nowhere to first get his party nomination and then the presidency. Perhaps it was the pandemic that cost him the election, otherwise he had positioned himself well for a second term against the wishes of the establishment.

After taking over the presidency, Joe Biden has started a process of healing the nation. Strife serves no purpose, it stalls progress. Nations rise and fall together. The focus has now shifted on common good. 'For the people legislation' has started.

Trump escaped impeachment for the unprecedented attack on the US Congress on January 4 by supporters of his. The divisions are being bridged. By contrast, democracy in the land of the pure has been repeatedly attacked both by men in uniform and their civilian pseudo-political leadership. The wounds continue to bleed. There have been no attempts at healing. The ' Zia Dark Ages ' have been the deadliest which refuse to end. The divides that he created have become traps for the entire nation. Most civil institutions continue to be non-functional. The wounds of the nation have to be healed to move forward to end the era of strife (1977 to 2018). A 'Truth and Reconciliation Commission' may be needed.

To heal the wounds of the nation, an honest man on the top needs an able team to first understand the grim ground realities and then be able to improve them. A wounded nation can neither advance nor survive in the long run, so the healing process has to be started without ado.

The nation has come under attack several times. I remember the first speech of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) when he took over the truncated...