Mr Ghulam Mustafa Khar is like the proverbial phoenix which rises from the ashes. But he is the sort of person who will put even the phoenix to shame, because he is about to surface for the third time since we have known him. What is it that they say about not being able to keep a good man down?
Mr Khar was rebuked by Mr Z A Bhutto because he got too big for his boots in 1975. The errant son of the soil, however, was indispensable and resurfaced again in 1976, exchanging in the bargain the post of Chief Minister for that of Governor, Punjab. After the coup d’etat in 1977, he was Gen Zia’s unwelcome guest for many moons. The disappearing act didn’t last and before long he had safely exited into exile in London. Never one to say die, Mr Khar plotted away during his years in luxury, only to find himself in the clink once again after he returned to Pakistan in 1986.
It was deadly serious this time because there was that unfortunate matter of hobnobbing with an unfriendly neighbouring state in a conspiracy to overthrow Zia ul Haq et al. For two years, the ISI didn’t listen to Mr Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi’s plea for compromise, but when the PPP was romping home in the November elections, out popped a yoga-trimmed Mr Khar, seven days before the general elections, to pounce on PPP prospects in Muzaffargarh, and trounce all and sundry in sight for miles. As a gesture of his everlasting goodwill, the hapless Mr Jatoi was chucked a safe seat from the many in Mr Khar’s kitty. No sir, ungrateful Mr Khar is not, large-hearted he has always been, although the old ISI lot might rue the day they let him out, for reasons we all know.
The bitter-sweet relationship with the PPP has endured. Mr Bhutto was always his mentor (for the record, of course, though he couldn’t do without Mr Khar rather than the other way round), just as Ms Benazir Bhutto will always be his ‘niece’. When the PPP was down and out in the wilderness, Mr Khar only strayed a comfortable distance; when it came in from the cold, he was close enough to bask in its warmth. But then, how could it be otherwise? Doesn’t his heart belong to Daddy?
The Bhutto ladies are impaled on the horns of a dilemma. To Khar, or not to Khar, that is the question. Mr Sharif is blowing hot and cold in turns, threatening nightmares all round. The likes of Messrs Farooq Leghari and Makhdoom Altaf have all been routed on the battlefield of Changa Manga, and now Mr Sharif dares to make dangerous inroads in the NWFP and Islamabad.
The Punjab is intransigent under Mr Sharif and there is nothing the PPP can apparently do to win it back. It lacks organisation and is pulling in as many directions as there are leaders, notwithstanding Mr Salmaan Taseer’s bravado or Rana Shaukat’s dinners for Mr Sharif. No ma’am, this will clearly not do.
That is precisely what many of Mr Khar’s friends have been saying in Islamabad. Now, if Mr Khar were in the party, things would be different, the sun would settle on the IJI once and for all time to come, and the PPP would live happily ever after in the Punjab. Or so the argument goes, becoming more compelling by the day.
In the meantime, Mr Khar has readied himself for a final embrace with his long lost party. The spadework is done, the ladies are listening. The ‘rumours’ can no longer be ignored. Can the great Khar indeed deliver?
First, he wants the wherewithal: nothing less than the interior ministry will do, though of course, other possibilities cannot be ruled out if Gen Tikka can be persuaded to move to the cleaner environs of Islamabad. The deal naturally implies that, after Punjab has been delivered from Mian Sahib, Mr Khar shall in due course inherit it. The mechanics of the operation will be as follows: use the interior ministry to create the backdrop for Mr Sharif’s departure, resign from the NA, move into the PA Punjab, not courtesy another younger Khar from Muzaffargarh (that would be too easy) but from central Punjab (now, that would be something else) and take the glittering crown that once belonged to him.
Do not underestimate the man or his ambitions. Remember, when Khar roared in days of yore, ordinary folk slept peacefully, secure in the knowledge that their cows grazed serenely and thieves fearfully kept away. Since that is what ordinary folk in the Punjab want more than anything else in the world, he may indeed be the man of the hour yet again. Therefore, the ladies’ real dilemma may in fact turn on the more relevant issue of how to handle Mr Khar after he’s gobbled up poor Mr Sharif in the months to come.