So far, Prime Minister Imran Khan has not said about French President Emanuel Macron what Turkish President Recip Erdogan has. Is he concerned about French imports from Pakistan? I’m not sure they are going to recover, at least not until France has recovered from the second wave of the coronavirus, which has struck Pakistan too, which has led to making facemasks compulsory, and where there are to be heavy fines mulcted from defaulters.
I do wonder why the police declared a Youm-e-Tashakur after that. Some cops have even gone as far as calling for a Youm-e-Nijaat. The police have always been eager to get a role in the enforcement of mask-wearing, social distancing or hand washing. Not so much because of an abstract concern for public health, as because of a very concrete concern with their own wealth.
The government has also been considerate in setting high fines for defaulters. Some knowing he would have to pay a fine of Rs100 might prefer to pay up, but if the fine is Rs6,000, then [paying Rs2,000 seems good as a bribe to avoid the hassle. And if there is a lot of hassle paying the fine (like court appearances and trials), the police could probably charge more. Of course, they would duly compensate the magistrates and their staffs for their pains in making the accused miserable.
The attitude of the Islamabad police would have nothing to do with the acquittal of Imran Khan in the storming of PTV and Parliament House during the 2014 dharna. I’m amazed that the rial court merely took six years to reach a decision. That’s unseemly haste. What normally happens is that at this stage the case has had the high court decide an application on whether a witness called by the prosecution is to be allowed to testify or not, but still not have the issue decided by the Supreme Court (SC), which would have been appealed to. Rushing the case through is one of the perks of being in power. Or maybe the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) decided quickly in honour of the reason why the dharna participants stormed PTV and parliament: to get access to bathrooms. The PTI people were tired on the open, you see. And when so many people are doing their morning business in the open, there is a lot of dodging involved if you are coming even a little late.
In honour of this acquittal, I suppose Sudan should be forgiven for recognising Israel. Frankly, that makes almost less sense than United Arab Emirates’s recognition, for Sudan cannot even buy Israeli technology. I suppose they were in a hurry to beat Saudi Arabia in the race while started with the UAE and Bahrain, and which is meant to buttress US President Donald Trump’s election campaign, even though I am not sure that the Sudanese recognition will make much of a difference. I do not think it will make much difference to clouds swirling over Sardar Ayaz Sadiq’s head, who really seems to have put his foot in it by daring to hint that Pakistan was scared into returning shot-down Indian Air Force (IAF) Pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. Even the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director general has had to contradict him, when he said that he was returned to keep the peace, and the step was admired all over the world. Yes, and Kashmir got freed.
Abhinandan got a Param Vir Chakra for his pains. That reminded me of the Hilal-e-Jurat awarded to Lieutenant General A A K Niazi for commanding in East Pakistan in 1971. Of course, that is not mentioned in polite company these days. Nor is the year 1971 ever to be mentioned. Of course, raking up 1971 does not recognise well enough that the secession of East Pakistan was purely the result of politicians’ machinations.
Of course, the last true patriots in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are jumping ship. Lieutenant General (r) Qadir Baloch and Nawab Sanaullah Zehri have left the party in Balochistan, while Mansab Ali Dogar in Multan has joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q). And Sean Connery has died. Ayaz Sadiq is old enough to remember that Connery made James Bond the epitome of style. Of course, Imran will also remember him, but will never admit it. I suppose he is a favourite of Punjab Governor Sarwar too. After all, he was an MP for Glasgow in Connery’s native Scotland. And Sarwar is the right age to know that vodka martinis are shaken, not stirred.
