• Print

    ISAS Briefs

    Quick analytical responses to occurrences in South Asia

    344: Beyond the Japan-India Symphony of Sentiments

    P S Suryanarayana, Editor (Current Affairs), ISAS

    5 September 2014

    On 14 July 1789 when the French Prison Bastille was stormed by a mob, the incident was reported to the imperious and na?»ve monarch Louis X V I by a courtier. "What, a revolt?" Louis exclaimed in apparent disbelief. "No, Sire, a revolution" was the quiet response from the courtier, a brutal but correct prediction. When recently crowds supporting the mercur ial Imran Khan and the enigmatic Tahirul Qadri occupied the official television station in Islamabad, in furtherance of their demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, one could be forgiven for drawing parallels with that situation in Fran ce. But in reality, are there any?