PARTLY FACETIOUS: Nawaz Sharif considers himself a tiger not a tiger-impersonate

“I just don’t understand.” “Let me give you my perspective. I was lucky enough to go to Sunderbans, Bangladesh, you know the largest mangrove forest in the world, and as I was walking along with the guide and suddenly we saw a tiger and believe me that was a sight to behold.”

“Whatever are you hinting at?”

“Nawaz Sharif considers himself a tiger not a tiger-impersonate, but a real tiger who scares the bejesus out of every other animal in the forest, and with deforestation going apace in this world, the return of a tiger to the forest of Pakistani politics after a four-year absence not because the tiger was scared of the hunters…”

“Well I wouldn’t be scared of hunters who are armed with cricket bats…”

“Don’t be facetious, anyway the tiger is returning to his own land which he was forced to leave due to environmental degradation and now that the work of restoration has resurrected the….”

“Shush, stop being facetious.”

“Seriously I don’t see why these two-bit analysts are insisting on assessing the tiger’s narrative – I mean the tiger is a tiger is a tiger – his very presence is indicative of the restoration…”

“Hmmm, so in your book, a tiger’s narrative is within his very being – he represents power and…”

“And loves coffee from a specific place in central London so is extremely discerning to boot.”

“Oh for Peter’s sake, anyway when I said I just don’t understand I wasn’t referring to Nawaz Sharif’s insistence on getting a welcome worthy of him – and the proof of the worth will be in the numbers attending the scheduled jalsa on 21st October - by the way what will the weather be like on that day?”

“Sunny but cold by evening time I would imagine, so perhaps the old and the indigent, the very young and…”

“Shush, anyway what I found very disturbing is the US response to the ongoing massacre in Gaza.”

“Hamas…”

“No I am not talking about what Hamas did or Israel did but what the US did. Israel is one of the best armed countries in the world, courtesy the 3 billion-dollar annual security package it receives from the US right?”

“Right”.

“In contrast, Hamas has access to war equipment that is largely obsolete and…”

“But Hamas, in spite of being legitimately elected in Gaza, has an armed wing like the Irish Republican Army, has been declared a terrorist organisation by the US which gives Israel the right…”

“No, no, I am not referring to that either.”

“Israel has acknowledged a serious intelligence failure but anyway the US has always supported Israel, it has vetoed all resolutions against Israel and…”

“Correct, but what I find baffling is that the Biden administration opted to immediately supply even more arms and ammunition to Israel…”

“Ah OK. I do wonder if the US has learned a lesson from what is happening: the country is no longer able to convince its Middle Eastern partners and the Security Council to do precisely what it wants.”

“That kind of adjustment takes time my friend”.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023