I consider myself as most fortunate for having spent quality hours with martyred Benazir Bhutto for many years, nay many decades. Despite being an above average educated person, having met top world leaders and travelled far and wide — it was a different thing to be with Bibi. Each time we had a sitting and discussed some important issue-I used to get up profoundly educated. On many occasions we had academic arguments and like a school teacher she tried to convince me especially in matters related to religion. Though we used to be at variance, we had complete agreement that the best in every religion was to be a good human being. Once after debating about our own Islam — I posed a question to her if God was to give one commandment to all the religions what that would have been. She answered without a pause — “Don’t do unto others what you don’t want others do unto you.” These words of sublime wisdom often echo back to me in most difficult times and remind me of Bibi. The other day when Bilawal Bhutto Zardari mentioned about the hullabaloo being made by the elder male scion of the Sharif family of his “ordeal” at the hands of interrogators following simple interrogation of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) made me recall Bibi. One should always remember the golden words — that our deeds are like boomerangs. Many wiser ones call it divine or poetic justice. The Sharifs must remember those days when they used the likes of Saifur Rehman to settle scores with their opponents Sharifs and the like who are now feeling the heat themselves must remember the hunting animals like Saifur Rehman they used to break loose on their opponents. To think of the third degree methods employed on political adversaries still raise one’s hair at their ends. They don’t realise Nature’s mechanism of justice. It may take time to come back to you but it ultimately does. Is it not an irony that the father is all powerful prime minister and yet his sons are being grilled like common thieves. This is the learning time. There could be worse circumstances. Sharifs got away easy at the hands of General Pervez Musharraf. At no stage they got the treatment that their hatchet men like Saifur Rehmans and Rana Maqbools gave to their political opponents. Besides, long eleven years in prison Asif Ali Zardari was given worst possible treatment in jail to the extent of being almost killed. Twice elected prime minister Benazir Bhutto used to fly from one place to another separated from her children none above ten, as she had to attend court hearings in cases fabricated against her and Asif by those who any time should be serving life term for committing all sorts of crimes under the sun. Indeed, one would but agree with Bilawal that the Prime Minister should not be using his children for remaining in power. Anyone with iota of self-respect would have resigned to avoid the sort of incriminating, brazenly ridiculing and below the belt hits that one is being subjected to not only by his political opponents but public at large. “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should not have used his children as shelter to save his rule. Instead he must protect his children in testing times.” — Surely Bilawal, that’s what the parents are for. Had there been any other person- like some other prime ministers that had been named in the Panama leak — he should have quit before the matter went through damning legal proceedings, his being branded as God Father or Pablo Escobar and his government a Sicilian mafia. Although Imran Khan would like him and his family to really go through hell, he is lucky to have political adversaries like Bilawal who don’t want that there should be any injustice with him or his children as fair trial is the right of everyone alongside accountability. And he remembered painfully: “Benazir Bhutto Shaheed, while holding finger of his son, used to meet her husband in the Central Jail Karachi in excruciating weather while she was made to wait outside the prison.” I remember those 40C plus hot days in Landhi jail too. Though it is ironic and spine chilling both that they are going through an unpleasant ordeal while being in power and yet being tried and facing an infamy of being treated as criminals that even entire perfume of their friendly Saudi Arabia would not be able to wash. Is it not divine justice that Hussain Sharif — son of the most powerful prime minister — sits alone in a large room with one chair, waiting as he lamentfully complains— for hours — to be questioned by interrogators who according to him, are not very friendly to him. Once again the issue that has been raised to seek public sympathy is who leaked the picture of Hussain Sharif sitting remosely alone in the big interrogation room? It is hardly convincing to say that it was leaked from the JIT side. To understand the whole mystery of leaks, one must remember the history, how stories have been planted to character assassinate victims of this government. Recent cases are that of Dawn leaks, currently JIT leak and previously of MQM’s Saulat Raza. All these leaks were managed by those in power now to ease the pressure. Conclusively, one must remember that the Lord above can give ironic twist to fate related to those who sometimes get to feel that there is no power on earth other than them. I remember an all powerful General Ziual Haq responding to a question to him in June 1988, that he would not give up his uniform. And on 17th August his plane had a divine fall from the skies. Bhutto’s wife and children were denied by Zia to see his face- I wonder what it was that there was no face left of Zia that could be seen by his wife and children. Moral of the story is: one should always dread divine retribution! The writer is former High Commissioner of Pakistan to UK and a veteran journalist