Notes in Anguish

Our Army was our most respected institution. This is so with most countries. This is perhaps so because members of no other institution pay such a price in the line of duty as the soldier does. Also, it was the general belief that it was the army which was holding the country together. It was… →

In the exceptionally harsh winter of 1838, the Cherokee, an American Indian tribe, were forcibly driven out of their homes in Georgia and relocated to Oklahoma. In the three months it took to cover the 800 miles, thousands of men women and children dropped onto the snow and died along the way. Historians are debating… →

Even those of us who are not dog lovers can tell between a bloodhound and a sheepdog and the primary characteristics which differentiate them. They may therefore concede that long conditioning and breeding inculcates a certain character in an animal, by suppressing some qualities while accentuating others. And so it is with humans whose history… →

History is replete with miracles, but for my purposes I am choosing just four. First there is the miracle of the Vietnamese will to independence. For eons China, its huge neighbour, eyed it as the colony it most wanted to devour. For more than two thousand years, intermittently it invaded Vietnam but the Vietnamese did… →

In a society where the prevailing ethos shows no respect for rule of law, no institution can function even halfway effectively. And in a culture defined and kept buoyant by its loyalty to the lie and to theft, rule of law can have only a precarious existence. It takes no flight of genius to make… →

A couple of weeks back I wrote about how U.S soldiers began killing unpopular officers during the Vietnam War. This was kept under wraps at the time, but the effect of this was that even officers as junior in rank as majors, had begun avoiding the battlefield and zones of operation. Since then, I have… →

Article 6 is bound to remain a bugbear till it claims its first head. Thus far in top contention for this is Gen Bajwa’s. With his head lopped off there may well be an improvement in his looks, but what is certain is that article 6 shall also begin being taken more seriously. Perhaps it… →

From time to time Qazi Faez Isa emerges from darkness and shines a light on his own peculiar form of hypocrisy. He hit national renown in the Hudaibya case. His conduct on the bench clearly showed him bending over backwards to give a clean chit to Ishaq Dar and the Gang of Sharifs. By sheer… →

By the time the Vietnam war ended, between 2 and 3 million Vietnamese lay dead, while they had killed 58000 Americans. Yet it was the U.S that had lost the war! This was not the way it was supposed to have happened. The little brown Vietnamese, clad in pajamas and straw hats, were expected to… →

Ever wondered how rape became a raging fashion in India? Let’s just examine Mr Justice Ranjan Gagoi’s case to get some clarity on this issue. He was quite the BJP”s favourite judge on account of his judgements in their favour and ended up by becoming the Chief Justice of India. A young woman, a junior… →

The generals, having confused us whether it was self-preservation or considerations of national security, which was driving their behaviour, have been elbowed out of the front seats. The judges have moved in. And it was natural that this should have been the case because, over the years, the generals and the judges have screwed up… →

There is a debate around the proceedings in the Supreme Court. This debate is over the S.C Judgement that it was essential to have elections within ninety days of dismissal/dissolution of the assemblies. And the second debate is whether the judgement given in favour of having elections within ninety days of this dissolution was a… →