Earlier in the month I was in Dubai. I enquired about Begum Nusrat Bhutto’s health from a Pakistani friend. He and his wife knew the Bhuttos intimately. I was, to my dismay, told that Begum Sahiba was gravely ill and unlikely to get well. In reality death was knocking at her door.
The news of her passing away saddened me. While ambassador in Pakistan I met her several times. Over-whelming tragedies darkened her life. The death of one beloved member of family is devastating enough. Fate inflicted one wound after another. Her husband was hanged. Of her two sons, one committed suicide, the other was killed in a shoot-out. To fill her cup of misery, her elder daughter Benazir was assassinated.
As I write, happier memories fill my mind. In December 1988 Rajiv Gandhi was in Islamabad for the Saarc Summit. Begum Benazir Bhutto was Prime Minister. During President Zia-ul-Haq’s eleven-year rule entertainment — dance, music, etc — were banished from functions at the President’s house. Benazir reversed that puritanical diktat. After the state dinner in honour of the Indian Prime Minister at the Presidential Palace a dance and musical soiree was arranged. Begum Nusrat was very much present, lively, proud to see her daughter as Head of Government and thoroughly enjoying herself.
The late H K L Bhagat was also a part of Rajiv Gandhi’s entourage — why, I could not fathom — and I introduced him to the senior Begum. He rose to the occasion, “Madame, you are so young, so beautiful…”, “Mr Minister, I am the mother,” said Nusrat Begum. It had no effect on Bhagatji. He always wore dark glasses. This from time to time landed him in harmless trouble. He continued to sing the praises of the young Begum Nusrat, till I pulled him aside. Bhagatji asked me not to tell anyone about this encounter with the Begum. I said, “I shall tell Rajiv. He loves to hear of such episodes.”
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I only exchanged a few words with Col Muammar el Gaddafi when I ran into him during the NAM Summit in Harare and Belgrade in 1987 and 1989 respectively. The minuses in his 42-year rule far outnumbered the pluses. Absolute power corrupted him, his family and his cronies. Misguided, megalomaniacal tyrant, cocksure, cruel, madly generous, unbalanced, he has left a semi-destroyed country and a distraught people. The Transitional National Council, now the interim government, has daunting tasks before it. First and foremost, to establish the central government’s authority. Reconcile powerful tribal groups. Rebuild Libya, draft a constitution and finally hold elections. This will need patience, prudence, foresight, skill and a lot of luck. Success is not assured. It is attainable.
No leaders have emerged in post-dictatorial Tunisia, Egypt or Libya. The Arab Spring is now entering the dark months of the winter of political discontent. Earlier in the year I had written that what happened in North Africa could not happen in India. Now I am no longer sure. The unease among a large number of people of our great country is turning into anger, even hatred of the Indian establishment. Too many believe they are being led to a one-way road to disaster. Discontent is turning into disgust. It is to me clear that if the rich-poor divide is not arrested, an explosion could become a distinct possibility. Sobering thought.
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The outcome of the Hisar election did to some extent added to the discomfiture of the Congress party. It was no ordinary defeat, it was a rout. The chief minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, camped in Hisar for two weeks. The Congress also sent the chief ministers of Rajasthan and Delhi to Hisar to campaign. It did not work. The blame game has begun, and in public. Two ministers and a former Haryana minister are being targeted for sabotage. The margin of defeat was so large that the alleged “sabotage” by these three would not have made much difference. The malady is not these three individuals. It goes much deeper. Yet, no heads will fall because, according to rumours, several palms in the AICC are greased by the powers that be in Haryana on a regular basis.
Such financial improprieties are often blown out of proportion. Evidence of a concrete nature is seldom produced. The voters feel aggrieved, cheated, ignored, humiliated. They take it out at election time as he/she did in Hissar. The election got the attention it did because the ruling party made it a prestige issue. A serious error of judgment. The shadow of Hisar will loom large over the Congress when Punjab votes in February 2012. Six months ago it looked a cake walk for the Congress. Not so now. Besides, much will depend on the allocation of tickets.