PARTLY FACETIOUS: Comparisons must not be between apples and oranges

“I would like to give a few examples and then…”

“Relating to?”

“Relating to restive provinces in a country; stop, I mean no disrespect, and I mean no…”

“But comparisons must be between apples and oranges.”

“You mean the reverse – that comparisons must not be between apples and oranges.”

“Well examples are not identical twins you know.”

“How about identical twins with different personalities.”

“Oh shush you are trying anyway why don’t you compare apples and pears and need I add pears are from the same family as apples only softer.”

“Right the military wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out terrorist attacks for decades killing innocent British nationals as well as British soldiers and yet at the end of the day dialogue is what ended it.”

“I would say the comparison is between apples and tomatoes, a fruit technically, and the reason is that the Taliban are largely uneducated and their ideas about Islam are different from ours…”

“Two things first, the Man Who Must Remain Nameless and Faceless tried dialogue with the Taliban and with zero success. I reckon because while the IRA adhered to the agreed, the Taliban reneged on it time and again.”

“That’s right. And continuing…”

“Wait, let me make the second point – it’s a question - are we talking Taliban and not the massacres in Balochistan?”

“We can if you wish. The example that comes to mind is the end of the LTTE in Sri Lanka, and need I add it was successful only after the Sri Lankan armed forces engaged in how shall I put it extraordinary brutality…”

“True, but defections of key personnel of LTTE, reduction in LTTE external funding also contributed to the success of the operation.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024