ANJUM ibrahim

Fact or fiction?

“Wanna play a game?”

“Sure, but which game?”

“The game of fact or fiction!”

“One man’s fact may be another man’s fiction, and then we would need an umpire who you and I would have to agree is neutral and…”

“My God, if I didn’t already know I would know from this comment of yours that you are a nawala or the supporter of Nawaz Sharif and here let me inform you that while you are a nawala (one bite of food) Nawaz Sharif, because of his dad who worked hard and made millions and millions of dollars, is not one nawala but nawalas, plural, or as many bites as may be required to eat up a table heavily laden with food and…”

“OK, give me an example, who would you define as a nawala, as in singular?”

“Asif Kirmani, but to be honest getting a senatorship is a tad more than one nawala – he gets paid at the tax payers’ expense for services he renders Nawaz Sharif.”

“OK, so he is not a nawala…give me another example?”

“Well, Nawaz Sharif’s entire media team, but then again they have benefited considerably at the taxpayers’ expense what with one getting a governorship, others getting federal ministries, all entitled to more than one nawala.”

“I am losing my patience here - do you have an example of one nawala?”

“Sure, the rank and file of PML-N parliamentary party members, they got the party ticket when there was high demand for it, and then nothing….Nawaz Sharif wouldn’t even give them time when they asked for it but we are getting side tracked. I asked if you wanted to play the game fact or fiction and I promise you I will not comment on your choice.”

“Oh, OK then go-ahead.”

“Fact or fiction: is it difficult to get a lot of people together to hear a political fete which is the closest I can come to translating a jalsa?”

“No, but you need to spend quite a bit of money, you need to truck people to the venue and perhaps give some people if not all some cash, then you need to provide entertainment, drat that Khan for adding to the expense, then you need to give food and if you are in government then the area’s officialdom, appointed by the government, can help you mobilize numbers at much lower cost.”

“Fact or fiction: Nawaz Sharif’s narrative was appreciated by the public given the huge jalsas he addressed after being disqualified?”

“I will not answer that, what are you trying to do, trap me?”

“Spoken like a true nawala, and need I add you are a one bite man, fact or fiction?”

“Oh shush, anyway, do you reckon Shahbaz Sharif has finally taken a stance at odds with his brother and niece’s narrative?

“Fact.”

“Fact or fiction: is Chaudhry Nisar in?”

“Fact.”

“Fact or fiction: can Maryam Nawaz deliver the prime ministership to Shahid Khaqan Abbasi if the party wins the 2018 elections?”

“Fiction, on both counts.”

“Can Shahbaz Sharif keep the party together?”

“That’s a tough one but it could be fact if he comes out more strongly against his brother and fiction if he is overcome by legal difficulties or if the general perception that the vote bank is Nawaz Sharif’s remains relevant?”