SHAH MEHMOOD QURESHI
MULTAN, Feb 19th:Bashing the US left, right and centre, Shah Mahmood Qureshi lambasted Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, the US foreign policy and everything else he could think of at the jampacked public gathering he addressed in Multan on Saturday.
How he reached there after the PIA cancelled his boarding pass, is another story, but once there, to say Qureshi’s tone was defiant would be an understatement. Having nothing to lose, he spoke his mind out and made many new friends and, of course, many a foe. Shoved out of the PPP government, he is back with an armada of public support to lay siege to the house itself. Spending three years ensconced in the cabinet, he realises now that he was elected by the people and he must represent them. After the three years, Qureshi gives voice to public opinion, and the public itself is shouting “better late than never”. Answering his every question in a chorus, the crowd chanted ‘SubhanAllah’ to punctuate his extra-flowery turns of phrase.
Using religion, economy, the local architecture (the iconic dome of Shah Abdul Lateef Bhitai’s tomb) and anything he could invoke to churn the Multani mitti around him into a sandstorm of emotion, Shah Mahmood had a coming out of the party as a bigger leader like no other. His fellow Multani gaddee nasheen must be squirming uncomfortably in his seat at the dramatic transformation of his contender from a distant Foreign Minister in a three-piece suit to a shalwar kameez-clad man of the people, quoting Iqbal, promising progress, justice, dignity and pride to name a few.Referring to himself in the third person for most of the speech, he lionised himself and particularly berated the US for it’s civil nuclear deal with Pakistan’s unfriendly neighbours. “Are they blind to the electricity shortage in Pakistan?” he enthused, drawing a thundering applause.
He presented himself to the people to be raised up on their shoulders and boosted back into office – nay a higher office than before, the last one may no longer be good enough. Sold-out politicians, the public’s suspicion on their honour and integrity, everything was mentioned and posited with himself as the solution. Asking and offering absolution, independence, pride, this is as naked a bid for the leadership of his party as there ever had been. Gone were placebo words like ‘strategic’, ‘partnership’, ‘dialogue’ from the Foreign Ministers’ handbook, enter ‘khuddari’, ‘ghairat’, ‘sarbulandi’ and ‘baqa’. Shah Mahmood embodied the kind of nationalistic, full of pride, to-hell-with-political-correctness tone that the public craves for and dares its leaders to adopt more often. Shah Mahmood in one evening offered hope, inspiration and an alternative to the kind of politics Pakistan is suffering from today. How sincere he is, is another story altogether. This was a public-speaking genius at work, giving the kind of performance that will go down in history.
The jalsa gah echoed with cries of “Jaag utha hai sara watan”. In reality, Jaag utha hai Shah Mahmood. The PPP top leadership must be kicking themselves hard. They’ve learnt too little, too late – that the hell hath no fury like a Shah Mahmood scorned.Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that he was not greedy for a ministry and opposing the US in the Raymond Davis’ case is not a crime, on Saturday.Addressing a public gathering in Multan, where he received a warm welcome by thousands of his devotees and followers, Qureshi, in an emotional speech said that he had been punished because of telling the truth that Davis’ did not enjoy diplomatic immunity. He said that he belonged to a ‘saintly background’ and therefore believed that “if one door closes, hundred others open,” the channel reported.Without taking the name of President Asif Ali Zardari, he said that leaders must follow the way of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto “as the party needed people who follow their way”. Qureshi, in his speech, said it was the time to stand against all conspiracies and live respectfully
How he reached there after the PIA cancelled his boarding pass, is another story, but once there, to say Qureshi’s tone was defiant would be an understatement. Having nothing to lose, he spoke his mind out and made many new friends and, of course, many a foe. Shoved out of the PPP government, he is back with an armada of public support to lay siege to the house itself. Spending three years ensconced in the cabinet, he realises now that he was elected by the people and he must represent them. After the three years, Qureshi gives voice to public opinion, and the public itself is shouting “better late than never”. Answering his every question in a chorus, the crowd chanted ‘SubhanAllah’ to punctuate his extra-flowery turns of phrase.
Using religion, economy, the local architecture (the iconic dome of Shah Abdul Lateef Bhitai’s tomb) and anything he could invoke to churn the Multani mitti around him into a sandstorm of emotion, Shah Mahmood had a coming out of the party as a bigger leader like no other. His fellow Multani gaddee nasheen must be squirming uncomfortably in his seat at the dramatic transformation of his contender from a distant Foreign Minister in a three-piece suit to a shalwar kameez-clad man of the people, quoting Iqbal, promising progress, justice, dignity and pride to name a few.Referring to himself in the third person for most of the speech, he lionised himself and particularly berated the US for it’s civil nuclear deal with Pakistan’s unfriendly neighbours. “Are they blind to the electricity shortage in Pakistan?” he enthused, drawing a thundering applause.
He presented himself to the people to be raised up on their shoulders and boosted back into office – nay a higher office than before, the last one may no longer be good enough. Sold-out politicians, the public’s suspicion on their honour and integrity, everything was mentioned and posited with himself as the solution. Asking and offering absolution, independence, pride, this is as naked a bid for the leadership of his party as there ever had been. Gone were placebo words like ‘strategic’, ‘partnership’, ‘dialogue’ from the Foreign Ministers’ handbook, enter ‘khuddari’, ‘ghairat’, ‘sarbulandi’ and ‘baqa’. Shah Mahmood embodied the kind of nationalistic, full of pride, to-hell-with-political-correctness tone that the public craves for and dares its leaders to adopt more often. Shah Mahmood in one evening offered hope, inspiration and an alternative to the kind of politics Pakistan is suffering from today. How sincere he is, is another story altogether. This was a public-speaking genius at work, giving the kind of performance that will go down in history.
The jalsa gah echoed with cries of “Jaag utha hai sara watan”. In reality, Jaag utha hai Shah Mahmood. The PPP top leadership must be kicking themselves hard. They’ve learnt too little, too late – that the hell hath no fury like a Shah Mahmood scorned.Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that he was not greedy for a ministry and opposing the US in the Raymond Davis’ case is not a crime, on Saturday.Addressing a public gathering in Multan, where he received a warm welcome by thousands of his devotees and followers, Qureshi, in an emotional speech said that he had been punished because of telling the truth that Davis’ did not enjoy diplomatic immunity. He said that he belonged to a ‘saintly background’ and therefore believed that “if one door closes, hundred others open,” the channel reported.Without taking the name of President Asif Ali Zardari, he said that leaders must follow the way of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto “as the party needed people who follow their way”. Qureshi, in his speech, said it was the time to stand against all conspiracies and live respectfully
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