Funny side up

Some time back, after my ST article on good governance was printed and circulated through the internet, I received several emails from friends who advised me to be careful: ‘Don’t Send Funny SMS Or Emails On Zardari. Govt May Arrest You’.

The bottom line was: ‘Mr. AZ has given stern instructions to the sleuths of FIA to hunt down Pakistanis responsible for circulating jokes about him through emails and text messages. He was angry at someone who faked his signature on the Visitors’ Book at the Quaid’s Mazar’. Another attempt by the ‘hidden hands’ to embarrass AZ ?’

The ‘evidence’ has now been replaced with a new page, with the correct spelling. Apparently, he was also angry about the reports of his disappearance from an Iftar reception for Pakistanis, to attend a private party at Geisha, an upscale restaurant in Manhattan, New York’.

And why not? AZ is now foot loose and fancy-free, has charm and hard earned money that he made while in jail, to burn and spend on his friends and foe. He has been told, over and over again, that a President is just a figure head and is not suppose to interfere or responsible for managing the affairs of the country. This is the responsibility of his PM and the merry men and women of Islamabad.

For God sake, the man has been hounded for years, spent over eight years in jail, accused of crimes he never committed, became an accidental president of a nuclear country that has been misgoverned from day one and is riddled with corruption. And you still expect him to cross his eyes and dot his tea? Come on, give the man a brake. Let him play the fiddle and enjoy himself. He has earned it.

Deliberate and misleading news must of course be condemned, but one hopes that gentle sarcasm will be acceptable and that Mr. Zardari and his charming Information Minister and not so charming security personals will not over react and call out the riot squad or their goons every time a cartoon or a few lines appear in the print media or go whizzing through cyber space around the world about Mr. Zardari.