Hafiz Hussain Ahmad

I never thought he was not a gentleman.

I certainly know he is a politician. A good and shrewd one at that. He knows the game. Inside out. He has been playing it for too long not to know it.

He is also a hafiz. I don't know how good is he as hafiz. I have not been blessed to have him recite in taraaweeh. His memory must be excellant, to start with. You can't memorize the whole Holy Quran if you don't have a good memory. But it is a different matter altogehter if you have retained it after being in politics for so long.

It also means that he is only hafiz and nothing more. Not an alim, or qari, or mufti, or maulvi. Just a hafiz. May he is one of such things. O r all of the above. But he won his spurs as hafiz and became known as hafiz before he moved up on the totem pole of religiosity.

Nobody would know him he was hafiz or Hussain Ahmad if he would not have entered the political arena though. So being politician is more important for him than to be just a hafiz.

And he is also very witty. His best retort, which I came to know about, was to Big Chaudhry of Gujrat. Not the smartest sounding of all people. But smart enough to know where the center of power lies. He also knows how to get the dubious distinction of becoming, probably, the biggest defaulter in Pakistan's history. He also knows how to make and keep what he makes or his father made.

HHA of MMA via JUI and the Big Chaudhry of Gujrat were in ameeting. Doffing of the uniform of a uniform person was being discussed. For obvious reason it was not a subject to the Chaudhry's liking. He wanted to sweep in under the rug. The expression he was using to drop it off was: "vardi tey mitti pao jee" (throw dirt on the uniform or bury it - meaning it is a dead issue, no need to discuss). When he said it more that a few time, as it is Chaudhry' normally does when he is emphasizing something earnestly, HHA said: "before you start throwing dirt on the uniform to bury it, make sure you take the man out of it first".

Is he witty or not? Memory that is a different matter.

Only day before yesterday he declared that if the MMA does not decide in their September 5 meeting to resign from the Balochistan government he will resign. Looks like the announcement was made without prior approval of his chief. Not The Chief. But second-in-command to The Chief. I mean, the chief of his party, Maulana Fazlur Rahman Khan, who has kept his cool after Bugti's murder and have been conspicously absent from the media radar.

But today he proved that his memory is selective. He retains in his brain cells what he wants to. And not what he doesn't want to. You can turn it on and off on your discretion. You have the control. Even if you lose your control over your tongue you still have the control on your memory. What a blessing to have such a memory.

I don't know what happened once he blurted it out. We can only imagine from his statement today. He is saying MMA and, no doubt, he too, will resign if the parliament passes the Hudoor bill.

The message is forget about Bugti. His murder is not important. Nor is Balochistan. Neither is Pakistan. Staying in power is. Staying close to the center of power is. Consciuous is not important. Nor is Memory. Neither the truth or to keep your word.

Keeping Benazir Bhutto from getting too close to the center of power through her stance on Huddod bill is the most important thing for MMA. One B is dead. Other B is nipping at their heels. She needs to be kept out.

But for how long you can stay in power even if you lose your honor. Voters will decide if he is a gentleman anymore or not.