Since they rule us

This is with reference to a letter by Engr R Bhutta (The Nation of June 29, 2008). The writer has declared that students who cannot make a good grade in studies go to law or the fighting forces.
Through queer logic, he has come to the conclusion that all of our sufferings are due to the collusion of military and the judiciary who legitimizes their rule. He has suggested that higher technical and intellectual standards be set for the armed forces to develop the nation in the fields of politics and economics. I also do not agree with Mr. Bhutta that “the judges possess mediocre intellect or education compared to an engineer or an MBBS doctor”. Lawyers and armed forces have produced some very versatile leaders while the doctors and engineers have seldom stepped out of the fixed parameters of their professions.
The learned writer has also failed to comprehend the fact that each profession has to have a foundation. In the technical lines, one must reach a technical base which takes many years to do.
Similarly, for an officer in the army, great stress is put on attaining high intelligence quotient mark in addition to great physical fitness. He is milled for four long days in the Selection Boards while still in his teens.
Only men of very high standard are picked up and then trained vigorously through a training programme many top engineers, doctors and scientists would not want to go through. -A.Q. ANJUM, Rawalpindi, via e-mail, July 8.