For the past few weeks, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has been all over the media, both for what he said and did not say. In fact, his silence spawned more news. Stories appeared thick and fast that “serious differences” with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his confidants were keeping him mum.

But soon the minister sprang back to his old self, disproving all speculations.

In the recent days, Ch. Nisar has had much substantiated stuff on offer to wean the media away from unsubstantiated stories. After he shared information about the ongoing investigation into the murder of MQM leader Dr Imran Farooq, he has become the most sought after cabinet minister by the 24/7 media.

Read: Nisar hits out at UAE minister for 'threatening' Pakistan

Otherwise too, the ‘Dabang Khan’ (plucky Khan) of Pakistani politics – as Ch. Nisar is rated by some PML-N colleagues after a Bollywood film character - knows the art of stirring the media, never mind in his favor or not. His simple appearance in the National Assembly and Senate is enough to prick up the ears of journalists covering the session.

And when he stands up to speak, the journalists perk up that they would get something juicy, if not substantial, to report. Even his shaking of hands, exchange of smiles and glances during the time he spends in the House are observed and reported, notably by the vernacular press.

Also read: No secret cooperation with Britain on Imran Farooq murder case: Nisar

Ch. Nisar must have had his reasons to abstain from a number of cabinet meetings and sessions of the National Assembly in June last year. The PML-N government was then in the thick of a nerve-racking battle with the dharnas of Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri outside the parliament.

No explanations came about the interior minister’s absence at such crucial time but everyone interpreted Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif’s running between Ch. Nisar and his elder brother, the prime minister as an effort to make peace between the two. And a patch up did emerge at a breakfast meeting at the Sharif family Raiwind mansion outside Lahore.

Recently, rumours about friction between them reappeared. However, a top PML-N source brushed them aside, saying Ch. Nisar is in the habit of showing his displeasure about anything by adopting low profile. “It can be anything; a government’s move in a given situation or his direct or indirect encounter with some heavy-weight of the PML-N,” the source told Dawn.

His ‘encounters’ with the ministers Khawaja Asif and Ishaq Dar in the cabinet have been open secrets. 

“All in all,” said the source summing up the prevailing situation, “unlike other cabinet ministers, who regularly visit the prime minister’s office, Chaudhry Nisar is keeping himself focused on his ministry.”

Most recently, ‘Dabang Khan’ was conspicuous by his absence from the top ministers lined up behind Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as he made a special policy statement on Saudi Arabia on Monday.

According to the PML-N source, reasons to show this aloofness may have been piling up as the interior minister, from the very outset, had been for setting up the judicial commission, to remove PTI’s misgivings about the results of general elections, but was ignored. He had also registered his concerns about the performance of the power ministry.

His reputation of calling a spade a spade was again in display this week when he hit back at a UAE minister for warning Pakistan of paying a heavy price for its neutrality on Yemeni conflict.  

Of late, Ch. Nisar is in the news for his ministry nabbing characters wanted in the 2010 murder Dr Imran Farooq and other ‘heinous crimes’ blamed on the MQM. This past week, he triumphantly announced the arrest of Muazzam Ali, claiming the man had arranged travel documents for the two suspect murderers of Dr Farooq, who are also in the custody of Pakistani authorities.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2015

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