Adil Najam

It is rather amazing, actually disturbing, that in a period of time when foreign affairs is the single most aspect of all politics in Pakistan, including in our domestic polity, Pakistan remains without a Foreign Minister.

It was not a surprise – given the nature of US-Pakistan relations and the role of the military in running Pakistan’s foreign policy – that US Senator John Kerry’s first meeting on his recent visit to Pakistan (late in the night, immediately on his arrival in Pakistan) was with the Army Chief. The reasons for or nature of that meeting might not have changed even if we did have a full-time and full Minister for Foreign Affairs in place, but at least protocol may have demanded a different decorum and therefore sent out a different diplomatic signal; maybe even set a different diplomatic tone to begin the visit with.

With Raymond Davis, the Abbottabad operation, Saudi diplomats being killed, and everything else happening in the diplomatic world from trade to the environment, it is not as if there would be a dearth of things for a Foreign Minister to do. Nor is there any dearth of aspirants – either within the PPP or its many coalition partners. There are plenty who would be willing to, and some who would be able to do a good job on this tough assignment, even if they were to be appointed amidst a fast-moving round of musical chairs.

Adil Najam

Readers already know how much I like Arieb Azhar’s music. In some way’s I think of him as Pakistan’s Woody Guthrie. Adding a contemporary edge to folk, modern folk if you will, although I think Arieb himself prefers to call it Sufi-folk. But it is the humanism in his songs that always pull at my heartstrings.

This piece is profound. No, its not about what you might think from the title. This is not self-flagellation. This is an appreciation of self. Take a listen. I should confess it is no match for Arieb’s Husn-i-Haqiqi. But it is matchless nonetheless.

Adil Najam

Supposedly, there is big news happening in Pakistan right now with ‘in-camera’ parliamentary hearings, unanimous resolutions on the Abbottabad operation, civil-military dialogue, and the like. Or, maybe, its just small news masquerading as big news. Certainly, news is “breaking” in a huge avalanche on every TV channel. But, then, news is Pakistan is a fragile commodity. It is always breaking!

But this post is not about fragile news. Its about fragile politicians, militarymen and media. This post is about a slightly frivolous observation. Frivolous, but only slightly.

It all started with a call from a journalist in Pakistan who wanted me to comment on the then-still-ongoing closed-door session of parliament on the Abbottabad operation. The question asked was: “What do you think about what was said in the closed-door meeting in parliament today?” I jokingly responded that I could not do so because it was a closed door session and therefore I did not know what was being said! So, my journalist friend told me exactly what was being said – verbatim, word for word, a more detailed report of exactly who said what than anything I have ever heard from or about the Pakistan parliament!

And all of this, in a closed-door, in-camera session! Interestingly, the journalist who called me or the media who reported the session statement-by-statement seem to see nothing odd about this. Every institution in the country – politicians, government, military, intelligence, media – is leaking like a sieve with extra holes, and we wonder why no one trusts us with sensitive secrets!