Mian Sahib's Front-Foot And One-Man Infobahn

THE sweet smell of success was in the air. It was February 1, 1997, and not a single vote had been cast as yet. Seeing Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif being approached by Christina Lamb of Financial Post, a man quickly left our dinner table muttering, "Oh! Oh! Here comes trouble" and quickly placed himself between the controversial British journalist—who had written in a book which talks, inter alia, about the weakness of Pakistani politicians towards white women in skirts—and the man who in two days was to become the prime minister of Pakistan.

Nawaz Sharif has been under the watchful eyes of Mushahid Hussain Syed, Pakistan's information minister, ever since 1993 and Sharif's first stint as prime minister when Syed had first called upon him with a delegation of fellow reporters. "I found him a sincere and straightforward person unlike Benazir Bhutto who appeared very pretentious. I met her in London in 1984 and she offered me a place in her party. When I asked her what her party stood for, she said 'Bhuttoism'. She appeared to be fuzzy on issues. But Nawaz Sharif had no such pretensions and appeared a very genuine politician. This was something rare".

Apparently, it was a meeting in which Hussain made a lasting impression on Sharif because soon after he asked Hussain to become the chairman of the task force on Central Asia, a proposal which delighted Hussain. The man who was soon to emerge as Sharif's closest aide was then asked to head Pakistan's delegation to the Human Rights Commission in Geneva. During Sharif's subsequent visit to Geneva, another extensive meeting took place between the two. Hussain could not have asked for more. He was working in an area very close to his professional interests.

In 1973 he had graduated from the School of Foreign Affairs in Georgetown University, also Bill Clinton's alma mater. Hussain then spent two years in Lahore training 40 future Pakistani diplomats at the Foreign Office Academy. "Mushahid is a committed nationalist but very pragmatic in his approach and a strong believer in the agenda given to him. He is a man who wants to do things," says Dr Shirin Mazari, one of his closest friends in Islamabad. It was Mazari who introduced Hussain to his future wife, Dushka, a renowned academician and niece of an equally famous writer of the subcontinent, Qurratulain Haider. Dushka, who has her own career, has been amazingly supportive of Hussain's political ambitions. Even to the extent of the 'political intrusion' inside her sitting room, which has a framed photograph of her son Mustafa on one side and Sharif on the other.

바카라 웹사이트Soon it was April 1993 and Sharif was at loggerheads with his one-time beneficiary, President Ghulam Ishaq Khan who suddenly felt the industrialist from Lahore had become too big for his shoes. The brass at general headquarters, Rawalpindi, agreed. Sharif had decided to go to Dhaka to attend the SAARC summit and over the past months had found Hussain a man with whom he could easily communicate. However, though both come from Lahore, their backgrounds could not be more different. While Sharif was related to Pakistan's upcoming business class, Hussain belonged to a highly respected middle class army family.

바카라 웹사이트Hussain was reckoned to be extremely ambitious, but it was his sincerity that attracted Sharif. "In the plane I told the prime minister that he had a 50 per cent chance of surviving the power struggle with the president if he took on a fight. But if he decided to fight it out, I would back him as his media manager. (For) he should fight out the president on the front foot," Hussain recalls.

The nation recoiled with shock as, for the first time, a prime minister appeared on television condemning the president and referring to the presidential palace as a den of conspiracy. Sharif was out and Hussain was in. "I went to see Nawaz Sharif and told him that I was now fully with him," Hussain recalls. Word quickly went around that Hussain was the military's man and he would be a bridge between the Army and the tough politician whose Muslim League was the only political party that could take on the Pakistan's People's Party of Benazir Bhutto.

The speculation was strengthened by Hussain's background. While editor of The Muslim during martial law, he was perceived as being too close to the military dictator. "Personally I had no problems with Zia-ul-Haq. My attacks on him were political and even at that time I fully supported the movement for the restoration of democracy. He respected The Muslim as an independent newspaper but I have to admit that I was an avid Zia-watcher." Hussain, at the time, had coined the phrase about the military dictator's "double handshake and triple embrace". Indian analysts who interacted with him during the Zia regime say they received the impression that he was close to the ISI.

It was at this point of his career that Hussain faced the first controversy of his life. He took noted Indian journalist Kuldip Nayar to meet with A.Q. Khan, father of Pakistan's nuclear policy. The idea was to let the Americans know that Pakistan does have nuclear capability. Had Hussain been used as a pawn in the game by the military establishment? In any case, the interview came too late for Zia's convenience, as Kuldip held on to it. "Well, Zia himself gave an interview to Time magazine soon after and told them that if Pakistan had nuclear capability, at least it was in public," says Hussain, whose liaisoning cost him the editor's job.

No perspiration, since his new role was to take him places. Ever since he started grooming Sharif, there has been a visible change in the Muslim League leader and an emerging confidence attributed to hours of policy inputs and PR tips from Hussain. The former journalist spent every waking moment with the politician from Punjab. Sharif, earlier on the shy and reserved side, soon blossomed into a confident politician ready to speak on any subject. He appeared to have gone through a metamorphosis and all fingers pointed to Hussain.

Again, his style was different from Bhutto's who always appeared at her hysterical best even in Parliament. Sharif managed to give a more convincing impression. Hussain constantly reiterated that in Sharif Pakistanis had found a home-grown politician who could deliver, unlike the westernised Bhutto. The idea clicked but Hussain refused to take any credit. "I feel that people underestimate Nawaz Sharif. He is a very low-key person," Hussain told 바카라.

THAT by no means indicates that Hussain is underestimated by other Muslim Leaguers who consider him an outsider. There are definite groupings inside the Muslim League which feel that for a person who has no constituency of his own, he has made surprising inroads into the party to emerge as the eyes and ears of the man destined to be prime minister again. Sharif was indifferent to the murmurs of discontent. Soon after forming the government, he made Hussain senator and gave him the information portfolio.

바카라 웹사이트Of course, it is foreign policy that still interests Hussain. And nowhere is this more evident than when it concerns Kashmir and India. His influence was well-nigh visible on that memorable evening before elections when Sharif had said: "I am not being soft on India but just realistic". Hussain, who was sitting next to him, didn't utter a word. It was clear that there had been new thinking on relations with India.

This was proved soon enough: during the first round of Indo-Pak talks when Hussain requested editors to send their reporters to cover the event. It is also normal for Hussain to talk to journalists on matters relating to Kashmir and India. And it goes without saying that he does influence the foreign policy in this area at least. "Very few journalists in Pakistan had interaction with the Indians but I wrote for several Indian publications. I always feel that we should deal with the Indians looking them straight in the eye and clearly state our views. I feel that we should make it clear to the Indians that dialogue does not mean a dilution of Pakistan's stand on Kashmir", he told 바카라.

Senator Mushahid Hussain will be in the Upper House of Parliament till the year 2003, so what are his plans after that? "I am not ambitious", is his instant reply. But one thing is clear. It is the first time that a person who is neither a Wadera, nor the son of a feudal lord nor from the Pajero class has come upfront in Pakistan's power politics. Hussain plays it humble. "I have Mian Sahib to thank for my present position. He allowed someone from the middle class like me to come into politics. This is a new opening in Pakistan's politics and the credit goes to Nawaz Sharif for recognising my work."