Makhdoom Ahmad Mahmud – the artful badger
Kissinger had initially been allied with Nelson Rockefeller, who had lost the Republican nomination to Nixon. In the midst of the 1968 US Presidential election, Henry Kissinger made a phone call to Richard Nixon’s team and offered the Nixon camp valuable inside information. The Nixon team gladly accepted his offer. At the same time, however, Kissinger also approached the Democratic nominee, Hubert Humphery, and promised him inside information of the Republican bloc. In return, Kissinger got what he wanted: the promise of a high level cabinet post from both Nixon and Humphery. Whichever man won the election, Kissinger’s career was secure.
By accepting the governorship of Punjab, Makhdoom Ahmad Mahmud achieved what his father, Makhdoon Hasan Mahmood could not. The closest Hasan Mahmood ever got was in 1985 when the then Pir of Pagaro, Syed Shah Mardan Shah II, nominated his name for Punjab’s chief ministership. However, when Gen Jillani succeeded in securing Takht-e-Lahore for Nawaz Sharif, Pir Pagara said, “I cannot fight a pickpocket running away with my wallet, but I’ll follow him until he gets exhausted and throws it away.” It seems that the wallet of the late spiritual leader of the Hurs was recovered when Asif Zardari offered governorship to Hasan Mahmood’s son.
It is interesting to note that the mothers of the incumbent Pir Pagara, Syed Sibghatullah Shah Rashidi, former Speaker and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, former Federal Minister Tasneem Nawaz Gardezi are Makhdoom Hasan Mahmood’s sisters, and thus Ahmad Mahmud aunts. Of what’s left, Ahmad Mahmud’s estranged brother-in-law, Jehangir Tareen, is now an integral part of the PTI.
Ahmad Mahmud has been elected to the provincial assembly and national assembly three times each. Two of his sons, who are also member of the parliament, thanks to his investment in Jamal Din Wali, Mahmud’s ancestral village, hardly know what it means to represent the will of the people. Moreover, Mahmud got Abdul Qadir Gilani elected unopposed as a member of the Punjab Assembly from a seat he vacated after the 2008 elections.
However, despite all his wealth in Rahim Yar Khan, all of Ahmad Mahmud’s cousins were politically senior to him, until our mustache twirling president played a masterstroke of Machiavellian politics on Thursday.
Zardari’s genius has enormously altered the politics of Punjab and gave new hope to the demoralised workers of PPP, who had mentally accepted defeat in the upcoming general elections. Mahmud’s appointment sent a message to the Saraiki speaking populace of South Punjab that PPP was serious about incising the province. Moreover, reminiscing Makhdoom Hassan Mahmood’s jovial relationship with the then Nawab of Bahawalpur, Mahmud’s appointment is an assurance to the incumbent Nawab, whom the PPP has already won, that Bahawalpur’s demands will not be overlooked.
While the PPP is rejoicing, PML-N’s misery seems never ending. With Imran Khan’s tsunami in central Punjab and PPP’s pro-Saraiki province stance in Southern Punjab, Nawaz Sharif suffers with continued dilemma as it will be difficult for him to wholly reject or welcome the appointment of Makhdoom Ahmud Mahmud. Rebuffing Mahmud’s selection will only give birth to new enemies in the already alienated Seraiki belt. On the other hand, accepting Mahmud’s appointment would mean the acceptance of a pro-PPP interim setup.
Mahmud, by maintaining a little distance, has thrived in times when the relationship between PPP and PML-N is turbulent. His aloofness has proved to be powerful and now everyone wants him on their side.
In France’s July revolution of 1830, after three days of riots, the statesman Talleyrand, now elderly, sat by his Paris window, listening to pealing bells that signaled the riots were over. Turning to an assistant, he said, “Ah, the bells! We are winning”. “Who’s ‘we’, mon prince?” the assistant asked. Gesturing for the man to keep quiet, Talleyrand replied, “Not a word! I’ll tell you who ‘we’ are tomorrow.”
Mahmud’s Talleyrand-esque ways have been a roaring success.
The writer is a staff member at Pakistan Today, and can be reached at rana_hussain_tahir@hotmail.com