Fake debates, rhetorical flourishes

Abbajee & Ammajee Sharif
 
Fake debates, rhetorical flourishes
 
 

 

A doughty, decent , hardworking lady and full of common sense, Pervez Musharraf’s mother told a group of journalists more than a decade ago that the family did not have very high expectations of their second son Pervez as he was growing up and, therefore, considered him prime army material. And that it was the elder son, Javed, a ‘book worm’, and subsequently a Rhodes scholar, who seemed more likely to shine.

Legend has it that the elder Sharif – the late ‘Abbaji’ – when asked to spare a son for politics by Ziaul Haq, offered Nawaz and not Shahbaz because the family business could not spare the latter (or words to that effect).

Although neither parent had a high opinion of the talents of their respective progeny, both sons went on to become the country’s rulers. If, therefore, even parents get it wrong, why blame supporters for cussedly believing their heroes would get it right if given another chance? “What makes you think either will succeed today when the problems are infinitely greater and more complex than when they failed?”, I asked a Sharif jiyala and a Musharraf fan before the elections. I did not get a convincing response from either.

Of course, in the case of Pervez Musharraf that question is now superfluous. We need not speculate what his end will be. It can only be further imprisonment, the rope, the victim of a Taliban break-in – which poses a greater danger for inmates in our prisons than attempting to break out of jail – or a short hop to Dubai to resume his exile.

But about Nawaz Sharif we can speculate. Indeed, we should because our lives may depend on it. So, will Nawaz succeed where he failed twice before?

 

Courtesy: The News Pakistan

, , ,

Comments are closed.

(will not be published)