| February 03, 2008 | Sunday | Muharram 24, 1429 |
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The ‘face of Pakistan’
LAST Sunday came an early call from a friend in Lahore. Oh, Campari-imbiber, he chided me, switch over to brandy, drink like Churchill and get your dates right.
Mard-i-Momin Mard-i-Haq Ziaul Haq took over on July 5, 1977, and not on August 5 as you have it in your column. He was right, I was wrong — and my editor failed to spot the error. My apologies.
One recent happening that arouses puzzlement is that of the case of Abdul Sattar Edhi, a man of compassion for man and beast, and for whom I have the greatest respect. Reportedly, this was not the first time that he, a green card holder, has landed in the US, as he recently did, been detained by the immigration authorities and had his papers checked and scrutinised carefully. It is not too difficult to work out if one just visualises Edhi, with his hirsute face, his cap and his mode of dress.
As our press had it, he is the ‘face of Pakistan’. Now Pakistan is a land viewed from afar in such places as the US as ‘the most dangerous country in the world’, full of people who blow themselves up at the drop of a hat taking many others with them up to their make-believe paradise. The immigration rookies of the US have a point. We may not like it, but that is the reality.
Then we have the case of the Chaudhries of Gujrat, Shujaat’s brother Wajahat, his son Shafay and a few odd nephews and cousins who were detained by the British immigration authorities and ultimately deported to Pakistan.
Many rumours are being circulated about the whys and wherefores of this Chaudhry episode. One colourful rumour, probably all hot air, has it that Brother Wajahat and his son, when in Spain, spent cash lavishly on purchasing as many properties as possible in the chic southern coastal regions. The Spanish police tipped off the Brits about the cash-laden Chaudhries and the family was taken off the plane at Gatwick airport. Their ordeal was no worse, undoubtedly, than that suffered by many an adventurous traveller who forgets that he is not in his own land but in a land where the law prevails.
Head Honcho Shujaat ‘rushed’ to London accompanied by his voice, Mushahid Husain Sahib, to lodge various complaints, to solicit various apologies, and to mull upon whether they should sue for vast amounts of damages, or just let the whole thing die a natural death without stirring it up to possible detriment. Altaf Bhai, Pir of London Town, has naturally been consulted but we are not privy to the valuable advice he had to impart.
It has been an interesting period with much happening, but the muchness has been empty of true import. We had the ex-servicemen’s momentous meeting and their issuance of their decree that Musharraf should go, go, go. When criticism was levied, perhaps justifiably, by the media against the gall of these martial law- and military government-tainted gentlemen — specifically men such as Generals Mirza Aslam Beg, Hamid Gul, Faiz Ahmed Chishti, Asad Durrani — the press broke reports that at a subsequent meeting of the old guard they had decided that they would tender an ‘apology’ to the nation for whatever misdeeds were perceived.
My old friend Air Marshal Asghar Khan was one at the forefront of these meetings, his seniority and probity being unchallenged. I spoke to him in an effort to find out what was the apology they intended to make. There is no question of an apology, he told me. We have nothing to apologise for. The purpose of the get-together was to send a message to the president, the army and the nation at large that their view now is that the armed forces must not be allowed to meddle in politics and that they must move away, far away, from any contact with the politicos of Pakistan. This is an admirable suggestion — upon which COAS General Ashfaq Kayani had already acted.
But there is always that rogue force, the Inter Services Intelligence organisation, which is probably difficult to rein in. When Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was prime minister of this country, by an executive order he established within the ISI a political cell, an ‘election cell’. Our worthy ex-servicemen, many of whom are familiar with and have used this cell under orders, should unite and pressurise the present caretaker prime minister, Mohammadmian Soomro, to get his act together for once and rescind this executive order (or confirm that it has been rescinded) so that it is made quite sure and certain that the ISI will not be allowed to ‘lawfully’ influence the coming elections.
As to the coming elections, a constant question asked is will they be held? Yes. Will they be free, fair, transparent and (a new qualification) peaceful? Doubtful. The winners will claim that they were as open and clear as the skies, the losers will cry foul.
Now, to what my friend Munir Attaullah thinks and writes. Certainly not a ‘jungli’, a Balliol man (MA Jurisprudence) and a genuine Rhodes Scholar to boot, he writes a weekly column in one of our national daily newspapers. His last column, under the title ‘The new kid on the block’, refers to a rather notorious old kid who has been around and with us for, some say, too long. Munir does not lack self-confidence. His last paragraph says it all: “Regular readers know how carefully — very carefully — I weigh and measure every word I write. But, for once, I am going to speak from the heart. I urge all those who, a month ago, stood behind BB, to now rally wholeheartedly, openly, and unquestioningly behind Asif. Just as Asif had no choice, nor do we. It is time to visibly stand up and be counted.”
He opens up in apologetic mode, by telling us how Asif has been thrust centre-stage at a turbulent period of this country’s impossible political life, how the role is not of his choosing and asks what would Asif not give to have his spouse back and live contentedly in her shadow. Though, albeit “his time in the limelight would assuredly have come one day” when his “consummate conciliation and persuasive skills will be amply on display. For he is by instinct and intuition a political animal par excellence”, but “as things stand today, he has suddenly become the most important personality in our political firmament”.
Woof! I asked Munir to speak from his head. Under the predicament of whosoever’s making we now find ourselves in, who is the best of the worst lot to try and get us out of it? He thinks it may be Musharraf, with the help of the Pakistan Army. He may be right. We are dealing with ruthless men.
arfc@cyber.net.pk
