“Oh what a tangled web we weave.” “Quoting Shakespeare ain’t gonna resonate in the Land of the Pure.” “Well that comment tells me that without a doubt you are a citizen of the Land of the Pure.”

“I don’t see the need for sarcasm, I mean I am totally baffled…”

“First off it’s not a quote from Shakespeare but Sir Walter Scott and we Pakistanis tend to pass judgment without first getting our facts straight or in the case of the book bothering to read it. And second it’s an aphorism and for your information those are rather universal, transcend cultural and religious difference and…”

“Right so what were you referring to in this particular aphorism?”

“Well elections are pretty straightforward in most countries, but we complicate them, and recently we have managed to complicate summoning the first national assembly session after the February elections…”

“Those responsible…”

“Oh shush, I am just so very, very, tired of one side blaming one set of stakeholders, another either proactively defending them in courts or…”

“Right, anyway the complete quote is oh what a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive…”

“And that deception began when?”

“I am not a historian.”

“OK neither am I but aren’t you a truth seeker?”

“Well Truth Seeker is an American periodical that was first published in 1873, considered the most influential free thought publication following the US civil war…”

“Dated my friend.”

“I think it’s still being published.”

“OK, but I am no longer a truth seeker because extreme divisiveness is a disease that has attained the level of an epidemic and is spreading throughout the world, in the case of the US and the West the Israeli government’s brutalities continuing to this day is a key factor, in Pakistan…”

“Hush, better be safe than sorry.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024