| In war, the first casualty is said to be truth. This might explain why the Chief Justice Punjab’s court for almost the whole of the sweltering month of June 1993 was turned into a field hospital. Almost daily, relays of injured prides, bruised egos, lame excuses, broken promises, shattered illusions, served relations, failing memories, and dying hopes were brought in and laid outstretched before a Full Bench of five judges, including the Chief Justice of the Punjab High court. It was a nauseating sight. Not surprisingly, therefore, when it was announced in the afternoon of 28 June that the final disposal of the remains of that political gore would take place in the evening, admittance to the court room was restricted to those with strong nerves. |
| The hostilities can be said to have started at some time on or after 11.35 a.m on the 29 May 1993, when the Chief Minister Punjab Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo tendered advice to the Governor Ch. Altaf Hussain to dissolve Punjab provincial Assembly, which advice the Governor acted upon, as he claimed, at 4.00 p.m on the same day. [EXTRACT] |
Published in THE NATION 8 July 1993, and reprinted in THE ARMLESS QUEEN (1994), |
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