Asif Ali Zardari; has he changed?

By

Dr Ghayur Ayub

I am not a psychologist but as part of my training in cancer surgery I did have to assess people psychologically a lot of the time. The practice has stayed with me ever since. It was1993, when I first met Asif Ali Zardari. He had been brought from jail to PIMS for a medical a check up. I was Executive Director of PIMS at the time. That day my secretary informed me that the police had brought Mr Zardari to the hospital. I got up and went to the reception room where the police and the prisoner were waiting. This was my first encounter with a man whose name was linked with percentages. He looked thinner than his pictures in the newspapers or footages on the TV. I introduced myself to him. He very courteously, got up and extended his hands to shake mine. I heard the jingling sound of metal and saw shiny shackles around his wrists. I looked at him. There was a smile on his face. He shook my hands with a firm grip. I looked at the two policemen standing by his side; they remained unconcerned. Asif Zardari must have observed the look of surprise on my face as his smile changed into a soft laughter. I took one of the policemen aside and asked him to unshackle Mr Zardari. He was not willing to do so giving me his reasons. I promised to take full responsibility and said firmly that I would not allow his check-up if he remained in shackles.  

After that first check up he visited the hospital on several occasions for one reason or another and we kept meeting. On one occasion, the late Benazir Bhutto accompanied him. I found AAZ to be warm and friendly while BB was rather cold and distant. They both liked green tea. That was the time when political turmoil was on the rise and the political gurus were predicting changes. I remember an MNA and friend from Jehlum, Ch. Altaf Hussain (in the following year he became governor of Punjab) came to my office for a medical check-up and during our conversation he forecasted a change in the government. A few days later, when AAZ was brought to the hospital, I asked him about the rumours. He nodded his head in an affirmative manner; then smilingly he leaned forward and assured me that my position would be safe if his government came to power. "˜It's your friend Asif's promise' he said. That evening I met Ch Nisar at his home. He confirmed his reservations. Things went from bad to worse on political scene and a few weeks later Mr Nawaz Sharif along with Mr. Ghulam Ishaq Khan packed their bags.

Mr. Asif Zardari kept in touch until the PPP government came into power in October 1993. One evening, when I came home, there was a message on my answering machine. It was him thanking me for everything I had done for him and saying good bye. That was the last time I heard from him. The following week, when I entered the office, a grim-looking secretary told me that a notice had been issued and that I had been removed from my post. Asif's promise echoed in my ears. I tried to contact him but to no avail.

Time moved on. The percentage figure linked to him in his previous regime increased by a few leaps. His close buddy, the then President fell into an ISI trap and the second BB's government was terminated in October 1996. During the interim government of Meiraj Khalid, I became the Director General of Health. Mr. Asif Zardari was again put behind bars. He again contacted me through his private secretary. I was told he was not feeling well and had been admitted to Aga Khan Hospital, Karachi, complaining of backache and had developed urinary problem. It was reported, that they had found cancer cells in his urine and the treating doctor was suspecting cancer of prostate gland. The doctor recommended his treatment abroad. I was asked to asses his case. Cancer being my subject of interest, I visited Karachi and went through his medical record. I spoke to the relevant doctors including, Dr. Kasim Lakha, the Chairman of AKU. He had been in Paris at the time and had rushed back to Pakistan to deal with this case.  I also discussed the case with other oncologists both from Pakistan and the UK. All of them agreed that he needed further specific tests at AKU before he could be diagnosed as having prostate cancer. I heard nothing after that; I was not told if he was investigated further for cancer or not.

All I know is that in the following months newspapers reported that he had sustained injuries to his neck and tongue. Mr Zardari had accused the government of trying to kill him; the government said it was a suicide attempt. Someone told me that he was monitored and that he didn't know about it. If that was the case, the tape of his being tortured (or otherwise) may still be available somewhere. 

A few months later, he was transferred to PIMS and stayed there as a patient for three years until he was released and went abroad. When he was in PIMS his private secretary met me a few times and conveyed AAZ's good wishes. I reciprocated. I would have called on him but the then Executive Director strictly forbade me to do so. It was a few months later after he went to New York for medical reasons that a common friend mentioned him to me again. At that time, I was working with Mr Nawaz Sharif and Mr Shehbaz Sharif at the International Secretariat of PML-N in London. The common friend, who has a keen interest in spirituality, told me that he had had a four hour one on one meeting with Asif in NY in 2006. What he told me was mind boggling. According to him, a few years of solitary confinement had transformed AAZ into a spiritualist. This revelation did not surprise me as people can change during period of isolation but what took me aback was the next bit of news. He said that AAZ believed that he was going to play a pivotal role averting a future clash of civilisation; a topic that has been hotly discussed for many years. He linked his new role to the divine pertinence. That was the time when he was chased by Musharaf and his cronies at home and abroad in Switzerland, UK and Spain. No one at that time could have imagined that he would replace BB to lead the party or that he would form a government supported by all the major parties in Pakistan with the blessings of Western governments. The rapid changes that took place in the PPP party after the assassination of BB and the political turmoil that followed in Pakistan is beyond rational comprehension.

We all know that Pakistan is of strategic importance in the present inconsistent global politico-religious turmoil. And if there is an impending clash of civilisations in the world, Pakistan would become a pivotal spot to regress or aggress that clash. To do that, the country needs a leader who has the eyes of an eagle, nerves of steel, determination of a hunter, and yet placidity of a saintly heart. The spiritualist friend rang me after AAZ took over PPP and formed the government and reminded me of what he (AZZ) told him in NY. When I put the phone down, I was left wondering if it could be true. Was this man going to play a conciliatory role in Pakistan at national level, and a peace-making role to avert a clash of civilisations at global level? When he started recruiting people around him with devious past records I became sceptical. I rang my friend back with my cynical views. He laughed, and replied "˜God works in mysterious ways'. This time, when I put the phone down, I thought, that maybe Mr Zardari has been given a chance of lifetime but is loosing it fast. The big question every body in Pakistan is asking these days is; has Asif Ali Zardari really changed during the past years? It is said that deeds speak louder than words. Only time will prove if his deeds will correspond to those words he spoketh loudly in New York in 2006.  

The end