“What is history?”
“It’s a subject taught in schools and universities and ….”
“Yeah but how do you define history from the perspective of the writer.”
“That depends on which past period interests the historian. Some may focus on say the Ottoman Empire, others may be more interested in the earlier Fatimid period, then there are European wars of religion …”
“You know I was reading the historian William Lamont’s book who argued that religion was the primary driver behind the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, another historian Morrill disagreed and claimed religion was not the case of the first European revolution who, in turn, was criticised by another historian, Burgess by name, a contemporary who referred to parliamentarian political propaganda.”
“Hamm sounds like what Europe is doing these days against Russia. I was thinking more in terms of one person’s history.”
“If the person is alive then it technically is a biopic right – and if the person commissions the writer it’s a memoir.”
“Right like Musharraf’s In the Line of Fire, Benazir Bhutto’s book the Daughter of the East, and her long time loyalist Farhatullah Babar also wrote a book on her titled She walked Into the Fire … ….and don’t forget books have been written on Nawaz Sharif though I am not sure if he commissioned them …”
“Right and The Man Who Must Remain Nameless, Faceless and Voiceless has also …”
“Correct though perhaps the new generation may not feel the need to memorialize their own life in a book as they have access to social media with millions of ….”
“Yep but I would strongly urge a constitutional amendment be tabled.”
“Saying exactly what?”
“That there be a time bar on regurgitating history of any politician. I mean what someone did or say ten years or so ago may no longer be applicable – I mean we do change our views and …”
“As long as you understand that an amendment may be here today gone tomorrow – remember the eighth amendment ….”
“But what’s the harm in saying that you can’t refer to what someone may have said on record or done within a specified time period!”
“Why?”
“Because in our politics faces don’t change even though the one attacked changes.”
“Good point but it can’t be done in the twenty-eight constitutional amendment - I hear it’s ready to go so no room or time for its inclusion.”
“So let the work on the twenty-ninth amendment begin.”
“Good idea.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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