Monthly Archives: March 2012

Conspiracy theories give free rein to one’s imagination, indeed they allow the imagination to run wild.  They weave a web of mysteries where none exists, suspect conspirators in high places when there are only bumbling politicians, incompetent generals and idiotic … Continue reading →

Historical accounts are so mutually antagonistic, exclusive and self-serving, and yet peoples and nations invariably fail to see the crude distortions in their own versions… The popular narratives of history reduce it to vehicles of patriotism and nationalism, shamelessly extolling … Continue reading →

Old age is all wisdom but little or no dignity… Getting old was always pain, but now it is shame as well, thanks to the pace of technological change… To hear people talk about the “intelligent design” under these circumstances … Continue reading →

The minister of defence acted like a minister of offence when he publicly slapped a senior police officer.  More recently, the law minister became a law unto himself and slapped a PIA passenger for protesting that his son had jumped … Continue reading →

The practice of booking a berth in heaven with a payment may have been reduced to a historical curiosity among Christians now, but it seems to be thriving among many mainstream Muslims.

Humanity is forever locked in the battle for life against death, whatever the religious belief or lack of it.  Man’s greatest preoccupation, the mission of his life, so to speak, is to live on.  From pope to layman, imam to … Continue reading →

Politicians by definition are guided by nothing more substantial or lofty than the desire to win the next election, no matter what it takes. Their methods vary, but by far the most dangerous is to sow the seeds of suspicion … Continue reading →

National identities aren’t permanent.  A citizen of Bangladesh born before 1947 would have started his life as an Indian but identified himself as a Pakistani for nearly a quarter century of his life, before becoming a Bangladeshi.  It is quite probable … Continue reading →

The tearing down of the Berlin Wall in 1989 heralded the collapse of the totalitarian Soviet empire.  The toppling of Saddam’s statue on Baghdad’s Firdous Square in 2003 sealed the overthrow of a dreadful Arab dictatorship.  Both were events of … Continue reading →

Often, less is more, and more is less.  For example, the death of Princess Diana in a road accident in Paris generated thousands of hours of television coverage worldwide, but carnage in Congo, Sudan or Indonesia resulting in thousands, even … Continue reading →