Hindustan Times
The social graces of Nawaz Sharif
I cannot think of a better way of starting this blog than with personal recollections of Nawaz Sharif whose triumphant long march drew the world’s attention to the Pakistani civil society that yearns for modern democratic institutions—not the Qazi Courts the Taliban got at gun-point in Swat and elsewhere in battle-torn NWFP.
Who exactly is this man whose brawny politics has remained unaffected by the grave risks it entails for his business family counted among the country’s richest? On first introduction, he comes across as one who loves the good things of life. Have a meal with him and you’d know how much of a foodie he is.
The chandeliers, exquisite cut glass vases, wall hangings, the curtains and the mahogany furniture in the spacious room where he receives guests at his sprawling farmhouse near Lahore, are worth a fortune an ordinary Pakistani cannot aspire to build in a life-time. But there is about Sharif an earthy touch, a friendly demeanor that didn’t come easily to the stiff-upper-lip Benazir Bhutto.
“Yeh desi Murgi key hai, kam se kam do tukdey lena,” he whispered as I made my way to a tray-full of tangdi kebabas at his lavish Iftar party after the 1997 poll campaign that returned him to power with a thumping majority.
Knowing we had deadlines to keep and were in a hurry to leave, he had the social grace to lead The Hindu’s Malini Parthasarthy and me to the dinning room ahead of hundreds of other invitees.
A perfect host— that’s what Sharif always is. More recently, he stood waiting in the portico after guards at the outer gate took unduly long checking out our credentials when I turned up in the company of a Pakistani friend they weren’t expecting.
“I’m so sorry they made you wait that long,” said a profusely apologetic Sharif as I introduced him to my friend Sattar Khan, a journalist who jocularly presented himself as my driver (Indian pitarkar da driver) to demand a cup of tea that would suit a truck driver’s palate: “Mian Saab, truck draivaran wali chaa palao” Cups full of strongly brewed masala tea arrived in no time but went cold as we engrossed ourselves in a conversation on Musharraf, Zardari and the late Benazir. Midway through the interview, Sharif asked his khansama (cook) to prepare some more tea with similar tang and colour: “Yeh puraney cup le jao aur isi rang mein naye chai banao.”
The rough and tumble of politics hasn’t dented his business instincts. At a meeting in Islamabad a day after he pitted a retired Supreme Court judge against Zardari in the presidential election, he asked whether the Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, were still among India’s richest. “Yes, very much so, Mian Saab,” I replied.”Oh, even after they’ve split the family wealth,” he wondered.
The PML leader has indeed traveled a long distance since his political debut in the 1980s as a Zia acolyte. In a role-reversal few had expected at the time, Sharif fought in 1993 the civil-military establishment with which Benazir patched up to secure power the second time. His refusal to take dictation from the then President, Ghulam Ishaq Khan forced early elections despite his dismissed government’s reinstatement by the Supreme Court.
Sharif lost at the hustings but made for himself a permanent place in the national psyche by refusing to bury the hatchet with GIK after the historic court judgement.
“Why can’t you let bygones be bygones and make up with the President,” I asked at a press conference. His media advisor who has since defected to the pro-Army PML (Qaid), Mushahid Hussain stonewalled the question.
As I was leaving after the press meet, Sharif sought me out. “You had a valid point. But I have now an (anti-establishment) constituency to keep.”
It was that credo that drove his long march for the dismissed judges restoration 16 years later. This time around, the establishment buckled. For politics isn’t merely about being street smart, which Zardari undoubtedly is.
It’s more about stirring up the streets.
(9 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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Ruchi Ahuja Reply:
March 31st, 2009 at 11:33 am
An interesting read and insightful
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Sujata Anandan Reply:
March 31st, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Loved your piece, Vinod. I was fascinated by his movement against Zardari and glued to television through his long march, admiring his courage in taking on the establishment in a country as dangerous as Pakistan where you can be killed for simply being the opposition!
There are few politicians you can admire, least of all across the border but I have liked Sharif ever since I heard him once say honestly that the Pakistani system is “ aadha teeter, aadha bater” — and quote from Mughal-e-Azam. Thanks for bringing him alive to those who can only watch from a distance.
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vinod Reply:
March 31st, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Thanks Sujata.Would love to keep hearing ffrom you.
Anil Maheshwari Reply:
March 31st, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Welcome to the Blogosphere. An interesting read. However, commentary on the Indiuan elections 2009 by an established, of course pro-establishment, veteran journalist would have been more approriate. I look forward to hear about the Indian polity. As far as the Pakistan is concerned, one should read ” The Idiot’s Guide to Pakistan” in the latest issue of the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine.
Anil Maheshwari Reply:
March 31st, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Inadvertantly I forgot to give the link as a post on a blog without link is considered a “dead post”.
The link is http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4782
vinod Reply:
April 1st, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Gud you read it Anil. We south asians don’t need the Idiot’s guide, that too an American idiot’s guide, to understand Pakistan.
Anil Maheshwari Reply:
April 1st, 2009 at 4:10 pm
That is the problem of MINDSET. You seem to be unaware of the subaltern study of history. History is not mere the life and works of rulers. Without reading someone, if you can describe someone idiot, it is your prerogative.
Rajesh Kumar Jha Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:56 am
I have been following ur reports ever since ur stint as HT correspondent in Pakistan. Anyway, without doubt Sharif is one of the politicians, capable to deliver good for Pakistan. Even during Kargil, which was to a large extent result of our own intelligence and military failures, he was candid to a large extent. But then Pakistan is a difficult ball game altogether, dificult to manage and run by anyone, however capable and efficient he or she may be. Thanks Mr Sharma in joining club of ur colleagues in launching ur blog.
S.Sethi Reply:
April 6th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
amazingly overated reaction from a seasoned media person like Mr VInod Sharma to Nawaz Sharif’s hospitality.
I have my roots from Pakistan, and have visited that place several time(four time to be precise) and every time i returned disappointed and upset.
Pakistan is not defence colony or Gulbarg(in lahore) it is a mindset which is disturbing.After Kabab and Biryani and some scotch,pakistani show their true colors.They want India to bleed,they want it to disintegrate.They want Kashmir and Dear what y say in your introduction-that you have been to Pakistan’s side of Kashmir, you don’t have the guts to say that is Pakistan occupied Kashmir- well need i say more– you have to go to pakistan and that is why you keep them in good humour and when they come here we again have to keep them in good humour,that is the tregdy of India.
ss
vinod Reply:
April 7th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Sethi saab, I am afraid u missed the point altogether. You were reading a blog on the social graces of a man fighting the Pak establishment in defence of a cause. It wasn’t about India-Pak. It was about a civil society he mobilised in defence of modern democratic institutions as opposed to sharia laws imposed by the Taliban. I’ll request you to note that the judiciary they forced the government to restore took suo motu notice of the flogging of a woman in swat by islamic hardliners.
Shouldn’t there be some kind of a coalition between such sections on either side of the border? I for one am optimistic about it.
SChawla Reply:
April 15th, 2009 at 1:36 am
Dear Vinod,
Interesting but well known insights about Nawaz Sharif. As a journalist you obviously are trained to be politically correct but you remind me of the famous saying by Advani about Indian journalist during the Emergency –”they were asked to bend but they crawled.”
vinod Reply:
April 1st, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Presumptuous? Who? Read your own responses and you’d know who chose the high pedestal to pass value judgements like “mindset” and “pro-establishment.” I’m aware of Nocholas Schmidle’s work based on his two years stay in Pakistan. Learning is a humbling experience that invariably escape’s dilettantes. Matter over from my side.
Shashank Kalucha Reply:
April 1st, 2009 at 1:26 am
I sometimes wonder about the charm most Pakistani leaders seem to possess. Karan Thapar cannot stop fawning over Gen. Musharraf or Benazir Bhutto. I even read an editorial once in the HT about a changed “mature” Zardari. Here you too Mr. Sharma give us a personal insight about Nawaz Sharif.
I have nothing personal against any of these leaders but i sometimes wonder if this brotherly feeling truly exists for our generation. (I am 21). Mr. Sanghvi pointed this out too in one of his editorials. All the above leaders have come from influential families and have seen the fine life, and it shows in their personal equations with respective Indian journalists. But this seems to be the only positive trait about them. Or maybe I’m hellbent on being biased against politicians(there does seem to be a consensus on corruption charges against all of them to be true)
Anyway, great start Mr. Sharma!
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vinod Reply:
April 1st, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Nawaz Sharif’s was the face lent to an idea. The point I am making is that there is in Pakistan a civil society that seeks modern democratic systems and is as threatened by Taliban as the rest of the world. Sharif brought them to streets and showcased them for those with blinkered, one-sided view of Pakistan.
shantiveer kaul Reply:
April 1st, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Welcome!
Stylistically, your blog post reads just like your Pakistani Diary entries in the broadsheet. Perhaps a little sparseness is in order.
Anil Maheshwari Reply:
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:18 am
Now, I understand why the stylebook of The Statesman started with the sentence ” English is a language of understatement”. The matter is not over from my side.
vinod Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
I Agree Shanti. Blogs have to be sparse. In my case, its like a classical singer learning rap. Am trying to get used to the new medium (or is it idiom?)
shantiveer kaul Reply:
April 14th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Well Vinod, we might get lucky! You might spawn the genre of classic-rap, along the lines of fusion medium/ idiom like techno-rap and stuff.