PARTLY FACETIOUS: The uncle doesn't know how the phrase goes

"It's so funny - here is Uncle Shahbaz trying to get her to shut up..."

"Ah but the Uncle doesn't know how the phrase goes."

"Sorry?"

"The phrase is shut up or put up, and she always puts up."

"But she did postpone her visit to Karachi if you recall..."

"And then she released a video for general dissemination and in the comfort of her home..."

"Ha, ha, that's true reminds me of Usman Dar."

"I reckon Ishaq Dar is to Usman Dar what Shahbaz Sharif is to Maryam Nawaz."

"That's such an inane thing to say, first the two Dar's are not related, and then..."

"Look at the similarities - Shahbaz Sharif and Ishaq Dar are of an age, they are both dependent on another for major decisions and that doesn't include personal decisions - Shahbaz Sharif and Ishaq Dar are free to marry whoever and how many times they may wish - true Shahbaz Sharif was born into that position and Ishaq Dar got it by marriage but..."

"Don't forget Shahbaz Sharif, as his niece says, is loyal to the King, the king being daddy, and anyone loyal to the king has to show loyalty to her as the case of Chaudhary Nisar..."

"Loyalty defined as complete servitude to the directive of the King."

"But that is the case in a kingship."

"Right, anyway the similarities between Maryam and Usman Dar are also many -they are of the same age I reckon, they make many mistakes but their King overlooks them and makes a sacrifice of another - Maryam cost Parveen Rashid his job and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi reportedly got a bollocking from the King for sending a show cause notice to the Zardari clan, meanwhile Dar has lost elections so many times its uncanny, I mean he can be termed a born loser, and let's be honest the disappearance of the officials in Daska showed no finesse...besides both Maryam and Usman Dar have never been elected but enjoyed power and position..."

"What about performance? Dar made the tiger force and transformed it into a miaow while Maryam has antagonized so many within the establishment, within the party, within..."

"What Dar did requires skill I tell you. Now if only Maryam Nawaz would learn to do that."

"She can transform all the miaows into tigers not the other way round..."

"Paper tigers?"

"Oh shush, but the crucial difference is Maryam is a candidate for the prime minister, now how many would be convinced that Usman Dar..."

"There is a long road between what you reckon is your inheritance and actually getting it..."

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021