In Pakistan every day is a new day

The man with a hand on the pulse of Pakistan has a lot to say about Indo-Pak relations.

On Indo-Pak relations: Opening up of trade between the two countries is inevitable. It is a question of survival and when there is an economic crunch, ideology takes a backseat. Pakistan businessmen will make a beeline for Delhi once trade picks up and vice-versa. Once money starts exchanging hands, there will be vested interests on both sides who will want normalisation of the relationship between the two countries. In fact, once the trade gets going, there will be 10 Samjhauta Expresses running in and out of the countries. And there will be many more buses too.

Post Pokharan: When India went nuclear, the initial response from Pakistan was amazing. All the doves came out saying that Pakistan will not and should not conduct similar tests. But there were aggressive statements being made by the leaders in India every day and slowly the doves fell and the hawks rose. On Nawaz Sharif: Nawaz Sharif is an ego-maniac. He is on record saying that he fancied being a Mughal emperor. He believes in kingship, hates the press and the judiciary. He is in a very nasty mood and feels that there is no point of being a prime minister if you cannot get what you want.

On himself: I was a goody-goody fellow with goody-goody ambitions about joining the civil services. When I was in England doing my Ph.D, Bangladesh happened and it changed my life. We ended up demonstrating and became highly politicised. I did my bit when the Frontier government in Baluchistan was dismissed and threw in my lot against the Punjabis. I became a prisoner of my conscience for two years. When I was released from jail I started my own publishing house and then Haq threw me in prison. After I was released, the paper happened.

On The Friday Times: Since Friday used to be a holiday in Pakistan in those days, the paper was called The Friday Times, something to do with the weekend mood. When Nawaz Sharif decided to scrap the Friday holiday and shift it to Sunday, I decided to let the name be.

On life in Pakistan: In India people are used to a certain amount of stability and predictability in their lives. In Pakistan, everyday is a new day. In India, when a bureaucrat or a general retires he probably has a car and a flat. In Pakistan when either retire, a palatial house is built for them using state funds. I have visited a number of big businessmen and bureaucrats in India, but their houses just don’t compare to those of their counterparts in Pakistan. There is not a single house in Delhi that will match the houses in Pakistan. In Pakistan, the elite live lavishly.