Dr Saulat Nagi

Shylock’s clever simulation of his usuary with Jacob’s multiplication of flock at the expense of Laban’s, failed to impress Antonio. In reply, he cautioned his friend, “mark you this, Bassanio, the devil can cite Scripture for his purpose”. The misuse of religion to enhance one’s vested interests is not new, human history is rife with […]

Watching the ghost of the dead king walking on the palace wall Marcellus, observed, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” Marcellus, certainly, had neither Pakistan nor capitalism in his mind but by the time his words reached, our ears in the 21st century, his prophecy proved not out of place. Something is rotten […]

“Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war,” standing beside Caesar’s cadaver Mark Anthony screamed, beseeching Romans to seek revenge from the powerful assassins to whom he could merely allude as murderers in ambiguous words. Putin, however, needed no ambiguity to wage a war against Ukraine. There is nothing wrong with Ukraine’s stars deserving […]

“My tongue will tell the anger of my heart, or else my heart concealing it will break.” Shakespeare’s advice is heeded by the Iranian women expressing the anger of their hearts against the religious and economic oppression of Ayatollahs. Their hearts are broken, but not tamed and as Jorge Borges says, they have learned no […]

In Ava Imperatrix, Oscar Wilde writes, “Set in this stormy Northern Sea, Queen of these restless fields of tide, England! What shall men say of thee, before whose feet the worlds divide?” Wilde has revealed the entire history and mystery of British politics in a subtle ironic and subversive way albeit there is an exception, […]

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, because we are the underlings. Underlings we are, for we submit peacefully to the dominant interest of the ruling class, identifying our conflicting interests with theirs and cannot see the deformed intentions of the defenders and what they defend. Only a fortnight ago […]

“O judgment thou art fled to the brutish beast and men have lost their reason”. Antony addressed the Romans while standing beside Caesar’s cadaver. Brutus, however, denied him the consolation saying, “not that I loved Caesar, but I loved Rome more”. What Brutus did was a conscious act and not madness. Even madness has a […]

“We know what we are,” says Shakespeare, “but know not what we may be.” If we pose the same question to the people of Pakistan, can we expect the same answer? Probably not, “from the depths of their hearts, the masses, secretly know the truth,” Horkheimer says, “and disbelieve the lie, like catatonic patients who […]

“O Judgement,” Mark Anthony says, “thou fled to the brutish beast and men have lost their reason.” However, the reason that propelled Brutus to slay his friend was not without logic, “not that I loved Caesar less” he said, “but I loved Rome more.” In any conflict, reason becomes the first casualty on either side […]

History, Marx says, repeats itself, first as a tragedy and then as a farce, but what if the history of a country is a tragic farce? If Indian history was the history of invasions, the history of Pakistan is the history of intervention in all spheres by the mighty powers that ironically consider themselves an […]