Ripples on the brain

Pakistan and Musharraf

While the news channels tries to make some news out of Musharraf’s resignation, I was disappointed that none of the so called news analysis programmes pointed out that this is dejavu if you turn the pages of even the recent history of Pakistan. A ruler - democratically elected, or otherwise - is always hailed by the citizens when he ascends the throne and (s)he almost always goes out of favour within a few years and is cursed unanimously before (s)he is ejected from the throne. Irrespective of the nature of his wrong doing, more often than not, he is never tried without prejudice and (s)he always has a safe passage either out of the country or out of the world. The new ruler invariably comes with a lot of promise, irrespective of his past records, and cycle just repeats. As far as their stance towards India is concerned, the ruler travels the journey from being almost hawkish when he takes over to being a friend when he steps down (or is thrown out). I don’t expect the current coalition, born out of public sympathy to last very long.

The situation in Pakistan is such that, because of the precedent set, every General will now fancy his chances as the leader of the country. It is so amazing that “leaders” just need to spend some time outside the country to absolve themselves of any wrongdoing and to destroy their past records from the public memory. While the celebrations of Musharraf’s ouster are shown in media, it will also be prudent to show how he was welcomed 9 years ago, even though it was coup.

Times of India Page 3

Seriously, what is it with the page 3 of Chennai Times - a supplement to the Times of India Chennai edition. Everyday it has the same set of photos of “party animals” cuddling and posing in groups almost always with the same attire. Though I agree that the other pages are equally useless, this page just disgusts me. What a waste of newsprint!