The Black Rainbow

by Hussain Zaidi

  “Determinism is a fact of life,” Prof Najeeb remarked. “Events don’t occur out of nothing; rather there’s always a cause behind them. I didn’t want to discuss the question of freedom. But you have drawn me into this discussion. We’ll discuss this problem in detail some other time. All I can say before we sign off is that it is possible to reconcile freedom and determinism. We may be free to choose between alternatives but our choice is determined by antecedent factors, such as our character and our circumstances. Give two people the same alternatives in a similar situation but they may choose differently because they are different characters. Even the same person may choose differently in different circumstances. That’s why we have divergent doctrines, philosophies and schools: capitalism and communism, individualism and socialism, fascism and anarchism, liberalism and conservatism — each trying to solve the same set of problems in its own fashion, that is to say, choosing different alternatives.

  Chapter 15

  The no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister was carried through in parliament and Malik Naseem being the opposition leader was invited by the president to form the government. Malik Naseem’s supporters celebrated their victory all over the country. Religious parties in particular welcomed the change of guards. It was expected that the new government would reverse the out-going government’s counter-terrorism policy, as Malik Naseem and his party were staunch critics of that policy and had demanded a peace agreement with the militants.

  Maulvi Zia was amongst the first to congratulate Malik Naseem on his appointment as prime minister and reminded him of his promises. Malik Naseem renewed his assurances. However, hours before he was to be sworn in premier, Malik Naseem received a note from the chief of the armed forces asking him to meet him immediately.

  “Congratulations Malik Naseem,” the army chief greeted him as the former called on the latter at his residence.

  “But for your concurrence it wouldn’t have been possible sir,” Malik Naseem acknowledged.

  “It was very hard convincing our western allies to change horses in the midstream. But we brought home to them that the outgoing government didn’t have the capability to defeat militants and that your government will continue the counter terrorism campaign. We know that you have contacts with religious outfits and that you will influence them to our advantage,” the general told Malik Naseem.

  “I’m your most loyal servant sir and if to anyone I owe this position, it’s you sir,” Malik Naseem flattered the general. “Rest assured, I’ll follow your diktat. The policy will be yours and implementation will be mine. This evening, after taking oath, I’ll be addressing the nation on television — a convention you know. What should I say about counter terrorism since of late I have been speaking against it on and on, of course only to malign my predecessor?”

  “Don’t worry about that. We have prepared a brief for you, which you should use in your address. There’s no need to expatiate on counter terrorism. All you should say is that your government will look into and improve upon the policies of your predecessor. This is enough for now,” the general said and rose from his chair. “I’m afraid but it’s time for me to play golf. Oh it reminds me. The American ambassador will see you after you have been sworn in.”

  The important question before Rashid was where Ali stands in the whole equation. For if he was not committed to Farzana, their chapter was closed. So he decided to talk to Ali to ascertain his position. The two subsequently met in a café.

  After their introduction was complete, Rashid began, “Let’s waste no time and come to the point. I’m engaged to Farzana but she wants to marry you. So where do you stand?”

  Ali was taken by surprise at the question, as he was not expecting that stuff. Instead of answering him, he looked at Rashid rather nervously.

  “Have I asked too difficult a question?” Rashid queried.

  “Yes. No. I mean to say that Farzana is engaged to you and it’s for you two to decide.”

  “But she is in love with you.”

  “It’s one thing to love someone and quite another to marry her,” Ali picking up his confidence said. Farzana is a nice girl and I have all the respect for her. But I’m not prepared for marriage and would not be so in another few years. Even if I were to agree, her father wouldn’t consent to our marriage. So you had better make Farzana understand our predicament. You seem to be a nice person, who I’m sure has a bright career ahead of him. You’ll make a good match for her and I wish you a successful nuptial life.”

  “But do you love Farzana?” Rashid queried.

  “I don’t know why you are asking this. But let me assure you there’s nothing between us. Our relationship, if there has ever been any, is at best Platonic,” Ali clarified.

  “Forgive me, but this wasn’t my intention. I have no doubts as to Farzana’s character. I asked that question out of curiosity rather than out of suspicion. But if you don’t want to reply, I’ll not press you,” Rashid explained.

  Ali after some moments of silence said, “What’s love; it’s hard to define. Does mere likeness constitute love? Does love mean total submission to the beloved? I don’t know. But if love means, as it is generally understood, strong affinity between two people who find it hard to live apart, then I can say without the slightest hesitation that I don’t love Farzana. Look Rashid, Farzana is very innocent and like other innocent people, she is a bit remote from reality. She needs a practical and strong man like you and not a confused and impractical person like me. The fact that you have called me here shows that you also care about her. Please show her the light of reason and facts. I’m sure once married to you, she‘ll forget me completely,” holding Rashid’s hand Ali implored him.

  “I appreciate how you feel for Farzana. Of course I’ll do what I can to persuade her but I wouldn’t force her to marry me against her will. As things stand, I don’t know what future has in store for us. But I’m sure in you I have found a nice person,” Rashid told Ali.

  After his swearing-in, Malik Naseem was told by his military secretary that the American ambassador was waiting for a call on him. “Of course, I’ll see him immediately,” he replied.

  “Congratulations Mr Prime Minister and thank you for consenting to meet me,” the ambassador remarked as Malik Naseem entered the room along with his military secretary. “I just wanted to convey the warm greetings of the government and people of the United States of America on your appointment to this high office as well as their best wishes for you to succeed.”

  “Thanks a lot Your Excellency,” Malik Naseem replied. “My government will attach the highest importance to strengthening bilateral relations with your country.”

  “You are welcome Mr Prime Minister. The President and his administration are looking forward to closely working with your government and increase our engagement with your country. But before we move forward, I have some submissions to make,” the ambassador said.

  “Yes I’m all ears.”

  “Our first request is that the outgoing government’s counter terrorism policy may continue. We have reports that some of the religious outfits backing the Taliban are your close associates and that you promised to immediately halt the military operation against them after coming into power. Now that you are in the saddle, we hope that you’ll not oblige them,” the ambassador said curtly. “Doing so would be detrimental to your interest as well as ours.”

  “I have association with religious outfits and I did promise them to stop the operation against the militants. But as Your Excellency would appreciate, such promises are of political nature and are not always meant to be fulfilled. I assure you that my government will continue to fight militancy with might and main. The change in government will not result in change of policy. Rather I’ll use my contacts with religious outfits to prevail upon the militants to lay down their arms unconditionally. I hope your government will continue to assist my government as it did the previous government,” Malik Naseem explained.

  “Yes o
f course. If you help us, we’ll also help you. I know you will be addressing your people shortly so I should better take your leave. One last thing: Our president will give you a call — maybe tomorrow. Please also assure him of your unflinching commitment to counter terrorism. This will be a good beginning of your personal relations with him,” the ambassador advised the new premier.

  “With pleasure,” Malik Naseem assured his distinguished guest, as he rose to see him off. “I’ll be throwing a party tomorrow evening and you are cordially invited to that.”

  “Thanks for the invitation. I’ll definitely make it.”

  Chapter 16

  “How do you see the change in the government father?” Ali asked Mr Naqvi as they finished with their dinner.

  “Well, there are different ways of looking at it,” Mr Naqvi began. “In parliamentary system, just as ours, the government has to command the majority of the members of parliament and it may be thrown out of office if it ceases to command the majority. So in that sense, there’s nothing odd about the change in govt. But this is merely a textbook explanation. No doubt, there has been a great deal of horse trading but again it’s part of our political culture. What’s surprising for me is not the change in government per se but that Malik Naseem is heading the new govt. He is well known for his contacts with religious organizations, which are at the back of the Taliban. But then why the powers that be — I mean the army and the Americans—have acquiesced in this?

  “What is your opinion Hassan?” Mrs Naqvi also joined the discussion.

  “One possible explanation is that Malik Naseem is playing a double game. He used votes and money of religious parties to topple the government by promising them to reverse the counter terrorism policy and make peace with the militants. On the other hand, he assured the establishment that his government would continue the operation against the Taliban,” Mr Naqvi opined.

  “But what would he do?” Mrs Naqvi queried. “Of course he cannot have it both ways.”

  “Yes you’re right,” Mr Naqvi nodded. “It wouldn’t be possible for Malik Naseem to ditch the establishment. So he will have to dump the clergy.”

  “Would it not affect his political support and credibility?” Ali asked.

  “It will no doubt. But Malik Naseem is a crafty politician. He’ll also try to appease the clergy and tell them in so many words that in case they withdraw their support to him, then it will bring the outgoing government back to power. The clergy wouldn’t like the former ruling party to be back in power. Besides, within the establishment, there is a strong section which has a soft corner, if not all out support, for the militants. So he’ll try to manipulate the connection between that section of the establishment and the clergy. That said, there would hardly be a smooth sailing for Malik Naseem and he’ll have to put in all his political acumen to handle the situation,” Mr Naqvi explained.

  Meanwhile, Mrs Naqvi left the room to offer prayers leaving the two gentlemen there. “By the way, Seth Nisar, Sara’s father, contributed a hefty amount to the victory of Malik Naseem and he did so at the behest of Maulvi Zia. But I haven’t been able to find out why the seth is so loyal to the maulvi,” Mr Naqvi informed Ali.

  “So there is a nexus between the clergy, the capitalists and politicians,” Ali said.

  “Yes there is and you may add journalists, bureaucrats and intelligence agencies to the nexus.”

  In a few minutes, Mrs Naqvi re-joined the conversation. Being a lecturer in political science, she was particularly interested in political developments in the country. “Hassan why do you think the army and the Americans consented to the change in government?” she asked.

  “I have also been thinking over this and have yet to come up with a definite answer. But since you have asked this question, let’s speculate on this. The outgoing government had liberal credentials and was committed to fighting militancy. However, because of some political constraints it was not fully able to translate that commitment into practice and therefore could not come up to the expectations of the Americans. Besides, a strong section in the armed forces didn’t like the ruling party because of its liberal, populist credentials. This section, I can at best conjecture, prevailed over the top brass to allow change in the govt. I don’t believe that the army engineered the change in government; it only consented to that and allowed Malik Naseem and his allies to prove their strength in parliament. If I correctly understand Pakistani politics, premature change in the government is to the army’s advantage, because it doesn’t allow any civilian government to become strong enough to pose a challenge to the army’s pre-eminent position.”

  “Your reasoning seems to be valid. But how did Americans accept the change in government?” Mrs Naqvi enquired.

  “I think at times we tend to exaggerate the influence of America on our politics. Americans no doubt exercise a lot of influence on our politics but there are also limits to that. And the greatest limit is the army itself. Americans have always found it convenient to influence Pakistani politics through the army. So in the ultimate analysis, American influence on our politics depends on what the army thinks and is willing to do. So, at times, Americans have to adjust their policies accordingly. Hence, once the army had decided in principle to allow Malik Naseem to topple the government, the Americans were made to accept that; of course with the understanding that the counter terrorism campaign would continue. But as I earlier said, it’s all conjecture based upon my journalistic experience and conversation with some leading political figures,” Mr Naqvi explained.

  “This seems to me a plausible explanation,” Mrs Naqvi acknowledged. “But how do you see the future of Malik Naseem?”

  “The simple answer my dear is that like any other politician, the future of Malik Naseem hinges on how he gets along with the army. As long as he plays second fiddle to the army, he’ll be tolerated and even supported. But the moment he begins to assert himself, life would become difficult for him,” Mr Naqvi opined and then looking at his watch said, “Malik Naseem will be appearing on television in half an hour, let’s watch him and see what he has to say. But before this, let’s go out for a short stroll.”

  Malik Naseem’s address to the nation contained nothing of substance. He promised to give an efficient and clean government, serve the people, promote friendly relations with Muslim countries, give shape to the economy, and safeguard the country’s geographical and ideological frontiers. He hardly mentioned the counter-terrorism policy except that his government will review all policies of its predecessor including the fight against militancy.

  Probably no one listened to the new prime minister’s speech with greater keenness and attention than Maulvi Zia. And probably no one was more disillusioned with the address than he. As soon as the speech finished, he tried to contact Malik Naseem, but was told by his staff that he was not available and that they would forward the message to him.

  The night was spent by Maulvi Zia waiting for Malik Naseem’s return call and thinking why he had broken his promise to him. In the morning, the first thing he did was to fly to the capital. He had read in the newspaper that the new prime minister would host a reception in honor of his allies. But to Maulvi Zia’s surprise he received no invitation. His attempts to contact Malik Naseem received the same response as was the case the night before.

  From the airport Maulvi Zia drove straight to the residence of a common friend, named Sharif Khan, who was tipped to join the cabinet of Malik Naseem.

  “Since last night I have been trying to contact Malik Naseem but in vain,” Maulvi Zia complained to Sharif Khan.”

  “It should not be a cause for concern for you,” observed Sharif Khan. “Malik Naseem is now the prime minister and he must be receiving messages of felicitation from all over the world. I think he’ll contact you at the first opportunity.”

  “But he hasn’t invited me to this evening’s reception either,” Maulvi Zia lodged another complaint.

  “Well that may be an act of omission on the part of h
is staff. But you don’t worry, we’ll go together to the reception,” Sharif Khan tried to appease Maulvi Zia.

  In the evening, Maulvi Zia along with Sharif Khan drove to the prime minister’s house. Not only politicians, but foreign diplomats were also invited to the reception. Understandably, the new prime minister was the centre of attention. Maulvi Zia went to Malik Naseem and greeted him. The latter acknowledged his greetings.