Zardari, Lawyers & Journos: Who Is the Real Hypocrite?
By Ahmed Quraishi
Islamabad, Pakistan
Some Pakistani lawyers and journalists have suddenly discovered that Asif Ali Zardari and Rehman Malik are bad, corrupt and ‘NRO-laundered.’ This last adjective is the original creative invention of Ansar Abbasi, my veteran colleague at The News International. It had a real sense of humor.
If Mr. Zardari and Mr. Malik were bad, corrupt and ‘NRO-laundered’ then this did not happen now. They were the same people – if the charges stick- on Oct. 18, 2007, the day Benazir Bhutto landed in Pakistan. Mr. Malik escorted her. Strangely, none of today’s self-righteous lawyers and journalists called Mr. Rehman Malik bad, corrupt and ‘NRO-laundered.’ Certainly no one dared tell the same to BB’s face or in their newspaper columns and television appearances. Why? Because of hate. The self-righteous group was and still is focused on hating Mr. Musharraf and taking revenge, not on telling the truth.
Then Mr. Zardari became party cochairman. He seized control of the main opposition party in the country. He sidelined veteran party leaders. He decided to set the tone of future Pakistani politics. He appeared from nowhere to take major decisions affecting every Pakistani citizen. In brief, Mr. Zardari took actions that warranted scrutiny and close examination of his role and background. You would have expected Mr. Abbasi to come forward at that time and throw a probing question or two at the ‘NRO-laundered’ Zardari. You would have expected some of the haughty lawyers, set on teaching the nation how to tell right from wrong, to have said something about Mr. Zardari at that time, all of course for the sake of the rule of the law, the constitution, the future generations, etc.
But nobody said anything. Why? Because of hate. The self-righteous group was and is focused on hating Mr. Musharraf and taking revenge, not on telling the truth.
Then came March 9, 2008. The historic summit meeting. A long press conference. A new beginning in Pakistani politics, we were told. A new beginning comes with a clean slate. So many of us ordinary Pakistanis thought we will see some self-critical straight talk from the assembled leaders. Certainly the media would ask those questions. But not a single reporter, senior journalist, anchorman, anchorwoman, analyst, or commentator from the self-righteous group dared stand up during the conference or write later in their columns or say in their television commentary that Mr. Nawaz Sharif should have atoned for ordering his paid activists to break into the building of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Mafia-style, an event that even Mr. Musharraf couldn’t match in his second coup of Nov. 3.
No single reporter, senior journalist, anchorman, anchorwoman, analyst, or commentator from the self-righteous group dared stand up during the conference or write later in their columns or say in their television commentary that Mr. Asif Ali Zardari should also come clean before the nation on NRO and the alleged corruption cases.
All of this could have been done in a spirit of a new beginning. But no one from the self-righteous group raised any of these legitimate and warranted questions that concern the rule of the law, the constitution, the future generations, etc.
And then Mr. Zardari surprised most skeptics. The immaculate change in his looks – the new haircut and moustache style, the wardrobe, the demeanor, the articulate speech – matched the immaculate change in his politics. He became the grand uniter, bringing a politically battered Pakistan together. His impressive reaching out to different political parties, his handling of the relationship with the presidency, his focus on the real problems facing Pakistan, all of this surprised even his hardened critics. Even those who couldn’t agree with Mr. Zardari’s background could find some common ground with him if it benefited the country.
With this welcome change in Mr. Zardari, this was the time to strengthen his hand and encourage him on this path for the sake of our homeland, all of us. The bitterness and questions about Mr. Zardari’s past notwithstanding, this was the time to show openheartedness. For the sake of Pakistan, not for the sake of anyone.
But surprise, surprise. The self-righteous group sprang up to condemn Asif Zardari and Rehman Malik. All of a sudden, lawyer groups on the Internet began circulating defamatory material against Mr. Malik. Some even went as far as accusing him of complicity in BB’s assassination. And Mr. Zardari became a target of ‘hate journalism’, which means fresh newspaper commentaries that suddenly turned Zardari from a good person to a bad person.
So, the question is: Was Zardari bad, corrupt and ‘NRO-laundered’ before March 9 or was not?
Was Rehman Malik bad corrupt and ‘NRO-laundered’ before March 9 or was not?
What is the criterion for being good or bad: corruption cases and a checkered past? Or hating Musharraf and taking revenge from him, from Naeem Bokhari, from PML, from Atiqa Odho, from Dr. Arbab, and from whomever this select self-righteous group of lawyers and journalists condemns to eternal hell?
Mr. Zardari and Mr. Malik have not changed. They are who they are. They never claimed anything else. The only difference is, maybe they are doing something good by bringing all our warring political parties together.
But the real change has come in this self-righteous group of a few journalists and lawyers. This group told us that Zardari and Malik were good. Now the group has had a change of mind. Zardari and Malik are bad.
So who is the real hypocrite?
