An Aside on Benazir

(with apologies to pinky who was a friend once....upon a long time...)

also (not meant for the humour-challenged or was it humour-impaired sac? and to be read while eating pink amroods--guava-- with that patented pink mixture of sea-salt and red hot peppers)

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[...It was drama at high noon when General Musharraf sped towards Agra airport even though the clock struck midnight on...]

---gawd...in this opening salvo she has single handedly managed to offend both Gary Cooper and Sardar Swaran Sing:)

[...Even the cynics criticizing Musharraf for making the journey to Agra without mandate expected a joint declaration...]

---meaning even sweet-dour face was optimistic...

[... There wasn't even a joint statement...]

---she could not sleep...was so disappointed...and the servant thought...

[...They found a self-confessing powerless army chief who claimed he'd have to live in India in his old neharwali house if he signed a declaration...}

---the missing word is 'bad' or 'self-serving' before declaration...

[...The civilian leaders signed Simla, Islamabad and Lahore. All honourable agreements...]

---Daddy, me me me me, and 'that' fellow......let us forget tashkent, noon, ayub-nehru etc.

[...Political leaders are trained in the art of give and take...]

---you can say that again...give high hope, dreams, aspirations....anything and everything but sincerity, dedication, selflessness...and of course take take take...like there is no tomorrow...

[...General Musharraf is a military dictator. When he speaks, others jump to attention. If they don't, they are locked away. Surrounded by un-electable yes men, Musharraf, despite proclaimed good intentions, stumbled at each key test: date for elections, political victimisation, economic revival and now foreign policy...]

---date for elections?...we are touchy aren't we?...you mean your election...remember your bellicose verbalisations the morning after?...how every unfavourable result is not 'fair'?...

---political victimisation?...oh my poor zardari

----economic revival...well...so far none of the major civvies have been observed looting the treasury...not even your boys have come up with any allegations...

---foreign policy...oh we know...what you'd give now for a go at Simla II...to finish the unfinished business and bring back the stranded biharis....

[...First came the breakfast press ultimatum....(with leading editors?)...]

---wrong....first came sushma's violation of an agreement...her unilateral press conference

...despite prior agreement between them to release only mutually agreed upon feed-back to the press...and the infamous missing K word there...

[...The minute preparations for the Summit came to nothing....]

---you missed dear...there were no minute preparations prior to the summit..that is the major reason both sides now attribute to a lack of declaration...

[...Even the ancient knowledge of spicing food with special mood enhancing herbs failed to deliver...]

---hmmm...and is this a new interest for you?..are we into spicing 'food' and 'enhancing' moods...oh the good days!...and I thought only the badmash shareef was into food...

[...Musharraf made key errors in the trip. He failed to build an internal consensus of legitimate political forces. He went to India on the props of Pakistan's extremist parties, posing with them before his visit...]

---but of course...why only 20 of the 24 invited parties or their representatives showed up and backed him...now let us see who declined the invites...hmmm...and what does that tell?...

[...Apparently Islamabad was keen for a declaration and New Delhi knew it. This was revealed by a Pakistani delegate who told the Gulf News, "I went up to Jaswant Singh and told him he could write what he wanted, we would accept it". This is extraordinary. It is stunning in its crumbling of political will under pressure. It is little wonder that Foreign Minister Jaswant wanted another day of talks to put in his wish list given the accommodation offered by Islamabad. It is also a case study of why Generals should look after borders and let politicians deal with diplomacy....]

---now what did we really have for dinner?...anything mood enhancing or the usual s-disturbing fare?...stunning ...crumbling will?...indeed...and what are all those reports circulating that they hit the wall over mere words...two words and half a phrase to be precise...haaNh?

[...Kashmir is central to Pakistani thinking but the Indians have a different view....]

---tell me...again...and s l o w l y please...

[...Narrowing the gulf was the purpose of the visit. If there is an legacy to this Summit, it is that Musharraf allowed New Delhi to match Pakistan's commitment to the Kashmir Dispute with an equally shrill and high profile repetition of "cross border terrorism"..]

---you are on the wrong page...they wanted ..and did discuss..other issues...ask sushma...:)

[...The lack of continuity in Pakistan's governments and foreign office allowed for ignoring this significant development....]

---nice dig at the expense of zia, ishaq, and whatzz his name bari..zardari?...no that is yours...ah leghari...well you have come upon this wall yourself...the foreign office honchos like their famous cousins over in the secretariat have always been inflexible and always for the status quo...that is their raison d'être...even papa failed to curb their legendary lethargy...if the major issues are resolved between the antagonists...what would happen to them?...are there enough pencils they can sharpen?...or farms to till? ...or civvies to butcher?...or loans to negotiate?...

[...the larger picture. That picture involves tense relations between two nuclear capable states that have fought three wars and are daggers drawn at the Line of Control in the disputed Kashmir Valley... housing one-fifth of humanity....]

---well with run-away inflation, run-away leaders, run-away population control...what is the harm in trying the nuke birth-control?...so so sorry...allow me to take this back...just the nuke part...

[...Some hoped that Musharraf in sherwani would be a born again peacemaker. But he was hampered by his past...]

---like papa with his awami dress?...what do they call that knee lenghth shirt and kurdish pantaloons?...

[...He lacked a popular mandate and desired his Nation's highest constitutional posts....]

--no, no that is not papa in '70?...please...reassure me...someone...pls. slap me...am hallucinating?...no...

[...carried the costly burden of the death of three thousand soldiers ...]

---quick...can someone give me the death count over there...what do they call east pakistan now?...

[...Given the opportunity, Musharraf played both constituencies...}

---finally some grudging admiration..

[...He used that goodwill to seize the Presidency, assume draconian powers under the National Security Council, get another tranche of the IMF loan and victimise his opponents....]

---gawd...this baton boy will ensure a permanent role for the military...and even if I return to papa's throne the shoe will always hang over me head...wonder if I should have accepted that harvard tenure...

[...In New Delhi, he extended an invitation to Premier Vajpayee which was accepted. The promise of another Summit helps his attempts to choreograph a domestic political scenario by October 2002...]

---now if only he and that fatso come to dinner...oh the herbs I can use...but alas he won't...my moles said i am not his type...will have to rely on other friends...

[...The potential Summit diverts attention from the growing Talibanisation in Pakistan and the sinking economy....]

--better than going to 'war' to divert attention?

[...Musharraf beat them at their own game...]

---grudging admiration again...

[...He hogged the press headlines changing suits several times a day....]

---gawd...how can a khaki beat me at my game?....aww it hurts...

[....The Indian Air Chief, representing his three armed forces, refused to salute him repaying the earlier Lahore refusal to salute Vajpayee and demonstrating solidarity with Indian troops in Kashmir....]

---don't you read chowk.com?...the other mushy...mushahid hussain in a by line piece said mushy did salute the wounded knee at the reception...away from the flash-bulbs...besides...what do you want...forgotten what an effusive, bowing, saluting zia did to papa?...

[...Kargil was Pakistan's biggest setback since Dacca's fall in 1971...]

---wrong again...your first term was the biggest and the second term was the second biggest setback...you trampled the hopes and aspirations twice...

[...These tea parties are yet to stop men and women dying in the blood soaked Kashmir valley....]

---nary a mention of near ethnic cleansing in the 'fields' of urban sind...the hundreds killed in 'action'...and they were not even in uniform...

[...So what were the gains and losses? That two leaders from two nuclear capable states finally broke their silence was an achievement in itself. They sized each other up. They agreed to meet again...]

---hate to say this..but agree with you so far...

[...But the price was heavy...]

---mean you are not returning any time soon?...guess we have to learn to live without your magic...

[...The failure of the Summit reinforces calls by Pakistani politicians for restoring democracy so representative governments can deal with diplomacy...]

---have you been talking again to that unmentionable hiding with Big Daddy Idi Amin Dada in that unmentionable land?...and the Pir Sahib of London-Bihar Shareef...haiN ji?

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Don't know why you would be interested in the original piece:)....but if you are check it out at http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/

'Declarations are difficult for generals', The writer is the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto drkhshan@isb.comsats.net.pk

It is in the July 18, 2001 edition. You can even forward this to her with or without my regards. Just don't forget to mention it to her that I am not a former Prime Minister of Pakistan...am just a former writer...yeah...just as there are dead writers...there are former writers...now hibernating as a minor poet...masquerading on the chowk as only temporal folks can...