ANJUM IBRAHIM

I don’t think they’re fat

“Look at the bright side, you know as glass is half full instead of half empty – now if Maryam Nawaz is accepted as Nawaz Sharif’s political heir then what will happen, do you reckon?”

“If Maryam Nawaz reckons, she is another Benazir Bhutto then she has another thing coming! Benazir was highly educated, was groomed for years by her daddy and equally, if not more importantly, her mettle was forged in the oven of murky Pakistani politics where you have senior members dismissing you as being too young, where you have people like the Motu (fat) brigade changing sides in the twinkling of an eye, where you have…”

“I don’t think Talal Chaudhry and Daniyal Aziz and Marvi Memon or even Mariyum Aurangzeb are fat… I mean Daniyal is the fattest and I would refer to him as overweight rather than fat…”

”Don’t be facetious, by referring to them as the motu brigade the Khan means fattened with government favours and as the government belongs to Maryam Nawaz’s daddy…”

“I see, so more allegorical than figurative, didn’t think the Khan was into allegory.”

“I won’t take the bait and so I will let that comment go. But anyway when I said if Maryam Nawaz inherits more than just flats and cash from her daddy then who becomes the First Spouse?”

“Captain Safdar (retd) with an income payable in riyals and not rupees?”

“That is what Benazir and Maryam Nawaz have in common.”

“What? That they both were married? That they are both politically ambitious? That they are both well dressed and well turned out…”

“You are so shallow? I meant that the two women married men who were politically non entities at the time of the marriage.”

“So? I reckon that’s good. I mean had they married politically ambitious people then you would have said that their spouses didn’t care for them but for the position…”

“No silly! Who inherited from Benazir Bhutto?”

“Asif Zardari the spouse… ahhhhh, I get it.”

“Finally!”

“The PML-N will never accept Captain Safdar.”

“That is precisely what they used to say about Zardari sahib. Mind I am not saying that Zardari sahib is not politically astute just that the precedence for the spouse to inherit does exist in this country and need I add highly educated liberals like Aitzaz Ahsan and Raza Rabbani also accepted and benefited from the leadership of the spouse.”

“Food for thought I admit! And I guess that reminds you of the motu gang again!”