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New Delhi: Pakistan
President Asif Ali Zardari goes to Ajmer Sharif Sunday with a
prayer on his lips after grappling with a string of problems,
including the tense aftermath of Osama bin Laden's killing, a coup
rumour and dragging court cases.
Zardari, 56, took charge of Pakistan in September 2008, almost a
year after the assassination of his charismatic wife and former
prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Since then, he has been besieged by
controversies.
One of his first major foreign policy prouncements was to tell
Indians that Pakistan would not be the first to use nuclear
weapons, and that the two countries have a great future together.
The remark triggered criticism by those who accused him of selling
out the Kashmir cause to India.
Today, the president enjoys the support of Prime Minister Yousuf
Raza Gilani, who is standing by him in a Supreme Court case over
corruption charges involving Zardari.
Pakistanis were furious when Zardari -- who may never have become
president if Benazir had not been killed -- left on a tour of
Europe even as large parts of Pakistan were ravaged by floods in
2010.
If 2010 was bad, 2011 proved far worse.
He was embroiled in a controversy when Pakistani American
businessman Mansoor Ijaz claimed to have delivered a secret memo
to US joint chiefs chairman Admiral Mike Mullen at the behest of
then Pakistani envoy in Washington, Husain Haqqani, and the
Pakistani government.
The memo said Zardari feared a coup after Al Qaeda leader Osama
was killed in May by US commandos. The revelation about the memo
sparked a political tsunami and cost Haqqani his job.
The Pakistan Army, seen as the real rulers in the country, saw
Haqqani as Zardari's man. Haqqani's wife was spokesperson of
Zardari in his capacity as the co-chair of Pakistan Peoples Party
(PPP).
Pakistan was again tense for a few days in December when Zardari
abruptly flew to Dubai, leading to much confusion and sparking
rumours of a coup.
The government insisted he had gone to Dubai for medical tests and
to meet his children but Pakistani army doctors said he was hale
and hearty.
Zardari's political struggles today are a far cry from the period
before Bhutto died.
At that time, his public image was so poor that the PPP kept him
out of public eye even during election campaigning.
When he was sworn in as head of state, he was widely seen as a
greenhorn, with the media underlining that Zardari had little
governing experience.
It was true. He had spent over 11 years in jail on what he said
were "politically motivated" corruption charges.
He was never convicted although critics dubbed him "Mr 10 Percent"
-- a derisive reference to the commissions he allegedly took on
every deal when his wife ruled Pakistan.
Born in Karachi, Zardari was educated at St Patrick's School in
the city and later in Lahore.
He would have remained one of Pakistan's lesser known feudal lords
but for his marriage to Benazir.
With all his problems, it is understandable that Zardari would be
eager to pray at Ajmer Sharif, the seat of Sufi saint Khwaja
Moinuddin Chishti, where thousands go every day for fulfilment of
an ardent wish.
(Rahul Dass can be contacted at rahul.d@ians.in)
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