They didn’t have a handing-over-of-the-baton ceremony in the army earlier. No, this bit of event management was an invention of former Army Chief Pervez Musharraf.
When the ex-dictator, who really did not want to let the uniform go, was finally advised, even by the closest of his friends, to call it a day as far as the army was concerned, he decided it should be done in a theatrical style.
Otherwise, all that used to happen was that an outgoing army chief used to work his entire office hours on his last day. And the other guy showed up for work the next day. That’s it.
Anyway, the new army chief is a Lahori lad. An alumnus of Government College, Lahore, no less. General Kayani, on the other hand, does have a house in Lahore, but has chosen to stay put in ‘Pindi’s elite generals’ colony.
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Another chief who is set to leave office is the nation’s top judge. He is going to be shifting to Lahore, it is rumoured.
His daughter got married recently to the son of a property magnate. Conspicuous absence and presence filled the venue of the marriage. Amongst those present were some of those who had tried to persuade him to leave quietly back in that year of living dangerously. Even Yousuf Raza Gilani, who was forced to quit his premiership after being hauled for contempt by the apex court, was conspicuously present. Amongst those absent, on the other hand, was friend, confidant, chauffeur and advisor, Ch Aitzaz Ahsan.
