Change of heart?

SOMETHING is in the air. And I don’t mean the pollution. Perhaps it would be better to use the Urdu saying that there’s something black in the lentils. For those unfamiliar with this expression, it implies a sense of suspicion. Nothing more. And by suggesting this I am not about to highlight anything unpalatable such as Balochistan or the arrest of human rights defenders Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha. Well trained as we Pakistanis are in the art of survival, we know such sensitive topics are best left for foreigners to discuss. We stick to international affairs or to domestic politics. Indeed, the safest topic these days, as long as one sticks to politicians and their frolics, is our local political scene. As long as one can pretend it is the politicians who are in charge of politics and the country. So, based on the assumption that they are calling the shots, dear reader, I can spy with my little eye something black in the daal or rather the khichri of politics. Let me explain what I mean. First came the sudden and abrupt decision to allow the new leaders of the opposition in the National Assembly and the Senate. For months, the nomination of Mehmood Khan Achakzai in the NA and Allama Nasir Abbas in the Senate had been delayed, ostensibly because of some legal issues. It was reported again and again that Omar Ayub had filed a petition against his disqualification and till this issue was settled, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq didn’t want to allow a new leader of the opposition — so concerned was the latter about the rights of the former. The powers in the Senate had similar concerns. However, everyone and their nani in Islamabad were aware the powers that be were not happy with the choices of Imran Khan who had named Mehmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Nasir Abbas because of their fiery views. And the Speaker and Senate chairman, good boys both, were simply sticking to the script. It is perhaps too early to know what is happening but there is something black in the ‘khichri’. But then, suddenly, the script changed. The Speaker made Achakzai the opposition leader, and the chairman of the Senate, Yousuf Raza Gilani, also had a similar epiphany, paving the way for Abbas to make it to the position in the Senate. Ask for an explanation, and neither side has much to offer other than the spiel about the legal worries being addressed. But the surprises didn’t end here. Then came the meeting between the chief minister of KP and the prime minister of Pakistan. Once again, it was a bolt out of the blue. Both sides, when asked, claimed the other had asked for the meeting, leaving the confusion in place. But even more interesting were the participants of the meeting. KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi took his finance adviser Muzamil Aslam with him, claiming his focus was on financial issues between the federal government and KP. But the PM was accompanied by his Man Friday on political affairs, Rana Sanaullah, and not the finance minister or any of the other people linked to economics. How Rana Sanaullah can help with budgetary affairs is something I hope someone will explain. Since this meeting, the CM has even presided over an apex committee meeting for KP in which military officials also participated. It is worth noting that earlier when the KP Assembly had asked for a briefing, they were told they hadn’t followed the right protocol regarding whom to write the letter to. It seems as if the CM had paid attention in school when letter writing was taught and knew who to address a letter to. For officers turned up for the meeting. It is quite possible that all these are unconnected events. The NA Speaker and Senate chairman made decisions independently of each other and of politics and neither did they have anything to do with the meeting between the CM and PM. And the CM’s meeting in Islamabad had little to do with the meeting he held on the security situation. But those of us who are brought up on an unhealthy dose of Pakistani politics are always looking for conspiracy theories — and more times than not, the conspiracies turn out to be true. The suddenness of all this reminds me of the PDM days in opposition when the PPP and PML-N had gone their separate ways and their rallies across the country seemed a thing of the past. Then one day, all the channels carried news of Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari turning up at a lunch hosted by Shehbaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz. No one explained how the ice melted and why. But its melting then led the way to the vote of no-confidence in 2022. In hindsight, it is not difficult to guess who made the lunch happen and the ice melt. There is similar guesswork happening now. It is perhaps too early for people such as myself to know what is happening but there is something black in the khichri. And somewhere in the traces of black are faint images of politicians or others talking to each other. The reasons why they need to do so have been documented frequently and I...

Change of heart?

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