“So a changing of the guard is imminent, again?”

“The only guards that change in this country are private guards and they change as and when they are no longer able to discharge their duties effectively after doing a 16-hour duty in one go as and when their replacement doesn’t show up…”

“Right, The Khan needs to legislate…”

“Yep, and he also needs to focus on policemen deployed at various check points told to check identity cards but with no torches given to them they either abandon the check or use the torch in their personal phones which incidentally requires that the phone be charged which is not always the case…”

“Hey why don’t you ask Sheikh Rashid that?”

”I did and he said Nawaz Sharif has been told off for not returning by both Zardari sahib and The Maulana.”

“That’s not the question you asked from the Minister of Interior.”

“If he wants to keep the portfolio that he has wanted all along that is the right answer - but to be fair Sheikh sahib never placed too much importance on responding to the questions asked. Remember when he was Railways Minister and there was an accident he never dwelled on the matter and talked of the opposition leaders…”

“Well, at least he is consistent and you know there is a dearth of consistency in other ministries – I mean the industrialists keep on cribbing about lack of consistency in policies as do the foreign direct investors as do…”

“Don’t be facetious, anyway when I said a changing of the guard is imminent I was referring to Maryam possibly going inside jail and Uncle and Son outside so…”

“It’s time The Khan accepts that the two sides of the coin belong to the same coin.”

“You mean on one side of the coin is Maryam egging on daddy to be ever more militant and confrontational and on the other side are Shahbaz Sharif and son seeking some rapprochement and…”

“In a way yes, but let me clarify that the coin itself is in Nawaz Sharif’s pocket. So it really doesn’t matter who is in and who is out, who is allowed on national television and who isn’t, as long as Nawaz Sharif is in place where he has unfettered access to social media…”

“What will get Nawaz Sharif to return do you think? I mean if his favourite child, Maryam, is put behind bars will he return?”

“I don’t think so though he will threaten by name…”

“That’s the same o same o. So what will get him to return to this country?”

“The fall of The Khan.”

“Anything else?”

“Mid-term polls to take place within the next three months…though he may wait till the last minute to make sure he is not being lied to just to get him back.”

“Besides don’t forget those sitting inside parliament, including his nawalas, are not likely to support mid-term polls.”

“Dismissal of his conviction in the case of the Avenfield flats where incidentally he is currently resident.”

“Ha, ha, that’s hysterical.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021