Historical Parallels?
By Dr Ismat Kamal
CA
Two police constables were beaten to death by a mob in Islamabad, and the informant severely injured, after they had shot to death a drug peddler (The Nation, Pakistan, September 12, 2013). This lawlessness sadly reminds me of the last days of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Avadh, as portrayed in the satirical play “Mirza Jangee" by the famous playwright Azeem Baig Chughtai.
In the play, the chief judge sentenced two people to death. Outside the court house, the police escort lets them go scot free on payment of a bribe of 8 annas each. The Nawab’s advisers told him not to use the big cannons Akbari and Hyderi against the invading British forces, because his pet pigeons had laid eggs in the cannon shell. For the chief judge, read Chief Justice, for the invading British forces, read the Taliban.
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