Taking the fall (II)

LONDON: Your editorial of May 1 on the ongoing state of the inquiry set up by the government following the publication was excellent. In my view, the military by and large seems to look at the civilian population with some degree of condescension — the officers in particular hold this view. Civilians are seen as undisciplined, corrupt, incompetent, uncouth, and they spit paan and act inappropriately in public.

I find it improbable and incredible that a civilian would do something so drastic as to hose down a crime scene (and this was no ordinary crime scene) without orders from the top. On a personal note, when my infant son died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), my house was cordoned off, my wife treated as a suspect in a possible murder, my other children removed from my residence and sent to a neighbour’s house, and even I was not allowed to enter my own house after a desperate 20-hour flight from Islamabad on hearing the news. But I suppose this is America. Meekal Aziz Ahmed McLean, VA, US