Out and About with Mian Bibi and the Fauji.

15

There's a lion in the cage next to me. No, I am not kidding- I am travelling in a forklift about fifty feet high, making my way up to the dais from where Mian Nawaz Sharif, the original Loin of Punjab is about to make a speech. Why the feline company? Its simple really, Sharif's symbol is always on the stage when he addresses an election rally. So for the entire national assembly election campaign of January 1997, all 30-odd circus lions in Pakistan have been requisitioned by the Pakistan Muslim League (unsplit in those days). Because of the vast crowds that come to see Sharif, the stage is set several floors above, so everyone can see him. But, I am thinking, cramped just a little too close to the cage bars for comfort, it also probably ensures Mian Sahb doesn't lose any prospective voters just in case the....

In search of an identity - document

10

You already know what I am going to tell you- but the system of getting a passport issued, your right as a citizen, something we are all encouraged to get, is an....ass. A passport is not an essential food, clothing issue - I accept, and last year more than 44 lakh of them were issued across the country. My problem is that going by own experience, most of those passports were procured by a bribe or influence - a system that is rotten and corrupt, and the worst kept secret in a Ministry considered otherwise too sophisticated to be so - the Ministry of External Affairs. Its part of what I call India's Crouching tiger, Hidden Dragon syndrome - each time the Indian tiger seems poised to rise - the dragon takes a swipe at it to let us know just how developed we really are. ....