Notes in Anguish

We have 2 armies. The Brigs and below, and the Maj Gens and above. We lose our best, the rebellious in spirit, as Majs and Lt Cols. Our most professional, who do not want to part with their integrity are lost as Brigs. The weakest rise to the top. That is why the Gens have… →

One part of basic economics is very easy to understand. If you live beyond your means, you need to borrow to exist. After some time one of your creditors, say the milkman, refuses to extend you any further credit. The moment the butcher, the baker, or the grocer, etc get to know this, they also… →

In the past few days there have been efforts to refute the charges of a conspiracy behind the removal of the PTI government from office. First it was emphasized by the DG ISPR that deliberations by the National Security Council found that though there was evidence of “interference” by a foreign power in the removal… →

The high noon of decision making in Pakistan is upon those who have created the present disaster. Instead of expending their pitifully inadequate energies, trying to apply meaningless stitches to mend the huge crisis they have created, the Generals need to sit together and answer one fundamental question: i.e ARE THEY WILLING TO DEPLOY THE… →

It was towards the end of March 1971 that the military crackdown took place in Dhaka. This was predicated on the belief among the army high command that this would “pacify” East Pakistan. I was a platoon commander at the PMA then and could not understand this thinking. I was certain that with the two… →

To: Gen Ejaz Amjad. What is it that you and your son in law, Gen Qamar Bajwa, have done to Pakistan? What was your compulsion to sell us off to the pimps who prostituted us for 30 years? Why have you taken us to the brink? Why did you have no care for our sons… →

America should never have invaded Afghanistan. Or for that matter it should never have invaded any country beginning with Korea in early 50s, to Syria about ten years ago. In all these wars there has been no winner except the U.S corporate elite which ended up raking in tons of money from the mountains of… →

These are reflections on notes drawn from memory. The U.S destroyed and overran the Taliban in mere days, using the CIA, a few Special Ops personnel, and devastating air power in support of their Northern Alliance Allies. But no sooner had the Taliban been overwhelmed, it seems, the U.S began meticulously laying the groundwork for… →

A few days back there was mayhem in Bahria Town Karachi. A mob was seen attacking and breaking every manner of structure. There was nothing too unusual about this, especially if it is taken into account that Bahria Town administration was sitting on the money of too many people, and had not delivered to them… →

The Khaki aura has been undermined and besmirched by steady attacks of gathering conceit which the Khakis have inflicted upon themselves over the years. The promises made and then broken by the Khaki elite, each time it stepped into political space, instead of eroding this conceit, seems anomalously to have only enhanced it. It has,… →

Many years ago when Gen Yakubu Gowan was the president of Nigeria, he went on a state visit to the U.K. Those were the days when a stagecoach ride with the Queen was among the high points of the visit by such supremos. Most unfortunately, during the General’s promenading with the Queen, one of the… →

Recalling the movie “Taras Bulba”, a sentence comes to mind which suggests a methodology for transference of faith. One of the characters, rooting for peace between the Poles and the Cossacks, suggests that the Cossacks put their faith in the Poles. The leader of the latter immediately agrees. “Yes,” he says, ” put your faith… →