Ready to attack?
Some cuddling and nudging by Sharif Jr, a cathartic tell-tale session with Sharif Sr, and the hatchet is buried and Nisar is back in charge of the interior ministry; never mind the missed budget session, the missed PPB session, and numerous missed meetings at the PM’s office, especially when there is a war going on and the government is threatened by agitations and protests from opposition circles. No doubt, therefore, that the three-hour primer with the premier the other day featured quite a bit of catching up. The NWA operation has moved to a different stage, IDPs have come out in far larger numbers than anybody had anticipated, and PTI, PML-Q, PAT, etc, are tightening the noose around the government for one reason or another.
Practically, the first order of business for Chaudhry sahib should be managing the security situation along with the military, especially the operation and the IDP problem. But politically, no doubt, Mian sb would have asked him to prepare contingency plans for the Aug14 march, and keep the Tahirul Qadri and Imran Khan mania from snowballing. Nisar is better placed than most N leaguers to handle most of these issues. He is close to the military. And unlike the days of the talks with the Taliban, he should up his profile a bit, especially with regard to acting as a bridge between the brass and the civves in these important times.
He’s pretty close to Khan too. And the friendship goes beyond their cricketing days at Aitchison. Just the other day Imran implied Nisar was the only credible minister in the ruling party. Indeed, rumours doing the rounds during Nisar’s recent hibernation also included the possibility of him reaching out to the PTI, though no such thing happened. But surely counting on the association to overcome PTI-PML-N differences would be asking too much, especially when other pawns have been moved across the board to corner kaptaan. Therefore, perhaps the most appropriate job for the interior minister is making the PM realise the ruling party’s excesses, and shortcomings, especially since it might not be long before push comes to shove. Either way, Nisar will have to be more proactive than he has been, not just to keep the PM properly appraised, but also to safeguard his ministry from outside influences.