Seeing the violence and mayhem in the opening scenes of the movie 'No Country for Old Men, for a moment I thought I was in Karachi. I said to myself, alas, Pakistan also is no country for old men. The younger ones can perhaps carry some tattered shards of hope in their pockets, but for the older men there is not enough world and time left to cling to even a forlorn hope for improvement. This opportunity may never present itself again in a hundred years. The new entrants to the killing fields of Karachi and the old ones who claim never to have done anything wrong, are all in the dock. The supreme court has established its august presence at the scene of the crime. People are watching with bated breaths the clash of the Titans. Will the entrenched Mafiosi, the one with their Don in London, prevail again as was expected. Can anything be more pathetic. Is this what the writ of the supreme court of the country has been reduced to in face of brute threats from a deranged person? One would have thought that, given the opportunity, the government would have been concentrating hundred percent on finding ways and means out of the morass before everything goes back to square one. But in this one possible moment of deliverance, the government has entirely different priorities. A government spokesperson is pleased to inform us of the impending breakthrough with MQM. As if this is the end-all and be-all of the governments concern at the moment. As if with the mere survival of the government all the pieces will fall in their place. And it will be back to business as usual. Chalk up another victory for Mufahmat Malik. His needle is stuck in the groove, 'target killers are from all parties. A triumphant 'Q League chap tell us, we had resigned but the president, in his capacity as the co-chairperson, phoned and agreed to all our demands and we are back in the fold. Shame on this kind of wheeling and dealing by both the sides. The presidents success of course lies in wearing three hats, that of the president which he uses only for foreign trips, that of the co-chairperson which is his main claim to fame, albeit totally illegal, and the third one that says in bold italics, 'you are either with me or against me KHURSHID ANWER, Lahore, September16.