This is apropos a letter to the Editor ‘Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s approach to politics’ carried by the newspaper a week ago. The writer, Shahid Tirmizi, heaped a lot of praise on the political acumen of this politician of southern Punjab by stating, among other things, that “the way he [Qureshi] has conducted himself following his release from jail says it all: he’s not quitting the party or jumping the sinking ship. Moreover, he’s not abandoning or forsaking the party leadership. No doubt, his and his son’s arrests have added to the political profile of the Qureshi political clan in southern Punjab in a big way”. In my view, if you play your cards right, you could easily achieve your objective.

The learned writer, therefore, seems to have lost sight of the fact that Shah Mahmood Qureshi belongs to a political family that has never defied establishment for centuries. In my view, Qureshi is a politician who is too clever by half. He seems to be nursing ambitions to replace a beleaguered PTI chairman Imran Khan in days to come, given the latter’s current woes that pose a formidable challenge to the founder of PTI. His remark that “I want to tell the PTI workers that the ‘flag of justice’ is in my hands and I am part of this movement” that he made in his answer to a question from a media person following his release from Adiala jail clearly shows that the Makhdoom of Multan is playing his cards too well. Last but not least, Qureshi’s polished style of speaking is almost intimidating!

Hassan Abbas Gardezi

Lahore

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023