Like most other Pakistanis I was glued to the TV last night till the wee hours of the morning. Mid-way through I got a call from an ex-army officer living in the U.S. He asked me to find a way to contact Gen Raheel Sharif, and warn him that Nawaz Sharif is not a person to be trusted, and that his good offices to stand as surety on behalf of the Sharifs will become a trap and an embarrassment for the General.
This was not news to me. Nor, I believe, would it have been news to the General should I have been able to get through to him. After all Nawaz Sharif had conveyed his word to the General that he would let Musharraf go, should he present himself for indictment. And the moment this was done, Nawaz Sharif promptly went back on his word.
However, it is quite stunning to now hear Nawaz Sharif assert that he did not ask the General to intervene to break the political impasse between him and Imran Khan by acting as an arbiter and guarantor between the parties concerned.
The news, on all channels, broadcasting this arrangement started late yesterday evening, and continued through the night. If this was incorrect, PML-N had adequate time to issue an immediate contradiction, for which they had more than fourteen hours, but which they chose not to do.
So, how should one read this situation except that once again the “first family” of this unfortunate country had chosen to deploy after-thought as its prime weapon of defense?
Or was this a stratagem all along to entangle the army, and make it look bad?
Most fortunately for the army, for Gen Raheel Sharif, and for us, the credibility of the army and its Chief is soaring, while the reputation of the Sharifs [for being economical with the truth] is too deeply entrenched to be a threat to the former. Only last week, the Lahore High Court was constrained to point out that Shahbaz Sharif’s affidavit submitted to the court regarding the Model Town massacre, had made use of after thoughts. The Court made this sound like a discovery. So I could not help but recall Oscar Wilde’s famous quote: “America has been discovered before but it has always been hushed up.”
So there is nothing new about this discovery made by the Lahore High Court. The people have always known this about the Sharif family. Indeed, instead of deep thought going into governing Pakistan and crafting policies, we are a state run on the basis of “after thoughts”. This is one reason why, instead of moving forward, we seem to be marching backwards. One advantage of this is that when people march backwards, they cannot see how close they are to the abyss in which their fall is imminent. This keeps them from shouting and creating confusion, which allows the leaders to keep filling their pockets with considerably more comfort.
Nawaz Sharif’s U turns should not bother Gen Raheel Sharif, as long as he is clear about the direction which he has chosen to march on. Our only wish is that this direction should be such that it is in step with the hopes of the people of Pakistan.