Falling on deaf ears
Traffic in Lahore was a mess with Al-Prince visiting The Man of Steel, and expressing solidarity. At Al-Prince’s elbow was that old fixer, formerly known as Ehtesaburrahman, who cost The Man of Steel dearly back in the day. The old fixer is at center stage again and this time, he’s determined to woo The Man’s Talented Bro, lest there be a change of command in the future. But our mole reports that the old fixer’s opportunistic moves will likely fall on deaf ears, given Talented Bro’s awareness of his “qualities”. Apparently, Talented Bro has long warned The Man of Steel of the old fixer’s dictatorial, controlling tendencies, his sticky fingers and propensity to play fast and loose with the rules.
Ad nauseam
The two main factions of the Quaid-e-Qiwam’s once fearsome force, are at loggerheads, followed by bonhomie, followed by loggerheads and so on. This, say sources, is reflective of the confusion and turf war that prevails between the factions’ puppet masters, who are pulling in different directions. One day they are told to unite, the next to disunite, followed by recriminations, followed by negotiations, and so on ad nauseam. If Pakistani society is riven with fissures, so too is the state fractured, and that should give us all sleepless nights.
From millennia to decades
A group of government officials and civil society activists was tasked to come up with a plan to celebrate 3000 years of Lahore’s living history. In discussion, it appeared that starting with the Later Bronze Age would take the subject way beyond pre-Islamic times. So, that was a no-no. Then it came to starting the celebrations with the advent of Islam in the subcontinent. That, starting 700 AD onwards, through the Slave Dynasty and Ghorid period in the 10th/11th centuries, would involve research in India. So, that was a no-no too. Then it came to the Sultanate and Mughal times. Er, groan, too much syncretic history, involving Hindus and such like. Eureka! Let’s just start with 1947, shall we? That’s how the agenda went from millennia to decades.