KARACHI: Once considered the country’s most powerful bureaucrat and former principal secretary to ex-premier Nawaz Sharif, Muhammad Saeed Mehdi has penned his memoirs, The Eyewitness: Standing in the Shadows of Pakistan’s History, which offers a gripping insider’s account of Pakistan’s tumultuous history and recounts pivotal moments that shaped the nation.

This was announced by Lightstone Publishers Managing Director Ameena Saiyid at a press conference held prior to the book launch, which is scheduled to be held on Monday evening, on Saturday evening.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Mehdi, a former principal secretary to ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, said: “I have been a witness to history and in this book I intend to tell all. It is a story of two centuries. It may be considered my reflections and recollections. What I have penned down can be taken as living history.

“The book contains my experiences, my successes if any, and my failures in life… The events I have narrated are more descriptive than investigative. I have tried my best to be as correct and precise in narrating events and facts as I saw. I have tried my best not to blow any character out of proportion in praise or criticism… It is in simple words, a mirror on the wall, and the mirror never tells a lie even if you frame it in gold,” he added.

The Eyewitness: Standing in the Shadows of Pakistan’s History to be formally launched on 12th

He said people may appreciate or critically analyse his humble undertaking, but it’s a variety of experiences that shape history, and he leaves it to the historians to unearth the ultimate truth.

“I had the opportunity to see dictators, sycophants and self-declared democrats of this country up close and personal. I have been through so much ups and downs, and seen so much that has been the privilege of very few. It has been a full life and God has been very kind,” he said.

Mr Mehdi said: “I first became an interlocutor to history during my period as deputy commissioner of Rawalpindi from 1977 onwards when I saw the process of Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s case unfold in the Supreme Court, including his rousing speech in his defence. I was there when Pakistan’s first elected prime minister met his wife and daughter for the last time. And I saw him when he was tragically executed. I saw up close the return of the brave, resilient daughter Benazir Bhutto and went up the plane to welcome her on behalf of the government. It is therefore said that Saeed Mehdi was the last person to meet Mr Bhutto before he was taken to the gallows and the first to meet Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto when she landed at the Lahore airport on April 18, 1986.

He said, “The book also contains experiences of the two years I spent in different jails of Pakistan, including 45 days of solitary confinement, 90 days in the NAB police station and faced three cases for my sins of omission or commission. I just happened to be on the staff of the prime minister when he retired Gen Musharraf, being legally and constitutionally competent to do so. I have no complaints. As people around me used to say that I faced it bravely with a smile on my face.”

After the speech, Mr Mehdi narrated to the media quite a few incidents from his life as a civil servant involving Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and Gen Ziaul Haq.

Earlier, Ms Saiyid said it was a pleasure working with Mr Mehdi. It took him 25 years to think about writing the book, and thinking about what to write and what not to write.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2026