PARTLY FACETIOUS: Sheikh Rashid deserves praise?

“So what’s the difference between the new and old Pakistan?”

“There was Sheikh Rashid in the old Pakistan and the new Pakistan…”

“And God bless his unchanging heart and irrespective of the portfolio conferred on him by the party leadership his relevance is…”

“Has never been proportional to his delivery on the portfolio he holds…”

“Right, but it is proportional to his availability on the electronic media.”

“Hmmm, but you have to give him credit – he brings no other member of parliament, he wins elections on the party ticket that he wisely selects…”

“Wisely?”

“The party destined to win…”

“Destiny is a powerful mover of the chess pieces on the board…”

“Shish, you get too cryptic indeed. Anyway Umar Ayub is here, he was in the old Pakistan as he is in the new Pakistan, then there is Khusro Bakhtiar and his band of what was it at last count? 18 members of parliament…”

“Silly that’s not it.”

“Well, you couldn’t be referring to The Khan’s stance vis-a-vis declaration of the gifts he received from foreign countries because Nawaz Sharif used the same excuse and…”

“Nope in the new Pakistan while water buffaloes and old cars were sold and no tea or biscuits are being served yet the cabinet continues to expand - the most recent being the appointment of Syed Tariq Mahmood-ul-Hassan as the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis and…and wait…human development.”

“Which humans is he going to develop?”

“He is a British Pakistani businessman as was his predecessor Zulfi Bukhari so I would urge him to begin the development from Zulfi Bukhari who…”

“Didn’t I read a news item that Zulfi Bukhari visited Oman was it last week? Where he met with the Omani Minister and discussed the possibility of jobs or something for Pakistanis…”

“Oh dear, confusion is the name of the game I guess but about the blast in Lahore, my home city, did you know that the only provincial minister who visited the injured was Yasmin Rashid and The Buzz was nowhere to be seen…”

“That’s the old Pakistan – condemn the attack, order that a report be submitted forthwith and then move on…”

“Right and I would have you know that in the new Pakistan a room 20 feet by 20 feet has been set aside for the reports and…”

“What about in Islamabad?”

“In Islamabad the room is 30 feet by 30 feet…”

“Don’t be facetious.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022