Suicide: Not an Option

SUICIDE NOT AN OPTION The present world is one in which everyone has their moments of pain and grief. But these should be recognized as a transient phase, and borne with stoicism and courage. General Atiqur Rahman, former Chairman of the Pakistan Federal Service Commission, came to Delhi on an official visit in February 1984. An emigrant to Pakistan, he had worked before partition during the Second World War with Field Marshal Manekshaw in Burma. At a meeting with journalists, he told of how, during his stay in Burma, Manekshaw had once been badly wounded, and the pain having become unbearable, he decided to put an end to his life by shooting himself. He asked Rahman to give him a pistol for this purpose, but Rahman refused. The General added, laughing, “Had I known at the time what Field Marshal Manekshaw was going to do to us during the 1971 war, I would certainly have given him my pistol!”