Zardari’s clear & loud message to ‘Takht Lahore’

IN a rather strange manner, President Asif Ali Zardari carried out a very aggressive attack against leadership of the main Opposition Party PML (N) describing Sharifs as ‘Muhajirs’ (refugees) and claiming that the glitter they are enjoying now is just because of him and they can be deprived of it at any time by him. Addressing his ‘jiyalas’ in Lahore on Thursday he took his tirade against Sharifs to new heights and even went to the extent of saying that they could not gather enough people to offer funeral prayers of their father.

Given that the audience of PPP Co-Chairperson were discontented lot of the party from Punjab who have been highly critical of the Provincial Government of PML (N), the outburst of Mr Zardari was understandable as it was directed at their morale boosting and that too in the electionyear. But one must see this harangue in continuation of what President Zardari and his scion Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said at the gathering of the party at Naudero on the occasion of 33rd death anniversary of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. The way the PPP leadership is making fun of the PML (N) leadership clearlyshows that the President was now over-confident and has a feeling of everything well under his iron grip. This is also a message that gone are the days when Mr Zardari talked about the COD and entered into Bhurban like accords with the opposition. All these things are now matter of the past and there was no need even to show respect to any one, not to speak of the rival politicians. But the choice of words of the President for leaders of the second biggest party of Pakistan was not appropriate as it suited the likes of Babar Awan, not head of the state, who is considered to be symbol of unity of the federation. We would point out to the worthy President that one of the causes of Karachi problem is the mentality of some circles to consider majority of the population of the city as still ‘Mohajirs’ and now he is trying to infect Punjab as well with this virus. His proclamation that he can take back glitter of Sharifs any time is also a political challenge to PML (N) and the forthcoming elections would, perhaps, see practical demonstration of this claim. One might also point out that the President was so furious may be because a day earlier the Punjab Government did not give him the respect he deserved as head of the state when he arrived in the provincial capital. Political differences notwithstanding protocol must be observed by all.