Partners in Crime

Friday, June 11, 2010 E-Mail this article to a friend Printer Friendly Version

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PRESS GALLERY: Who shall come to the Sharifs’ rescue: the Royals or the Loyals?

By Saeed Minhas

ISLAMABAD: The parliament is a treat to watch these days because after Hafeez Shaikh’s budgetary stunt, all the failed rulers of the past are trying to convince the galleries that if they failed because of the incompetence or greed than this government is no different.

No matter how they prove it, everyone from the Zia to Musharraf days have an axe to grind against their former colleagues, or if we may call them partners-in-crime. The issue which remains sizzling, and which even made the cool customer Premier Gilani to summon the intellectually-infected Shahbaz Sharif (SS), was that of the Punjab government’s involvement in thrashing Gilani’s brother and the police raids at Jamshed Dasti’s house in Multan.

Well as for Dasti, we better not discuss in detail his fake degree-case because his verbal and physical blows are becoming all too famous these days – if in doubt, ask the doctors in Multan. But the issue of Mujtaba Gilani’s thrashing (a severe beating) is something which has raised many alarms in the political circles. Is it the doing of Rana Sanaullah alone or is there some element of passive consent from the Sharifs and the Sardars. This remained the talk at the galleries.

The meeting between Premier Gilani and the ‘Amirul Punjab’ went smooth, with the exception of some bumps and bruises. Though media managers of the former have a liking to leak certain things against the big boss only, yet this time they were seen whispering from under their bush-laden lips about this meeting as well. The tenor of the meeting is reported to have been tense and sources privy to this liaison claim that the premier has not only lost his cool for the black-robes but also for the Punjab rulers. The ‘custodian of Punjab’, who prefers to have himself medically screened by UK physicians but vows to lay down his life for the people of this country, was as remorseful as possible when he came out of the hurriedly-summoned meeting at the GHQ just a few months earlier. Though he is learnt to have put the blame on his pro-jihadi minister but he did not utter anything when asked about the involvement of certain Sardars and Khosas in the beating incident of the premier’s brother, Mujtaba Gilani. Since the premier was duly accompanied by his three sons, the ground realities were given quite a detailed look during this discourse.

Accompanying the regretful Sharif was the Dollar-Converter-Senator Ishaq Dar. Sources were of the view that Dar proved quite handy throughout the meeting because after every new accusation from the Gilani family, he was the one who admitted the fault and promised to make it up by taking stern action against all those responsible. The moles inside the N-League, however, claimed that after the meeting, Dar tried to smoothen the worried Sharifs by giving them a counter strategy. It may not sound very well for our Interior Malik, but he is likely to emerge as the next sandbag for the Sharifs, revealed the moles familiar with the Dollar-Converter.

With more than 40 National and provincial assembly seats at stake and instead of mid-term elections, we are likely to venture into a constant spree of by-elections in the coming weeks and months, mostly in the Punjab.

No matter what, the Sharifs will have to put their act together and understand the simple reality that the political rug is being dragged from under their feet, claimed a senior ‘jiyala’ while talking to the pen-pushers. Summing up the debate on the connections and the saviours of the Sharifs, another jiyala said, “No need to stress your guts because we all know who the Sharifs are going to turn to in this hour of need – of course, some royals of the deserts and some loyals of the rugged terrains of the south”.

Anyways, feed from the family was so strong that Premier Gilani had to show his malice by standing and delivering a speech on the floor of the House. His sermon to the Sharifs of Punjab was quite loud and clear: let us sail smoothly or get ready for another adventure as the Chaudhrys of Gujrat are waiting in the wings.

Meanwhile, Jamshed Dasti – the iconic parliamentarian who fails miserably on the morality scale, but trails on controversial domains, continued to grip the House proceedings. Here, too, Premier Gilani had to remind the speaker how to protect a fake-degree-holder from arrest