The great survivor bows out

It has finally happened. Husain Haqqani has met his comeuppance at the conclusion of a dreary, sordid affair by taking the rap for somebody else. In the process he has become an accomplice to his own annihilation. He was persuaded to resign his post as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, marking a messy and unappetising compendium of political leftovers. Perhaps nemesis has finally caught up with him. But it would be a mistake to write him off. He is a great survivor, who will bounce back.

Husain Haqqani is the kind of chap about whom one can write a book. It would perforce be a treatise on how it is possible for a man who had neither the advantage of birth nor parentage, who switched political loyalties at the drop of a hat and ended up as an envoy to the world’s only superpower. Haqqani’s rise in the murky field of Pakistani politics started at university when he joined the Islami Jamiat-e-Tulaba, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, known for its brutal attacks on free speech and everything that the founder of the nation believed in. He was seen as being an active participant in the assault on civil liberties.

Sensing a golden opportunity just before the elections of 1985, conspicuous for its absence of liberal and progressive political parties, he appeared on the telly, righteous and unequivocal and came to the attention of Ziaul Haq. An excellent analyst who had followed the career of this maverick politician and who wrote under the pseudonym of PM, had this to say in his brilliant and incisive comments on Haqqani’s book, which sketched the alleged association between the Pakistan military and the mullahs — Unholy Alliance. “…There was Mr Haqqani at his most articulate, lauding the farcical exercise as if it was the best thing that had happened to the country since its birth. Indeed, his laudatory commentary on the 1985 elections won him a front seat in the club of those who make a career out of legitimising dictatorships.”

The 1985 national election, which was boycotted by all sensible parties did incalculable damage to the democratic cause, introduced waves of intolerance and destroyed the political fabric of the country. Haqqani, nevertheless, became the blue-eyed boy of Ziaul Haq. After Zia’s death, Haqqani tagged along with Zia’s protégé, Nawaz Sharif from 1988 to 1993. And then, one fine morning in 1993, he had an irresistible urge to serve the Daughter of the East and quickly switched loyalties. He even did a stint in jail in 1999, an essential qualification for holding public office. In a sense, he is the true Pakistani politician, opportunist, looking for short-cuts with no sense of political loyalty.

After throwing in the towel, Haqqani said in an email message: “I have resigned to bring closure to this meaningless controversy threatening our fledgling democracy. A transparent inquiry will strengthen the hands of elected leaders whom I have always strived to empower as per our constitution. It will bring to rest wild conspiracy theories.”

A decently-worded resignation. However, no inquiry that has been conducted in this country has ever been truly transparent. And even if a results surface, no action is ever taken. Haqqani should take a breather, go to Acapulco for a holiday and wait for the Imran Khan tornado to hit the country. As ambassador, he served his country well through exceptionally difficult times. As for Mansoor Ijaz, who has been playing both sides of the net, the Erinyes will soon sort him out.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2011.