April 17, 2003

Syed Rashid Husain reports on his meeting with the Sharif family in exile in Saudi Arabia

Jeddah is hardly a two-hour flight from where I am stationed. I have been to the Red Sea city many times since Mian Nawaz Sharif and his family landed there. Yet I never tried to venture into his residence for I was told that ‘agencies’ and their men keep an eye on all those going to meet the ex-prime minister. As a foreign resident in Saudi Arabia, one did not want to get into any trouble.

But I had spoken to Mian Sahib a few times on the telephone and also been in touch with Mian Shahbaz Sharif occasionally, who has been more forthright on issues of current interest. This time I had decided to take the plunge and was on my way to the palace just off the main Madinah Road in Jeddah.

After initial security checks by the Saudi security people at the main entrance, I was ushered into the palace. Three Mercedes cars, one Jaguar and one Caprice were noticeable in the shaded car park. Mian Sahib’s secretary, Qudrat Usman, knew I was coming over. A small secretariat seemed to be operational inside the palace.

I was ahead of the appointed time. Brigadier Javed Iqbal Malik, Mr Sharif’s former military secretary who was also a co-defendant in the hijacking case, was in the gymnasium. I was taken to the drawing room, where I had to wait for some time. In the meantime, Qudrat Usman came in and introduced himself. He told me I would see Mian Sahib around maghrib, but that it will not be a proper interview.

I was served samosas, onion rings and chicken cutlets with coffee. The attendant appeared to be a Saudi.

At around a quarter to seven I could hear the call for the maghrib prayers and I decided to join the others. Prayer rugs were laid out in an adjacent room. Mian Sahib was in the row of the congregation line along with his father, Mian Mohammad Sharif, who was in a wheelchair.

After the prayers I slipped back into the drawing room. A few minutes later, Brig Javed Malik came in. We had a chat for 10 or 15 minutes. He was upset about a write-up in a Pakistani newspaper on Mian Sahib that day. He was of the opinion that the piece was written at the behest of the ISI. I had not seen the story myself until then; hence there was no point in defending it. I went through the article the next day and thought that blaming the ISI for a piece done by an eminent academic was an exaggeration.

I was then ushered into the same room where we had said our prayers. People were sitting in an almost U-shaped fashion. Hamza Sharif, son of Shahbaz Sharif, sat next to Mian Sahib. Mian Sharif, the father, seemed as though he was chairing the session. Mian Abbas Sharif, the younger brother, was at one end.

I was introduced to Mian Sahib, who was clad in a light blue shalwar kameez. It appeared to be a brainstorming session. Editorials, lead stories and selected commentaries from leading Pakistani Urdu newspapers were being read out by one Chaudhry Sahib. Mian Nawaz Sharif would intervene with his comments and also try to explain to “Abba ji”, some of the finer points of the comments. The subject was mostly the war in Iraq. On some of the commentaries, that indicated that the allied forces were facing stiff resistance, Brig Javed said: “Sir, you had said this almost at the beginning of the war. Now it is coming true.” Mian Sahib nodded his head in approval.

He was apparently disturbed at the turn of events. He wanted the war to end. He implicitly was also critical of the stance of some governments, specially the Pakistan government. An English script was also on the table next to Mian Sahib. The procedure followed was that all stories were first brought to Mian Sahib. He then passed on selected stories or comments to Chaudhry Sahib to read out.

In the meantime, his son-in-law, Captain Safdar, came in with a story. Mian Sahib saw it and then asked Chaudhry Sahib to relinquish his place for Safdar.

This was a commentary on the Rana Sanaullah issue, heavily criticizing the ISI’s interference and handling of political issues. There was a passion in Captain Safdar’s voice and one could feel his comradeship with the writer. Some of them were surprised to see the story in print, as perhaps they had not expected it to be carried.

That was followed by a call to Isha prayers. Rugs were laid out again, and prayers were offered. Mian Mohammad Sharif, then retired to his quarters, I started collecting my things, realizing that I had very little chance of talking to Nawaz Sharif. Brigadier Javed asked me to say good bye to Mian Sahib before leaving. By then he had already moved to the dining room. He asked me to join him for dinner and enquired if I could stay over for the night. “You came here to talk to me. Stay over and maybe we could have a chat some time later.” I had commitments the next day, hence I had to decline the offer.

Dinner was served. I ate hurriedly and it was time for me to take leave for the airport. On my way back I kept talking to Mujahid, his driver. He too, like Mian Sahib, was worried about the Iraq war and he also had no firm idea as to where and how it would end. I left the place with a commitment from Mian Sahib that he would talk to me soon on certain issues.

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