Seeing Red (Updated)

The entire country seems to be seized with the issue of whether dual nationality holders should be allowed to hold public office in Pakistan. The Supreme Court is currently hearing a case against four Peoples Party parliamentarians including the President's media adviser Farahnaz Ispahani, whose National Assembly membership has been temporarily suspended by the court on prima facie evidence that she is also an American citizen. The Punjab Assembly has tried to weasel its way out of the same criteria being applied to its members by saying it has no record of which of its members are dual nationality holders. I'm not here to discuss the merits and contradictions of this issue, so if you can please leave that outrage for another time...

What I'm really here to share, however, is an explosive little story that a little tweety bird with impeccable credentials has divulged to us (what, you think only Najam Sethi has mysterious chirryas?).

If you recall, a certain Interior Minister, is among those accused of holding dual British nationality. That he had taken British citizenship while in self-exile from the mid-90s till he returned in 2007 is not even denied by him. He recently made a statement in the Supreme Court (through his lawyer) that he had renounced his UK citizenship in April 2008, upon assuming office in Pakistan and had presented some documents attesting to his claim upon his recent return from a working visit to the UK. (Incidentally, the Supreme Court rejected the documents as insufficient proof of his renunciation.)

 Not quite green (or blue)

Guess what our tweety bird has told us? The colour of the passport the Interior Minister used to travel to the UK - just a few days ago - was distinctly not green or blue (the Pakistani official passport). Those who laid eyes on it say they saw a very British red. Unfortunately, we are not at liberty to reveal our source but what we will confirm clearly is that our tweety bird - which is more than 100 percent sure of its facts - is definitely not of the 'intelligence' variety.

It's one thing to be dheet and a liar. But this just sounds to us like the ultimate in pragmatic stupidity as well.


: : : UPDATE : : :

After this post was put up, a number of people wrote in on Twitter and in the comments to say that the Pakistani diplomatic passport is also red (or maroon) and that while senators and other government officials are issued a blue offical passport, all cabinet members (as the Interior Minister is) are issued a diplomatic passport. The implication was that perhaps our tweety bird had mistaken the colour of the diplomatic passport for the British passport. Senator Rehman Malik himself aslo tweeted that it had been "mischievously reported" that he had used a British passport whereas he had used only his "red diplomatic passport."

The doubt is understandable since in my write-up I had only referred to the colour of the passport, even though our source had not based the information on simply that. Nevertheless we have re-checked with our source to make doubly sure and the tweety bird confirms that it was in fact a British passport, not a Pakistani diplomatic passport. We thus stand by our story.

Game Afoot?

I had promised a comprehensive post about the unraveling of Husain Haqqani when it first happened. The different aspects of the case (technical, political, legal) that led to his resignation as Pakistan's ambassador to the United States - now commonly and irritatingly dubbed 'Memogate' - however, not only required a lot more time to deal with than I then had available, but has already been commented upon in bits and pieces by various analysts all over in newspapers, on television and on the net. Far more importantly, it now seems like a footnote in the rush of current events.

 Eye of the storm: Husain Haqqani

Because I had promised a post on it, I will state briefly what I thought of the entire episode as well as state some things that all should be aware of:


*** The Unravelling of Husain Haqqani ***

1. The military establishment was never pleased with the appointment of Haqqani as Pakistan's ambassador to the US and had been gunning for his head right from the beginning. Whether this was because it actually believed Haqqani was not sincere to Pakistan's interests, whether it felt it needed someone more on its institutional side in the US, or whether it was simple vindictiveness that arose out of Haqqani's well-regarded 2005 book "Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military" which critiqued the military's role in fostering religious extremism, I do not know. What I do know, however, is that it tried many times covertly to vilify Haqqani through the media in order to have him pushed out, the most recent previous example being over the Raymond Davis affair.

2. It is my educated guess, based on the evidence available so far, that the military did not precipitate the memo crisis, but it certainly pounced on it with great glee once the existence of the memo had been revealed by Mansoor Ijaz's oped in the Financial Times. It is also my strong hunch that the only reason Mansoor Ijaz did what he did was initially a banal hunger for the limelight, a desire to be seen as a 'player' in international politics. He has always harboured great ambitions to be seen as such, as well as deep-rooted resentment that his alleged earlier forays into Sudan and Kashmir had not provided him the importance he felt he deserved. Before his FT piece, no one knew even of the existence of the memo or perceived any notable shift in US policy because of it. His subsequent posturing was precipitated by a sense that he was once again being belittled and mocked.

 Mansoor Ijaz: Blackberry warrior

3. It is my considered belief that Husain Haqqani was, in fact, involved in this saga, based on the 'evidence' presented so far in the public domain and my own knowledge of Haqqani's personality. You are free to disagree with this, it is after all only my opinion. Haqqani has always been an extremely intelligent and clever man (some colleagues have often dubbed him Machiavellian in his brilliance) but in this case he probably overreached and did not anticipate the power of the desire for fame that underpinned Mansoor Ijaz's personality. Haqqani also did not anticipate that his attempts to discredit Ijaz through certain blogs and newspaper articles - not under his own name of course, but I choose to leave them unnamed - only angered Ijaz further and made him more resolute in exposing all. It helped of course that Ijaz had the military to goad him on. For one of the most brilliant media tacticians, this was Haqqani's fatal miscalculation. There still remain plenty of unanswered questions about why Haqqani did what he did, especially because public opinion after the May 2 Abbottabad raid, if one cares to remember, was decidedly anti-military and certainly not conducive to the kind of coup the memo was allegedly in response to. My own feeling is Haqqani (and possibly President Asif Zardari) felt it to be an opportune time to bring the khakis to heel and he chose to go via the Mansoor Ijaz route (despite his dubious credentials) precisely because it provided the requisite plausible deniability. I can present no definitive evidence to back up these gut feelings, which brings me to the next point.

4. I don't believe that, legally speaking, Haqqani can be linked directly with the memo based on the evidence presented so far. At best, even if (and that is a big 'IF') RIM - the company that runs Blackberry services around the world - provides concrete evidence of the authenticity of the BBM messages exchanged between Haqqani and Ijaz, there would still be only circumstantial / speculative evidence that what they actually discussed was the memo itself. The most recent revelations by WikiLeaks - which indicate that "software products could not only read emails and text messages sent from spied-on phones, but could actually fake new ones or alter the text of messages sent" can be used by Haqqani to cast even more doubt on the alleged BBM exchange. There is not even that little level of evidence to link Zardari to the memo. Keep in mind I am speaking purely from a legal point of view, which is the only point of view that matters as far as the courts are concerned. The Supreme Court inquiry into 'Memogate' is bound to run into a legal dead end, like it or not.

5. I don't subscribe to the line of reasoning of those who rose to the defence of Husain Haqqani by saying that 'there is nothing wrong in the memo even if he did write it'. They misjudge how it plays in the minds of even the most pro-democracy of Pakistanis and certainly misjudge its impact on public consciousness. No one in their right mind thinks the solution to the Pakistan military's obtrusiveness in domestic politics lies with the US. Not even Haqqani has claimed that; in fact he has used that argument explicitly to denounce linking him with the memo.

So where does this all leave us? Some people will be angered by this analysis. No doubt Mr Haqqani and his die-hard supporters will question my assumptions even though I have attempted to clearly label them as my opinion where appropriate. On the other hand, his detractors will consider this a cop-out: if I really do believe he was involved, they will argue, how can I be satisfied with no repercussions? Simply because my 'gut feelings' are no substitute for solid proof. All I am trying to lay out is how I think matters played out and will play out from a legal point of view. But it's not that there have been no repercussions already. Husain Haqqani's career as a Pakistani envoy is finished at least pending some sort of major revolution in Pakistan (and I don't mean of the Imran Khan variety). He has resigned and that will be that from a legal point of view in my opinion. But far more is going on behind the surface that requires a closer look.


*** Beyond the Memo ***

The reason I say that the memo saga is fast becoming a footnote in the rush of current events is because of political developments of which it now seems one small part. The latest of these is the speculation over Zardari's sudden departure for the UAE ostensibly for "medical reasons" and the media frenzy about whether it signals his imminent resignation.

No logical scenario entails any such resignation by Zardari (neither legally nor politically) but the media (with some notable exceptions) is not often one troubled by looking at things logically. However, what the hysteria around it and around the memo story indicates is not just wish fulfillment on the part of media anchors. It indicates that there is a concerted effort in place to tip things into at least a perception of crisis.

I have been sitting on an explosive lead for about two weeks, primarily because it is entirely based on hearsay, partly because it defies logical credulity and partly because I was trying to get some more confirmations which have proved difficult to obtain for obvious reasons. However, while  I don't generally believe in sharing speculative rumours (there are far too many in this country) I think there are interesting enough aspects to it, especially in light of recent events, that perhaps some of our more well-connected readers can shed some further light on or perhaps even definitively refute. So here goes:

Two independent sources, both extremely well connected, have been talking big in private gatherings recently. One of them is a prominent businessman with links to military intelligence operatives. The other is a close family member of a recently retired high-ranking military man. Both say the same thing: that the entire political 'set-up' will be 'wrapped up' in January. While the sources for their 'information' are patently military, they both cited cases being heard in the Supreme Court, which are at critical stages, as the catalyst. The three most important cases referred to are the one against the National Reconciliation Ordinance (which has finally been decided against the government), against the Rental Power Agreements (in which government is accused of corruption) and finally the one calling for an inquiry into the secret memo and the government's role in it. The decision on these three cases in particular will supposedly tip the situation from one of impending crisis into a real one.

So far nothing spectacular other than an apparently definitive timeline. Many analysts with no inside knowledge could make similar predictions. However, what these sources say next is notable. They both claim that what would follow the 'wrapping up' of the current political dispensation are not elections but an interim arrangement along the Bangladesh model, and the name they mention is reference to who might head up such an arrangement? Former 'clean' minister and businessman Jehangir Tareen.

MNA Jehangir Tareen: Mr Clean Sweep?

When I first heard this, I did a double take. Wait, I asked, didn't Tareen already announce he would join Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI)? No, I was told, he quietly took back his decision when he was 'asked to reconsider.' Indeed, Tareen has not yet joined PTI though PTI sources claim 'negotiations' are continuing.

Now, Tareen's name could well be red herring. When I first heard this, as I said about two and a half weeks ago, it immediately made me question whether the military establishment's obvious sympathies for Imran Khan were wavering. But there are already reports that the delay in Tareen joining up with Imran Khan has more to do with internal dissent within his group, some of whom want a more prominent role vis a vis PTI. If Tareen does join PTI as expected by the time of PTI's rally in Karachi on December 25, we can put at least this particular claim to bed and allay all doubts about where the brass' sympathies lie. Hint: Not with Nawaz Sharif (and he knows it).

But there are other major issues with these claims as well (even without Tareen in the mix) which stretch my credulity. Primarily that it would take a lot of shameless somersaults for the Supreme Court to validate yet another diversion from the constitution. And despite the fact that stranger things have happened in this country, such a scenario seems very unlikely to me at this point. There is no doubt in my mind, however, that a very serious game is nevertheless afoot.

So there you have it. If nothing of the sort happens, and the PPP government actually addles through the next couple of months, I promise never to indulge in such rumour-mongering ever again. But if something significant does occur by the end of January, I would have hated to have been in a position of saying 'Guess what I'd heard in November!'.

The Ties That Bind

Consider the following lines from an AP distributed article published in Dawn today:

"With... government all but paralysed by scandal, the Supreme Court has taken command of some of the nation’s thorniest issues in what activists hail as an overdue flexing of judicial muscle but critics call an unconstitutional power grab. 

In the past month, the court has frozen..., disbanded..., reversed the seizure of..., and begun searching for billions in illicit cash stashed abroad. 

To many..., the judges are simply filling the vacuum left by politicians who have failed to protect the poor or battle corruption that has grown rampant across the nation. “Because these guys aren’t doing anything, the court is the only saviour right now,” said... 

Parliament collapsed in pandemonium over the winter and reopened last week to similar chaos as lawmakers traded barbs and accused one another of graft and financial mismanagement.... The deluge of scandals and criticism has left Prime Minister... nearly impotent at a crucial time... 

But critics accuse the Supreme Court judges of a frightening overreach, elbowing their way into scandals and ideological debates that are traditionally beyond their mandate. “In no judiciary in the world do you find this kind of activism,” said .... “Some of the judges seem to be not aware of their constitutional limits at times.”... 

The judges appeared to have grown frustrated with the government’s refusal to follow earlier court orders, said... “(The decision) was in response to the complete failure of the government to do anything despite being given numerous chances,” she said. ... 

[X] criticized the ruling and accused the judges of pursuing ideological ambitions at all costs. “Effectively, the judgment disregards the basic constitutional features of the separation of powers,” he wrote in [a] newspaper. ...—AP"

You know who and what the piece is talking about, right?


See if you're right, here.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Take a look at how Dawn and The News have covered yesterday's proceedings in the Supreme Court, hearing the challenges to the 18th Constitutional Amendment.

Here's Dawn's story on its front page, and here's The News', which is, in fact, its main lead.

See the difference? The News focuses on Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday's comments that seem to indicate the Supreme Court is gunning for the government, which fits in nicely with the Jang Group's overall position or hope, as espoused by its various anchors on Geo. Dawn's story, on the other hand, takes as its highlight, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja's comment, which implies that the court is sensitive to the political legitimacy of the elected government. Which fits in nicely with Dawn's overall gentler line about the government.

Of course, both these comments were made in the court by fellow judges, there is no question of that. But let this be a lesson in deconstructing the 'angle' or spin the media can impart to a news event.

'Behaving Like Judges'

This news item , titled "Kurd Unhappy Over SC Verdict on NRO" caught my eye from today's Dawn. It begins:

"Ali Ahmed Kurd, the firebrand leader of the lawyers’ movement and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, who has been keeping quiet for quite some time, surprised a lot of people on Tuesday with his blunt criticism of the way the Supreme Court was behaving. Judges should “behave like judges”, he said."

The Unhappy Kurd

We've recently also had Ms. Asma Jahangir also criticising the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) judgement in both a Dawn op-ed piece and on a talk show on Dunya TV (the written piece being much more well reasoned - though flawed - than her verbal arguments on tv), claiming that the Supreme Court had overstepped its mandate. Her basic argument was that the decision seemed like a "witch-hunt" and if the NRO was going to be declared illegal for being against the constituion, what was the point of referring it to the parliament to enact as a law if it could, that by doing so the court had tried to mock the parliament. That of course assumes that the Supreme Court had made up its mind before hearing the case that it would strike down the law. Her arguments that the court had overstepped its mandate by ensuring a monitoring process are actually also quite legally flawed since the court has long exercised the power to monitor the process of justice, not least in the case of accountability and anti-terrorism courts which also operate under the same principle. In the above news report, Ms. Jahangir is quoted as telling a seminar in Islamabad that the Supreme Court decision "appeared to be a decision pronounced by a 'jirga'."

The same report goes on to report say:

"Mr Kurd said that an independent judiciary had been restored after a great struggle, adding that the country would become stronger if the judiciary acted in the manner expected by the nation during the struggle. “If it does not happen, it will cause a blow to national security.” "

Call me a cynic but isn't telling judges that 'they should behave like judges' and that they are 'over-stepping their mandate' and 'endangering national security' EXACTLY what General Musharraf had been doing and against which both these legal activists had raised their firebrand voices?

It would seem that everyone, including the activists of an independent judiciary, are actually only interested in getting judgements that suit their interpretation of the law. Anything else and they get sulky.

Is Something Brewing?

Something surely is brewing in Islamabad. Forget for a moment the "historic" judgement against Musharraf's November 3 actions handed down yesterday and its implications for the government, President Zardari in particular. Yes, I do know that most of the judges sent packing by the Supreme Court are close to the party in power. Yes, I know that by putting the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) back in the parliament's court, the Supreme Court must be giving Zardari and all those who benefited from that repugnant law, sleepless nights.

But my reasons for conjecture have simply to do with certain developments in the media. Or to be more precise, certain sections of the media known as bellwethers for things brewing behind the scenes.

First it was Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announcing his independence through the trusted mouthpieces of Rauf Klasra of The News and Hamid Mir of Geo. That of course set tongues wagging around the land about what exactly YRG meant. Then it was YRG's daughter, waxing eloquent and nonsensical in The News, about "the epitome of perfection" that is Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Today, we had the return to "investigative" print journalism of the redoubtable Kamran Khan, regaling us in (where else) The News and Jang, about the monstrous alleged corruption plaguing state-run enterprises such as Pakistan Steel, Pakistan International Airlines, the Trading Corporation of Pakistan, the National Bank etc.

The windbag himself

But one bit of the puzzle that most people probably missed was the July 29 article in Jang (you might be getting the picture now) by Dr. S&M (Shahid Masood to you newbies). I normally steer well clear of this windbag's programme on Geo, aptly named Meray Mutabiq [According to Me], as well as his columns in Jang of the same name. But was forced to go back and read his latest on someone's recommendation. And what a shock was in store for me!

I have attempted to translate the important bits of the Urdu piece here for you, dear readers, keeping the breathless, convoluted overall style of its author. But before I share it with you, you should know certain things as background information, in case you don't already.

Dr. S&M is of course the same longtime Peoples Party activist who at one point used to man the phones at 70 Clifton but whose world view is probably closer in philosophy to the conservative Jamaat-e-Islami (and its obsessions with conspiracy theories) than the liberal PPP. He rose to media fame on the ARY channel in the early 2000s first doing a series of programmes detailing how the signs of the Day of Judgement were nigh, but then was encouraged to carry his windbag nature into political analysis particularly during the 2002 elections. He incurred the wrath of General Musharraf's army regime when he openly sided with the hardline militants of the Taliban and FATA. Staying true to it's policy of picking the most sensationalist idiots ever, the Jang Group then lured him away at a fabulous salary to run his own programme of sensationalist nonsense. When Musharraf imposed his "mini martial law" his programme was also shut down and he seemed to be out in the wilderness. Not for long though, since he was soon plucked out of nowhere to be made the Managing Director of Pakistan Television. Suddenly, he was pals with General Musharraf, who even dropped in on a reception in honour of the windbag.

It turns out, he wasn't just pals with General Musharraf (he was of course heading the state-run television under him!). Apparently he was also very close to Asif Zardari and, according to himself, Benazir Bhutto. He now claims he was in on the negotiations going on in Dubai between Musharraf and Bhutto which led to the NRO. Some journalists vouch for the fact that he was often with Zardari when they called him in Dubai.

When the PPP won the elections in 2008, not only did he continue in his position at PTV, he was also concurrently made the Chairman of the organization - a post that by law is an ex-officio post for the Information Secretary. Clashes with the then Information Minister Sherry Rehman eventually led to him resigning and, as with all such people, landing up back at the Jang Group, which not only restored his programme, but also gave him his own column in its flagship paper, Jang. Nevertheless, despite his humiliation, he continued to express his support for the PPP government.

Now. Take a gander at how his latest column titled "Jiye Bhutto" begins:

“What are you on about the Party? When I was in jail, where were all of them? It was only my friends who stood by me at that time! What your party did with me, I will do the same to it.” (Recent historic words from the most powerful personality usurping the corridors of power).

If the largest and most popular political party could not be finished off after the hanging of its founder leader by General Ziaul Haq, who put in place an Establishment that continues to rule for decades after him; if the traitors who stabbed the party in the back and betrayed the Bhutto family at the most critical times could not destroy it; if jails, batons, lashes, torture chambers and hangings could not subdue the beat of Dhamadam Mast Qalandar that its diehard party workers danced to; and if a senseless Pervez Musharraf, attempting to split up the Party by creating cracks through enticements and threats, himself perished after the martyrdom of the Party’s leader… then what chance does a small, crafty and criminal gang imposed on the heads of hundreds of thousands of the Party’s workers and more interested in preserving its international interests, have to demolish the Party, even with the blessings of the Establishment?

WTF?!? Exactly. Usurper? Criminal Gang? You understand why I think this is important enough to translate? Dr. S&M first goes on to delineate the amazing qualities of compassion and idealism that Benazir Bhutto embodied, pointing out:

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s circle of friends was incredibly wide, comprising innumerable friends, childhood girlfriends and old family acquaintances. But she always kept the matters of the Peoples Party separate. When did she ever give precedence to her school friends over Party loyalists like Naheed Khan, Safdar Abbasi or Munawwar Suhrwardy Shaheed?

Then, he gets down to business. After claiming that he had personally, always been opposed to the NRO while it was being negotiated, and had made his discomfort with it known to Benazir herself, he says:

The majority of those who gained advantage from the NRO and who, along with Zardari sahib, have been imposed on the most important positions in the country, would never even have dared approach the corridors of power were Mohtarma still alive. She had given Zardari sahib only the [insignificant] responsibility to organize students within the Peoples Party and, in her last days, had in fact bid him to stay in Dubai to look after the kids. So, after the NRO was agreed to, Zardari sahib suddenly managed to rid himself of his heart disease and came to Dubai from New York… Before Mohtarma’s return to Pakistan, there was an attempt to involve him in an extremely limited way in security matters, and that too only so that he would not be seen sitting uselessly and without purpose among the crowd of workers.

In the Dubai house, there were two separate areas set aside for guests, and the small room in which Zardari sahib used to sit and shoot the breeze with his friends was only accessible from the back entrance of the house. All the important leaders of the Peoples Party used to enter the house from the front entrance and hold the party meetings along with the Mohtarma in the big drawing room, where Zardari sahib and his friends – now appointed on important posts – were not allowed to set foot.

Are you following my train of thought? Here is a man who has never had the cajones to take anyone on. When pressured, he not only gave up his pro-Taliban, pro-Hameed Gul line but became a mouthpiece for General Musharraf. Later on, he gave up Musharraf and became a chamcha of Asif Zardari. When he was forced to resign from PTV, he accepted the position of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister rather than cutting all ties. And yet he finds it within himself to directly, and brutally, belittle the sitting President? With words that could land him in mortal danger if not under the threat of a lawsuit? I don't think so. But wait, it doesn't just end there. He then goes directly for Zardari's jugular, by attacking all his cronies. First off, Rehman Malik:

After her return to the country, she was also set to finish off some seemingly very important characters – those about whom she was convinced that they were more loyal to those opposed to her than to her, and who were pretending to be close to her by mediating in negotiations. She was very clear in her mind about the person who, as a security adviser, is the most dubious character in her martyrdom. Had he been the future interior minister in Mohtarma’s mind, he would at least have been successful in procuring a ticket for the National Assembly!!!

Next in the firing line, the head of Ziauddin Hospital in Karachi (where Zardari often ended up while in jail) Dr. Asim Hussain (now also minister of petroleum and natural resources) and Landhi jail doctor Dr. Qayyum Soomro:

The one who, as minister of the most important petroleum ministry, has sent billions of rupees abroad during the negotiations with Iran over gas, and who, while selling gas permits, receives the fruits of his services in a 75/25 sharing scheme after sundown at a local hospital – would he have been able to even conduct a five minute conversation with Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto? Zardaris sahib has appointed to this most important ministry of the current era, a person who openly proclaimed that “I have neither ever had any association with any party named the Peoples Party, nor, Inshallah, will I ever.”

Doctor Abdul Qayyum Soomro, till this day associated with the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam, was inducted many years ago as a medical officer on the recommendation of Maulana Fazlur Rehman. After he had himself transferred to Landhi jail, he began to serve Zardari sahib. Today, he is considered one of the strongest personalities in the Presidency and whose power to get the most important decisions implemented through a single phone call and whose growing personal assets over the last one year, are the talk of everyone in Islamabad!

Dr. S&M then twists his literary knife deeper into the back of the PPP's discontented rank and file:

The world knows Khurshid Shah as a serious and thoughtful Peoples Party leader. But who is this Islamuddin Sheikh? Rashid Rabbani has been making sacrifices for the Peoples Party for years. But where did Faisal Raza Abidi come from? Shehla Raza has struggled since her student days. But what is background to Sharmila Farooqui? Where has Taj Haider gone and where did Zulfiqar Mirza come from? Khalil Qureshi, Comrade Ishaq, Mirza Maqbool and Sohail Ansari – where did they disappear to? And what is the background to Mustafa Memon and Obaid Jatoi – who are now negotiating deals as the front-men of the country’s most powerful personality.

Kareem Khwaja, who for years and years, had been celebrating Bhutto’s birthday by setting up medical camps, who knows where he is now? And all the while, Shaukat Tareen, who has been associated with money-laundering and is preparing, at this stage of his life, to throw the nation into the clutches of the IMF and World Bank, is being made minister, adviser, then Senator, and then joining the Peoples Party.

The windbag that the good doctor is, he ends with the following regurgitation of his opening lines:

“What your Party did to me, I will do the same to it.” (To be Continued)

Meaning, that there was more that Dr. S&M wanted to write (or has written) but Jang ran out of space. Now here comes the more interesting bit. It's been 3 days so far and there has been no second installment of the piece. Sources within Jang tell me that the piece has caused an explosion within the organization, with some questioning how something like this even went out in the first place. Given how tightly the owner Mir Shakilur Rahman monitors the paper, I find it extremely hard to believe it would not have been sent to him first for vetting. Even if somehow, inconceivably, the piece slipped in without anyone realizing its impact and implications (in which case, the entire editorial staff should be fired), it still does not answer the question of what exactly Dr. S&M is up to in Dubai (where he is currently ensconsed) and what his (new) agenda is. This is not the simple peeve of a man out of a job.

Put all of the media pieces together, coalescing in time at the same point, and you would have to come up with the conclusion, especially given the chequered history of the Jang group, that something is afoot. Mark my words.