Zardari the President

A lot is being discussed and written in the media and private for and against President Zardari. I was too not very fond of him either. However, of what I have seen of the gentleman in the past few days, I am seriously having second thoughts about him.  He is not only conducting himself well and proper but also shunning the self- projection in a dignified manner despite the PPP jiala culture. Two such positive gestures of him are worth noting. One he has not only cancelled the holiday declared by the Sindh Government to celebrate his election as President but also advised the people to put in more work instead of holidaying on such pretexts. This was reminiscence of Quaid e Azam's "“ Work, Work and More Work. The second one was that he stopped all government celebratory ads at public expense in this regard. These gesture may not seem to be very significant but they are positive signs at least. And if viewed and compared with such celebrations of not too distant a past, these are indeed great gestures as most of our pigmy leaders not only thrive on these but also expect it from their sycophants.

The point is, whether we like it or not, he is the President and duly  elected too by a democratic process. We can now either create hurdles for him and not let him work,  or, strengthen his hands to do something good for the masses.  Choice is entirely ours. For the good of the country I would prefer the latter - let him work. Of course with suitable monitoring by the masses, the parliament and the opposition, the judiciary and the media. Who knows he might have learnt a lesson or two and deliver?!  After all there have been Qutabs from amongst the Chors in our Islamic history.  Let's, therefore, wish him the luck and Godspeed in his undertakings for the good of Pakistan.

Truly

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)

30, Westridge-1

Rawalpindi 46000

Tel: (051) 546 3344