Former dictator, Gen (retd) Musharraf is terribly lonely in London, the land of runaway former stooges of imperialist powers.
His buddies who kept him in good humour until the wee hours have disappeared. Lately, he invited fifteen of his bridge companions but only a hunched oldie of his uniformed years turned up huffing and wheezing.
Loaded with money as the former strongman is, and living in swanky environs, why do his old friends shun him? He was a persona non grata in his own country, why has he become so in UK?
A handful of Musharrafs followers say their leader earns fortunes by lecturing round the globe. Its fine and dandy but what does he speak on?
The only subject he can talk about is terror, like his former buddy George Bush the man known for limited vocabulary but who still managed to snatch two terms in the White House. Recently Mush called a crystal-gazing saint of Sindh to ask for political support.
Things for the former dictator, who never tired of pulling punches on the TV screen, have come to such a pass that he has had to seek the counsel of an octogenarian saint, the reverend Pir Pagara. Pir Sahib only performs the last rites of the politically dead and not the living, if Mush didnt know it.
The problem with the megalomaniacs is that they can never live in solitude; they must always have sycophants around to keep memory of their unbridled power refreshed. I suggest Musharrafs followers to visit him in UK, play bridge with him, and live off him. He has no dearth of money but friends.
DR JAFFER KAPADIA
Karachi