Notes in Anguish

Chasing Rainbows

Dreaming of a free and prosperous Pakistan

  • The Taming of the Paper Lions.

    Poor Nihal Hashemi has at long last received his comeuppance. He had begun roaring to the rafters at the behest of the fatter lions who have gorged themselves to satisfaction, and are in an advanced state of preparation to flee the country if the situation so demands. In the case of Hashemi perhaps it was…

  • A Glimpse into the Future.

    The actual state of the rule of law casts a long shadow on Pakistan. This is long both in terms of its scope, and the gloom it brings as we peer into our future. The reality of the rule of law as it actually operates in Pakistan will throw light on the esteem enjoyed by…

  • The Cold Logic of Events.

    However much historians may argue about the partition of the subcontinent, there is one point on which there is general agreement i.e. that without Jinnah, there would have been no Pakistan. The other point on which there is consensus even among the rabid anti Jinnah writers of history is that Jinnah’s integrity was without blemish,…

  • Pakistan and National Security: The Constitution vs The State.

    During the past fortnight some TV anchors [ prime among them Dr Shahid Masood, Rauf Klasra, Amir Mateen, and Mohammad Malick] seem to have woken up to the biggest national security crisis staring Pakistan in the face. This crisis is the prospect of bankruptcy of the state towards which eventuality Pakistan is now hurtling at…

  • Pakistan: The Tale of an Auction.

    When Asif Zardari [aka Mr 10 percent] became President of Pakistan in 2008, one needed no flight of imagination to predict that open season on Pakistan’s slender coffers had been inaugurated. One knew that on every financial cum economic activity henceforth, a presidential tax will be levied to assuage the hunger worked up by Mr…

  • Raheel Sharif; a New Gust of Wind.

    Few people have monopolized the imagination of a people and faded so quickly from memory, as has Gen Raheel Sharif. The reason for this seems to be that he was more a creation of skillful portrayal by the DG ISPR, Gen Asim Salim Bajwa, as somebody in whom the hopes of the nation ought to…

  • The Lion and the Ass.

    To understand why Nawaz Sharif is so beside himself with the rage, one is reminded of the jungle tale of the Lion and the Ass. This is the “sher ban, sher ban” story which has been the cause of much mirth in gatherings and around campfires. When the Lion, the king of the jungle, was…

  • Time For Red Lines to be Drawn.

    Economic warfare to undermine an enemy has long been a practice. But over time this has improved in sophistication. Just how subtle and sophisticated it has become in our day, was revealed in ” The Confessions of an Economic Hitman “, a book by John Perkins. What made this book especially instructive was the fact…

  • What the Supreme Court Needs to Do?

    When General of the Army, Syed Parvez Musharraf issued the infamous NRO on 05 Oct 2007, he did so to stretch to eternity [within human limits] the period of his rule. It is a supreme irony that this eternity, to gain which Musharraf had rehabilitated every major scoundrel of Pakistan, stood terminated on 18 Aug…

  • The Other Miracle

    Towards the end of Zardari’s tenure of unimpeded plunder and misrule, PML-N, under the criminal guidance of its grand master, was sharpening its claws to have another dig at a Pakistan, which, as a result of Zardari’s remorseless depredations, was already becoming a carcass. Nawaz Sharif, the top contender for the title of the greatest…

  • The Panama Miracle.

    A nation of 200 million people, teetering on the very edge of a precipice, may just have been pulled back from the jaws of perdition, by the combined courage and commitment of Imran Khan, the five member bench of our Supreme Court plus our Chief justice, the six members of the JIT, those anchors of…

  • The Government, the Army, the Country, and the Dilemma.

    Can any Pakistani honestly imagine Pakistan holding together without its army? I do not know of any who can answer this question in the affirmative, and the implications of this are devastating. Essentially this means that every major institution of the country is non-functional; that the political establishment has steadily lost credibility to the point…