In defence of Asif Ali Zardari

ISLAMABAD: Asif Ali Zardari, the Co-chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), known for dealing with his opponents with the weapons of “smile and silence”, appeared totally different on Tuesday while directly criticising the present military leadership in a party gathering here at the Zardari House in the federal capital. What prompted Asif Ali Zardari to put his smile and silence aside and directly come forward is the question everyone is asking in Islamabad and elsewhere.
Background interviews of key players of the federal capital and Karachi leaders reveal that Asif Ali Zardari was facing the heat of some of the steps taken by the military establishment in the last six months. However one incident infuriated him. The sources claim that the Sindh Rangers’ raid on the office of Manzoor Qadir Kaka, director general of Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) on June 15 became the immediate reason for Zardari’s strong reaction towards the military establishment.
Manzoor Qadir Kaka is considered very close to Asif Zardari thus he enjoys influence in the Sindh government too. Back in 1988 Manzoor Qadir was in People’s Students Federation (PSF) when he got a job as an architect in the SBCA when Agha Siraj Durrani, a PPP stalwart, was serving as provincial minister. The sources claim at that point of time, Asif Zardari had a close relationship with Manzoor Qadir Kaka who in the years to come also got promoted and rose to become the head of SCBA almost seven years back.
Manzoor Qadir Kaka is known as the key man in the Sindh government and is currently playing the same role, which once was assigned to Zulfiqar Ali Mirza between 2008-2011 and later to Muzafar Tapi from 2011 to 2013 in Karachi. He calls himself “faqir” and his brother Gul Kaka remained the security officer of President House during Asif Zardari’s stint in the Presidency and is currently serving Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
The sources claim the Rangers’ raid at the SCBA had nothing to do with the law and order situation in Karachi and elsewhere and this was not the first time the PPP was having a complaint against the Rangers. Almost two months back, the Rangers had also raided the residence of the private secretary of Sherjeel Inam Memon, PPP’s information minister in Sindh, and had brought nothing against them. The two incidents indicated the alleged involvement of Rangers in the political affairs of the ruling PPP. The chief minister Sindh had protested against these incidents at the relevant forums.
The sources claim that Asif Ali Zardari was also pissed off with the criticism of corps commander Karachi and DG Rangers Sindh during the apex committee meetings against the Sindh government. The sources claim the said officers used to criticise the Sindh government about four issues including governance, corruption, political appointments in police and bureaucracy and a parallel government. The sources claim that in one of the meetings chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Karachi, when corps commander criticised the Sindh government declaring it a failure, Asif Ali Zardari addressed the prime minister and said, “For the last 15 years, the Balochistan government is in control of establishment, should I declare that a failure of establishment too?”
The sources claim that Asif Ali Zardari in his previous meetings with Nawaz Sharif had also complained about the role of the military establishment, which according to him was involved in attempting to break the PPP. The sources claim that the establishment was critical of the involvement of Zardari House in the affairs of Sindh government. They claim that Asif Zardari has not only questioned the legality of the Apex Committee but has reportedly directed the Sindh government to avoid convening its meeting until the matter is resolved.
The sources claim that earlier in December 2014 the meeting between Pervez Musharraf, former president, and Makhdoom Amin Faheem, a PPP stalwart, surprised Asif Ali Zardari and he was convinced that the establishment was not only getting involved in his party affairs but, according to his information, was also allegedly involved in breaking his party to form another government with the help of Pervez Musharraf. Zardari tackled the issue calmly with his wisdom.
The sources claim that Zardari directly hits former president Pervez Musharraf only because he considers that he is linked to a top official who had protected him in the case registered by the present government for his actions on November 3, 2007.
The sources claim that Asif Ali Zardari after conveying his concern to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wanted to meet General Raheel Sharif but the latter did not entertain the request. Zardari is convinced that the establishment is getting unnecessary involved in the political affairs of the country against which he would play a role in accordance with the Constitution and law.