31

Benazir on war path against Punjab
Nawaz Sharif stopped vying for the office of the Prime Minister but Benazir was not content. She was determined not to let him become even the Chief Minister of the Punjab. She demanded that power should be trans­ferred first in the center and only later in the provinces so that she, as the Prime Minister, could direct the Governors to sub­vert the political realities. To avoid any partiality or coercion, the President decided that the National Assembly and the Provincial As­semblies would meet simultaneously and all elected leaders of the houses would take oath at the same time. But Benazir Bhutto tried to stop Nawaz Sharif from taking the oath of office. Before even becom­ing the Prime Minister herself, she asked Governor Makhdoom Sajjad Husain not to administer the oath but he did not succumb to her pres­sure. He had to pay the price when he was removed after only a few days and replaced by Gen. Tikka Khan. Ghulam Ishaq Khan did not want to change Makhdoom Sahib but she put up Tikka Khan as the presidential can­didate. Ghulam Ishaq Khan, as a bargain, had to ap­point him as the Gover­nor in return for the PPP support to him as President. The dirty politics had started.
The PPP leadership was not pre­pared to respect the verdict of the peo­ple in the Punjab. Tikka Iqbal hap­pened to meet Ch. Aitzaz Ahsan and Rao Rashid in Isla­mabad. In their view, Nawaz Sharif was no politician. He was only “a spoiled businessman, who would not stand the pressure of even an in­come tax officer or a police DSP.” They expected the Punjab govern­ment to fall within days.
The PPP leadership certainly had bad intentions and it did not take long to show it. In a move intended clearly to destabilize the Punjab government, it recalled, within a fortnight of Benazir’s taking over, some senior officers, including Anwar Zahid, Chief Secretary, Khalid Javed, Chairman, Planning and Development Board, and me, without consulting the provincial govern­ment as required under the rules. It also posted substitute officers, again without consulting the Chief Minister. Nawaz Sharif was stung.
If the Chief Minister had no control over his officers, his authority would be eroded. The Punjab government, therefore, wrote back that no such postings or transfers could take place without mutual consul­tation as laid down under the rules. The matter was then kept under consideration for legal examination by the federal government.

Insults to Nawaz Sharif. After having been unsuccessfully blocked from taking oath of office as Chief Minister; falsely accused of rigging elec­tions and now a blatant attack on his authority, Nawaz Sharif decided to hit back. He decided that he would not receive the Prime Minister at the airport when she came to Lahore on Decem­ber 25. It would widen the gulf of dif­ferences further. Anwar Zahid and a few others tried to persuade him to re­consider but he would not change his mind. Rao Rashid requested me to persuade the Chief Minister to receive the Prime Minister. (After all that the federal government had done to Nawaz Sharif in just a few days, it still had faith in his decency.) I promised to do my best.
Rajiv Gandhi was visiting Islamabad for the summit meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) on December 29. This gave me an opportunity to play on Mian Sahib’s patriotic feelings. When I found that he was not amenable to usual ar­guments, I said, “Rajiv Gandhi is coming after a week. Will you like the country to appear divided on the eve of his visit? If you do not rise to the occasion, you will be held accountable at the bar of history.” He heard me intently and went silent. Then he had to go to the bathroom for ablution for prayers. I wondered what would be in his mind and waited anxiously. On his return, he said, “I shall receive her for the sake of the country.”
Then he turned to a mundane issue. “What about the PPP work­ers? They always misbehave.”
“We shall make good security arrangements,” I assured him.
He made me personally responsible for keeping the PPP workers at a distance from him. I told Rao Rashid that Mian Sahib would re­ceive the Prime Minister at the airport provided the PPP workers were restrained and behaved properly on the occasion. He promised to ensure that.
It was a false promise. When Nawaz Sharif went to receive her, the PPP workers misbehaved with him. Perhaps he was given the affront delib­erately. Even Benazir failed to control her partymen. She received him in the plane and then left in a procession of her unruly workers.
Her henchmen also contrived the recovery of a low-intensity fishing bomb by an ASF officer, ostensibly from a flower pot at the outer gate of the airport, and tried clumsily to project it as an attempt on her life. It was a total lie. They were depending on tricks, not truth.

Benazir was overbearing and insolent when she visited the Chief Minis­ter at 7, Club Road in the evening even though he presented her a beautiful shawl as a token of goodwill and cooperation. Later, she deliberately insulted the Chief Minister by downgrading his protocol during the banquet for the visiting heads of the SAARC countries in Islamabad. She destroyed an ex­cel­lent opportunity of smooth sailing for her gov­ernance.
It did not make a good beginning. She appeared to be on a war­path rather than trying to consolidate her position and authority. In­stead of such petty attacks, a small measure of tolerance and ac­commodation would have mellowed Nawaz Sharif into a cooperating junior partner in the federation. Perhaps she had a different perception because of her having been nurtured in an atmosphere of suffering and intense hatred.

Benazir pampers Rajiv. Benazir went out of her way to please Rajiv Gandhi when he visited Islamabad to attend the SAARC summit meet­ing. She even ordered the removal of a road sign indicating Kashmir House, a building of the Azad Kashmir government. Benazir may be playing to his sensitivities in appreciation of the help given by him and his mother, Indira Gandhi, to her and her mother during the difficult days under Zia dictator­ship. But it was too much when we were told that Kashmir was not to be mentioned as a dis­puted area even in our secret security orders, which were strictly for our in­ternal use. The orders of the Prime Minister were carried out although Rajiv could have serious security threat from the suffering Kashmiris.
More was to come. It was very painful for the police and army security officers, including me, when we heard Rajiv mention Kashmir as an integral part of India in the joint news conference while Benazir only gave a broad smile, sitting next to him in the VVIP Room at the Rawalpindi airport. It hurt all Pakistanis when they read about it in their newspapers next morning. I and my officers on security duty saw that she was pampering Rajiv with ser­vility, without caring for the dignity of the country, not to speak of her own.
In those very days, it was in the air that she had supplied secret informa­tion to Rajiv to help crush the freedom struggle of the Sikhs. On becoming the Prime Minister for the second time, she herself ad­mitted in a BBC inter­view that Khalistan would have come into being if she had not helped Rajiv.

By-election results shock PPP. After the candidates elected from more than one constituency in the Punjab vacated their extra seats, by-elec­tions to nine seats of the National Assembly and four of the Provincial As­sembly were announced. The by-elections were gen­erating much heat and the newspapers projected them as a tussle be­tween the two governments rather than two political parties. The federal government used all its author­ity, in­fluence and resources to overawe the provincial government. Ghulam Mus­tafa Jatoi, IJI chief, who had lost from his home constituency in Sindh in the general elections, was now a candidate from one of the safe seats in Muzaf­fargarh, vacated by his close friend, Mustafa Khar. Benazir viewed Jatoi as a real threat because, as a senior Sindhi politician, he could gather around him other veteran politicians like Nawabzada Nasrulla Khan and Wali Khan. She wanted him to be defeated by any means, fair or foul, and di­verted all re­sources of the federal government to the constituency for the purpose. Even armed men were brought from Sindh to overawe the voters but the Punjab police arrested them.
Gen. Tikka Khan, the Governor, called a meeting to assess the election situation and the likely outcome. On the basis of my studies and surveys, I gave him my candid and calculated forecast. According to my estimate, IJI was expected to get seven out of the nine Na­tional Assembly seats in the Punjab, with only two going to PPP. He was displeased with my fore­cast. This was not fair. I told him that I had performed the same duty for the 1970 elections, when he was the Martial Law Administrator in the Punjab. Even then he had not liked my assessments although my predictions had come true. He was vis­ibly peeved. When the results came, IJI did win seven seats, in­cluding that of Jatoi, and two went to the PPP.
Expecting appreciation for my accurate assessment of the out­come, I went to see the Governor. Instead, I found him furious. He could not believe that such accuracy was possible and thought that, on the instructions of the Chief Minister, I had done some “scientific manipulation” to achieve the de­sired results. I explained that I had done a good job by keeping my eyes and ears open but he was not pre­pared to face the truth.
Senator Gulzar Khan told me later that Tikka Khan was very an­noyed with me. He said to Gulzar, “Sardar was a good officer. He has been lured and spoiled by Nawaz Sharif. He has played some trick and got results in fa­vour of IJI.” My trick was truth, nothing but truth. I did not expect such words from him as I always held him in high re­gard because of his honesty. I felt very hurt and offended.

Goliath attacks David. The federal government was very disappointed by the results of the by-elections in the Punjab and did not take long to show it. Like Tikka Khan, Benazir had also been told that I was somehow respon­sible for the miserable failure of the PPP, not her party leaders running a lousy election campaign. Therefore, without waiting for a settlement of the differ­ences on rules with the Punjab government, the Prime Minister ordered me to report to the federal government immediately. I sought permission of the Punjab govern­ment to hand over my charge but the Chief Minister did not allow me. Before passing the orders in writing, he called me to his of­fice.
“You have served with me honestly and diligently,” he said. “I wish you continue to do the same but I do not want that any harm should come to you. I shall not like officers to suffer because of the political differences between the Punjab and the center. So, if you think your career will be af­fected, I can allow you also to hand over.”
I was moved by his personal interest in my welfare. He tried nei­ther to overawe nor to persuade me. He could easily have his way be­cause I needed a good report (Annual Confidential Report) from him on my performance during the past three years of my service under him. (The federal govern­ment, under the rules, cannot judge the per­formance of an officer without a report from the provincial govern­ment under which he has been serving.) On the other hand, the federal government was trying to use me merely as a pawn in a game for petty political objectives.
But it was a game that both could play. During my meeting, Mian Sa­hib said, “In place of the officers recalled by the federal govern­ment, I am going to post provincial officers who are not under the thumb of the federal government.” The mere thought was horrifying even though it would have been paying the federal government in the same coin and would have com­pletely frustrated the federal government attempts to terrify other senior offi­cers into ig­noring the authority of the Punjab government.
My fear was that the divisiveness in the country would increase if the provincialization of the services took place All-Pakistan Services were one of the strongest links between the federation and the prov­inces and the ouster of their officers from a province at a large scale would cause great harm to the concept of federation. I did not like to become the cause of the winding up of the All-Pakistan Services to the detriment of the country. So, I urged the Chief Minister not to provincialize the services even if he lost po­litically. He took some time to understand the implications. Once the point sank in, he said he would stick to the normal practice for the sake of the country.
But he could not ignore the fact that his control on the administration would be lost if the federal government continued to terrify and pres­surize the officers through arbitrary postings and transfers. He had a very valid point. I ex­plained that both the federal and provincial gov­ernments were supposed to follow the constitution, law and the rules.
“Then why does the federal government not follow the rules?” He showed his exasperation.
“They should,” I replied. “Even if they don’t, you should. In the na­tional interest.”
“If I do not allow you to hand over the charge, will that be accord­ing to the rules,” he asked.
I replied, “Yes, sir. You can write to them for further mutual con­sulta­tion between the two governments.” He again said with visible genuine con­cern that he did not want me to be harmed in anyway.

Vindication in court. The federal government, however, had no such con­sidera­tion while trampling over laws and rules, even norms of de­cency and pro­priety, to get me under its thumb. Rao Rashid ap­proached me through his friend Malik Waris many times and promised any posting that I wanted after I had obeyed the whims of the federal government. I weighed my personal interest against that of my country and the service to which I belonged. To uphold the glorious traditions of my service, I had declined a well-intended offer by Benazir’s father even for an out-of-turn promotion way back in 1973. Now she wanted me to ignore the same traditions for the sake of a cushy job and help her achieve an evil objective.
Rao Rashid, former Inspector General of Police, who himself had been a law-enforcing officer all his life, also had no regard for the traditions of his own service and tempted me again and again with a good posting. I decided to stick firmly to the rules.

Having failed to frighten or tempt me, the Prime Minister placed me un­der suspension. To add insult to injury, Rao Rashid made many damaging press statements against me, falsely accusing me of taking part in politics. Instead of replying to him, I continued to suffer si­lently, without telling any­body how keen Rao had been to switch over his loyalties from Benazir to Nawaz Sharif just before the death of President Zia changed the whole situa­tion.
During a chance meeting at the airport, with Rana Shaukat Mah­mood, a PPP leader, accompanying him, Rao Rashid haughtily asked me, “Why are you defying the federal government?”
“I am not,” I replied. “I am only following the law. I, as a humble pub­lic servant, am respecting the law while the mighty federal gov­ernment is flouting it. Please have some respect for law. On my side, I am doing my best.”
Throwing me a challenge, he arrogantly said, “Then why don’t you go to the court?”
I did. Having failed to persuade the federal government to see reason, I approached the Lahore High Court. My stand was vindi­cated, in spite of the hectic efforts and arguments of Yahya Bakhtiar, the Attorney General. My case was pleaded by S.M. Zafar, one of the most brilliant legal brains in the country and my teacher at Law Col­lege, Lahore. Syed Zahid Husain, advocate, who worked as a junior to Zafar Sahib in his chamber, prepared the case most laboriously and patiently. Ch. Manzoor Ahmad, my class fellow in college and batch mate in service, helped Zahid Husain and me a great deal in the preparation of the case with his deep and wide grasp over rules and regulations.
The position taken by me stood the test of the Constitution and the law, starting with the Government of India Act of 1935 to the latest rules under the Civil Servants Act of 1973, which vested the authority for initiation of any proceeding against an officer belonging to an All-Pakistan Service en­tirely and exclusively in the provincial government under which he was serving. It was but logical because the federation could not func­tion if the authority was not shared equitably and appropriately be­tween the center and the provinces. But the PPP leadership had yet to learn to abide by the law and live in peace with political opponents in the provinces.

Hunting, hounding and haunting. About a week had passed since my suspension when the federal government recalled IGP Punjab, Ch. Nisar Ahmad Cheema. In a high-level meeting, with the Chief Minis­ter presiding, I was asked to take over as the IGP but I politely de­clined as it would have been in­appropriate in view of my suspension by the federal government. (More about it in the chapter, “On not becoming the IGP.”)
Anwar Zahid and I recommended that Ch. Manzoor Ahmad, who was then serving as Secretary Population Planning, in the Punjab, be posted as IGP. Crossing all limits of propriety, the federal government and Rao Rashid pressurized Ch. Manzoor not to take over as IGP but their attempts did not succeed.
Haji Muhammad Akram, Additional Chief Secretary, Dr Safdar Mah­mood, Information Secretary, Ch. Manzoor Ahmad, IGP, and Rana Maqbool Ahmad, SSP Lahore, were then transferred unilaterally by the federal gov­ernment in September 1989. The Chief Minister allowed them to leave as he did not want them to be harmed. He had by now be­come confident that he could fight the PPP politically and the adminis­trative props were not very impor­tant.
It was, however, difficult to stomach the transfer of Ch. Manzoor Ah­mad to the center. It was the second time in a row that the IGP had been re­called. If it went on like that, the Punjab government would have been driven not to have a PSP officer as the IGP. The Chief Minister, therefore, made up his mind to employ on contract some retired police officer and ap­point him as the IGP.
While the federal government was being short-sighted, the Chief Minis­ter was seeking too much security. It could become a new pattern for the future whenever there was hostility between the center and any of the prov­inces. As the federal government recalled more and more officers, the provin­cial government would replace them with offi­cers of provincial services or even with retired officers on contract. In the process, the entire structure of All-Pakistan Services was likely to crumble. Like me, the Chief Secretary also was extremely worried. The system had to be saved.
With his permission, I met O.A.U. Essani, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, and made him aware of the dangers to the serv­ice structure and the federation if a retired officer was employed as the IGP. Essani, an officer of profound understanding, got my point im­mediately. I requested him to prevail upon the Prime Minister to let Ch. Manzoor come back as the IGP Punjab. Nawaz Sharif would also accept him. He talked to Anwar Za­hid and between the two of them, they managed to get back Ch. Manzoor and post him again as IGP Punjab.

Encounter with Asif Zardari. While still in Islamabad after meeting Essani, I had a chance meeting with Asif Ali Zardari, the hus­band of the Prime Minister. Haji Akram and I went to see Sh. Man­soor, former MNA from Gujranwala. While we were having a cup of tea at his Islamabad resi­dence, Asif Zardari dropped in along with Kh. Tariq Rahim. Asif was in his polo kit, with long riding boots on. I was meeting him for the first time. He looked young, smart and quite attractive. In my heart, I appreciated the choice of Benazir.
Asif was startled when I was introduced to him. He instantly asked, “You are the same Sardar Muhammad Chaudhry who is after our job?”
“I am not after your job, sir,” I replied. “Rather, it is the other way round. I am a humble public servant. I never violated any rule or code. I have been suspended for nothing and made a scapegoat.” I was very soft and slow.
He continued to stare at me and then said, “You don’t look that terrible. You appear to be a nice guy.”
I was puzzled. “I beg you pardon, sir?”
Haji Akram broke in and I became silent. Asif also relaxed and con­versed in fluent Punjabi. He blamed Rao Rashid for worsening the relations with the provincial government as, according to him, they had little exposure of the Punjab. He, in fact, asked Haji Akram and me for help in improving relations with the Punjab.
Haji Akram told him, “Nawaz Sharif is a very nice man and has been kind to us. We shall not work against him or be a party to harm his interests in any way.”
Zardari replied, “That is what I expect of any honourable man. I respect you for that.”
“An understanding for a working relationship between the center and Nawaz Sharif is necessary,” Haji Akram advised him.
“On my part, I promise to work on these lines.” Asif Zardari agreed.
I never met Asif Zardari again. Haji Akram informed the Chief Minis­ter about our chance meeting with Asif and the proposal for a dialogue. Haji Sahib worked on it but a working relationship could not emerge. The things had gone too far, beyond the point of no return.

Benazir’s fury did not spare even public servants connected or re­lated to any IJI politician. Such officers were hunted, hounded and haunted to make them toe the line. The PPP government was follow­ing in the footsteps of military dictators, who had harassed even good officers, including Rao Rashid. I expected at least Rao to desist from doing to officers what he him­self had suffered. But human be­ings seldom learn lessons from their own past.
As a contrast, Nawaz Sharif showed generous accommodation even to political opponents. He knew that many relatives of the PPP leaders were serving in the Punjab government but he did not take any mean or petty ac­tion against them. Despite being under the greatest pressure from the fed­eral government, he remained correct and kind. The wife of Aitzaz Ahsan, teaching in a provincial educational institu­tion, was never disturbed, al­though Aitzaz, the federal law minister, was making personal attacks on Nawaz Sharif. (She proceeded on leave voluntarily to remain with her hus­band in Islamabad.) A nephew of Rao Rashid was serving in the Special Branch un­der me but he was treated on his own merit and not as Rao’s rela­tive. Mian Sahib, however, faltered in case of Salman Taseer, a provincial PPP leader. Salman indulged in unbridled personal slander against him. Mian Sa­hib, re­acting strongly, put him in jail. When I tried to advise re­straint in this case, he did not like my advice. Well, nobody is perfect.

Attempt to overthrow Nawaz Sharif. The PPP federal govern­ment was setting unhealthy traditions in politics by indulging in un­abashed vindic­tiveness against Nawaz Sharif, his family and those even remotely related to him. The na­tionalized banks were refusing loans to the Ittefaq Group of in­dustries of Mian Sahib’s family. The railway, the main carrier of the im­ported scrap to the Ittefaq Foundries, refused to provide wagons from the Ka­rachi port on one pretext or the other. WAPDA, the only electricity supplier, was directed to put the heat on but itself turned out to be on the wrong side of its dealings with the Ittefaq industries. (WAPDA admitted to have collected excess payments!) Jonathan, a ship carrying scrap for the Ittefaq Foundries, was refused berthing at Karachi port for months. (It became a subject of biting and hard-hit­ting advertising copy by my friend Siraj Munir for a press campaign.) The PPP leadership was committing similar or even worse atrocities to its rivals than it had suffered under the Zia regime, losing its im­age and moral position among the people.

Having been frustrated in its attempts to browbeat Nawaz Sharif into submission, Benazir decided to overthrow his government. A task force of ministers, advisers and PPP leaders descended on Lahore, car­rying bags of money and offers of jobs. Their objective was to buy sufficient number of IJI members of the Punjab Assembly to demolish the government of Nawaz Sharif. As the Special Branch chief, I would keep Mian Sahib well-informed of their activities, which in­volved the worst form of horse trading ever seen.
The first victims were the IJI MPAs and MNAs, who were some­how defaulters in their loans taken from the Agricultural Development Bank. They were asked to pay up immediately. They were, however, promised not only relief but also further loans if they would desert Nawaz Sharif. The honourable and dignified MPAs, with good family backgrounds, did not suc­cumb to pressures or temptations. The great scions of the soil stood the ground as a rock and did not waver. The Punjab govern­ment, in fact, be­came stronger as five or six PPP public representa­tives, feeling extremely disgusted with the unseemly conduct of their own leadership, decided to sup­port Nawaz Sharif. The PPP horse traders suffered a severe setback when their hectic running about, con­spiratorial meetings and offers of money failed to win over even a single IJI MPA. When they beat a retreat, many money bags were empty. After all, brokers could not be expected to work for free, even if there was no deal.

Opposition joins hands against PPP. The undemocratic and immoral moves of the PPP leadership to demolish the elected govern­ment of the Pun­jab were detested even by those who were not its direct victims. They were unhappy to see that Akbar Bugti, the Balo­chistan Chief Minister, was also at the receiving end. Zia Shahid, then the editor of a leading Urdu daily, Pakis­tan, met Shehbaz Sharif, younger brother of the Chief Minister, and proposed the formation of a grand alliance of all political parties opposing the PPP. In the same week, Arshad Chaudhri made the same proposal. Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi was also very active for the objective. The idea was, however, resisted by Ch. Shuja’at Husain and Ghulam Haider Wyne, who were keen to retain their positions as leaders of the IJI and the Muslim League parlia­mentary parties re­spectively in the National Assembly. Nawaz Sharif, who in the meantime had been elected as the President of IJI, was also wavering in supporting the formation of a combined opposition as it might make way for the re-election of Jatoi as the IJI President. Siraj Munir convinced him that it was not inevi­table and Mustafa Jatoi also assured Mian Sahib that he would continue to be the IJI chief. Jatoi actually wanted to become the leader of the combined op­position in the National Assembly.
Nawabzada Nasrulla Khan played the key role in bringing to­gether all former MRD elements, which had been betrayed and aban­doned by Benazir after coming into power. The Combined Opposition Parties (COP) came into being with a bang. Mustafa Jatoi became its head as well as the leader of opposition in the National Assembly. The strength of opposition suddenly rose to 94 in a house of 237. As all opposition parties lined up against the ruling party, the tables were turned on the federal government. Having al­ready lost much of its support, it stood isolated after the formation of the COP. Now it was itself on the defensive, instead of the Punjab govern­ment.
Altaf Hasan Qureshee, of Urdu Digest, organized a series of meetings at his Pakistan Institute of National Affairs during and after the formation of the COP. He would invite intellec­tuals, politicians, ulema, lawyers and others from all provinces to discuss social and po­litical issues and propose meas­ures to bring the people of various regions closer to each other emo­tionally as well as politically. They were worried about the growth of ethnic, regional and sectarian divisiveness.
The participants viewed the formation of COP as a positive and healthy de­velop­ment, representing all schools of thought and all sections of so­ciety. The presence of the parties of right as well as left and the repre­sentatives of all regions and sects on a single platform could be used for bringing the people closer to each other by healthy cultural and political ac­tivity. Siraj Munir wrote a thought-stimulating paper, giv­ing the rationale of the COP as a solace for the injured national body politic and the psyche. He compared Pakistan to a bouquet, with flow­ers of multiple colours. The ide­als and responsibili­ties had to be shared through tolerance and accommoda­tion. The paper gave an agenda for national integration. It was, in my view, a call to “Unite and Serve,” in contrast to the policy of “Divide and Rule” of the people in power. Its copies were supplied to all national lead­ers. Mus­tafa Jatoi was delighted to read it and so were Nawaz Sharif and others. The leading Urdu daily, Jang, published it in two install­ments.

Khar, as usual. The preparation for a vote of no-confidence against the Benazir government was the next logical step. Nawaz Sharif and Mustafa Jatoi won over the MQM, which was already fed up with the attitude of the PPP. Through his friends in the NWFP, Nawaz Sharif worked on the MNAs from FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), who were the major po­litical support left with the PPP. The opposition also had the support of some of the es­tranged PPP MNAs.
On the other hand, Nawaz Sharif’s flanks were in disarray. I had been transferred by Mian Sahib from Special Branch to the Anti-Corruption De­partment under strong pressure from some of his close associates. Arshad Chaudhri appeared to be on the periphery although he had played the pivotal role in winning over the MQM. Tikka Iqbal was removed from the office of the Special Assistant to the Chief Minister.
Then came a much worse setback. Ghulam Mustafa Khar, who was aware of the secrets and moves of the com­bined opposition, joined Benazir and offered to save her government with the valuable information with him. She accepted him with open arms, despite his past attitude towards her party. He moved fast and won back some of the unhappy PPP MNAs and also three of the IJI MNAs. PPP took its MNAs to Swat to avoid any desertions while the opposi­tion MNAs were taken to Murree and other places in the Punjab. The COP had 107 votes and needed only 12 more to bring down the govern­ment. It finally gathered more than 119 MNAs but, in a disastrous blunder, did not keep all of them under one roof to assure the weak-minded that they were on the winning side. As a result, there were desertions. Still, on the day of counting, Benazir government survived with a very thin margin.

The mercurial character of Mustafa Khar played a key role in the for­tunes of the PPP. He brought the defeated Jatoi into the National Assembly by getting him elected from his own area. Then he changed sides and went to save Benazir’s government. He emerged as very strong but soon fell vic­tim to the jealousy of his opponents in the PPP hierarchy. The same Khar would later cross swords with Benazir after she, having made use of his services, discarded him. He would then help bring down her government shortly afterwards, though in a differ­ent manner, and become a minister in the caretaker cabinet of Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi! It was quite a feat.

Former IGP duped by S.I. During the hectic PPP efforts for every single vote to defeat the motion of no-confidence, Commander M.A.R. Ariff, a retired Inspector General of Police and a former Commander in the navy, fell victim to a swindler. He knew Sub Inspector Raja Arsal and his father, both of whom had served un­der him. Raja Arsal was in touch with Raja Afzal, Raja Iqbal Mehdi and some other IJI MNAs of Jhelum area through Raja Akram, a devotee of Imam Burree, a famous saint buried near Islama­bad. Raja Arsal told Com­mander Ariff that at least seven IJI MNAs were ready to switch their loyal­ties to the PPP for Rs 20 million each. Some to­ken money was to be paid to them in ad­vance.
Commander Ariff and Noor Muhammad Lund, MNA, took Arsal to Hakim Ali Zardari, the father-in-law of Benazir. He set­tled the bargain and asked his son to advance Rs 10 million to Arsal as an advance. Ariff stood guarantor for Arsal. Asif Zardari gave them a briefcase containing Rs 10m. They took the money to the home of Raja Akram. From there Raja Arsal took the briefcase, with the entire amount in it, and managed to slip away in the car of Ariff.
Commander Ariff was in serious trouble. His car and credibility were gone. And Asif Zardari threatened him that his house in Islamabad would be taken and his son, a DSP in Islamabad police, would lose his job if the ad­vance money did not come back.
Ariff sought my help in tracing Arsal. I was shocked as only a few months ago he had tried to play a fast one on me. He had come to see me and offered to make available the support of two PPP MPAs from Sargodha if Nawaz Sharif was prepared to spend money. As I pointed out, he should have realized that I, as a public servant, could not get involved in poli­tics, not to speak of such dirty games. So, I advised him to con­tact Mian Sahib directly. But he insisted on going through me, harping on “the broth­erhood of police service.” The more I refused, the more he pressed. That made me suspicious. Finally, to his great dismay, I put my foot down and told him point blank that I would have absolutely nothing to do with his pro­posal.
After he left, I wondered why he was so keen to involve me in his game. Only three days later I came to know the reason. Rao Rashid, a former IGP and now a Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, had publicly accused me of being involved in politics and the federal government had suspended me on this charge. But there was no proof. To get some evidence against me, another former IGP had been set upon me. (That was “brotherhood” -- Ma­fia-like, that is.) It turned out that Ariff had a concealed tape recorder on him and was keen to have me say something that he could pass on as in­criminat­ing material! To this day he believes that I am not aware of his trick. So, in the same belief, he had sought my help to save his skin. And I promptly agreed, ignoring his impudence and what he had tried to do to me.

After a few days, an acquaintances of Ariff saw Arsal parking his car at Data Dar­bar (tomb of Data Ganj Bakhsh, the patron saint of Lahore). The family of Arsal lived in Shahdara. I rang up DSP New Anarkali, Ch. Mu­hammad Ashraf Waraich, and gave him the information. He set up a trap and arrested Raja Arsal. Arsal con­fessed everything during his interrogation by Col. Ashraf and his staff in the Anti-Terrorist Cell of the Special Branch. The car was with his brother, a major in the army, and was also recovered. Half of the money had been passed over to Raja Muhammad Afzal, IJI MNA from Jhelum. Having panicked on Arsal’s arrest, Raja Afzal rushed to the Anti-Terrorist Cell to see him. (He was afraid of being exposed before Nawaz Sharif.) The moment he was alone with Arsal, he fell on his feet, begging him not to mention his name. Arsal didn’t have to. Afzal did not know that he was creating incriminating evidence against himself as his en­treaties to Arsal were being secretly recorded!
Asif Zardari and Benazir were horrified when they learnt about the ar­rest of Raja Arsal because it could lead to the exposure of their horse trading, along with solid evidence. They did their best to hush up the matter. As I was then Director, Anti-Corruption, I was not directly concerned with the case. Moreover, I was not keen to blackmail the Prime Minister in spite of what she had done to me. It was enough for me that Commander Ariff was off the hook, his house remained with him and his son continued in his job.

BB government dismissed. The Nation, a leading Lahore-based Eng­lish daily, splashed an exclusive story by its editor, Arif Nizami, on its front page on August 6, 1990, that the President had decided to dismiss the Bena­zir government, using his powers under the 8th amendment to the Constitu­tion. (Its sister newspaper, Nawa-i-Waqt, also had the same lead story.) Mian Abdul Sattar Laleka told me that the President was addressing the na­tion in the evening and was sending the Benazir government home. The Prime Minister, however, was blissfully unaware of her fate because none of her agencies had any inkling of what was happening practically next door in the Presi­dent House nor did they bother to verify the newspaper report. Such was the efficiency of her intelligence agencies, on whom she had al­ways to­tally depended as her eyes and ears. No wonder, she could not make a counter move and had to suffer for her misplaced faith.
The President did act in the evening and dissolved the National Assem­bly, with elections to be held on October 24. Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi was ap­pointed as the caretaker Prime Minster. Nawaz Sharif advised the Governor to dissolve the Punjab Assembly. Mian Mu­hammad Azhar was appointed as Governor of the Punjab in place of Gen. Tikka Khan and Ghulam Haider Wyne was made the caretaker Chief Minister.
Haji Akram and I attended the oath-taking ceremony of the new Gover­nor and the Chief Minister. Nawaz Sharif was also there. Somebody sug­gested to Mian Sahib that Col. Khalid, Military Secre­tary to the Governor and son of Tikka Khan, should be replaced. He did not agree. He said the public servants should not be viewed as partisans even if somebody was very closely related to a politician. Col. Khalid continued to be the M.S. to the Governor during the tenure of Mian Azhar.

My long period of suffering ended with the dismissal of the PPP gov­ern­ment. Jatoi, as the Prime Minister, withdrew the orders for my suspen­sion and reinstated me in service. He also allowed my up­gradation to Basic Scale 21 as all my batch mates had been given this grade during my suspension.