Muqaam Faiz koie rah mein jacha hi nahin; jo kooey yar se nickley toe sooey daar chaley.” (Between the gallows and my beloved’s lane, no other place was good enough for me) I don’t think Faiz, while composing these immortal lines, was thinking of the choices our chief executives have to make when selecting an army chief. It still turned out that way every now and then. One of our prime ministers was hanged by his cherry-picked Chief of Army Staff (COAS); and some others were given another lease of life when the incumbent head-honcho of the uniformed clan ended...