Daily Times

Some were excited, others were depressed; but most were shocked when Shehbaz Sharif was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). He was called to answer for the Clean Water Project, but got ensnared for the Ashiana Housing Scheme. Did he refuse to cooperate or was he a flight risk? If he had not been charged or indicted, what was the point of this dramatic exploit? Was it about covering the legal gaps, upcoming by-elections, or just a reaction to Rana Mushood’s badly timed tirade? Politicsindeed moves in mysterious ways in Pakistan.

Very few people know him intimately, and this includes his own family. Like me, you may disagree with some of his politics or the style of governance, but Shehbaz Sharif is a thoroughly interesting man. With his endless energy, workaholic nature, fiery speeches, quick temper, romantic penchant, moving index finger; he remains the most fascinating character in Pakistani politics. I do not know about you but I sincerely feel that the TV news have lost their colours without him.

Imagine a person, who does not like to waste a minute, incarcerated in a cell where there is nothing to do.The one who thrives on communication through live-feeds from around the world having no access to phone, email or social media. He who finds it difficult to stay still, having no ‘to do’ file, no deadlines and no appointments in his daily schedule. Shehbaz Sharif is not even allowed to go for a walk. Whenever his family complained in the past, he laughed before saying that being busy was better than being bored. I once asserted that he should take adequate rest. He ranted that having wasted ten years of his life in exile, rest is a luxury he cannot afford, “Besides, I’ll get plenty of rest when I’m dead.” Friendships are built on mutual respect and trust. Being a friend of Shehbaz Sharif is fractious, and also a slow ripening fruit. This is somewhat like filling a large vessel drop by drop over a number of years. You can still get it wrong if you have not mastered the art of timing. If you are with him longer than 15-minutes, intermittent periods of silence commence (during which he checks his emails, makes calls or reads files) unless you have something interesting or important to say. Occasionally, there is time for gossip if he is in the mood, and then it is definitely the time for you to leave. If you are away, it is your responsibility to keep in touch with him, in a creative manner unless he needs something off you.

Shehbaz Sharif is a thoroughly interesting man. With his endless energy, workaholic nature, fiery speeches, quick temper, romantic penchant, moving index finger; he remains the most fascinating character in Pakistani politics

We reasoned but I have never blamed him for how he keeps or loses his friends. Coming from a business background, he grew up experiencing most of his humanoid transactions based on give and take unless they involved blood relatives which leaves no choice. Under the guidance of his elders, he perhaps carried the same business model of human relationships into politics, and achieved great success because of its own dynamics. He once jokingly said that I might be the only friend he had. I asked him to refrain from repeating this because I am also a psychiatrist. He has rarely known those who, instead of giving advice or cures, choose to share the pain without expecting any reward. Friends who can be silent with him in the moments of despair or confusion, who stay with him during heartaches, who can tolerate not knowing, and those who face with him the reality of mutual powerlessness which he is experiencing now. He has rarely known a friend who connects with the past, stays in the moment, links with the future, and is an island of sanity in an otherwise insane world.

Like any other successful person, Shehbaz Sharif also has his own set of contradictions. For example, he has the capacity to switch from one view to another with frightening ease and believes that it makes him more productive. He also hates making mistakes and is forever carrying the excruciating burden of perfection. Learning how to live with contradictions is only human though, as long as it does not keep us away from travelling in the right direction – acquiring for be arance, growing compassion and practicing forgiveness.

Shehbaz Sharif is risk averse by his very nature. He also listens and tries his best to act on good advice particularly that given by the people his respects and trusts. I did not see him that often but whenever anything sensible was said in my presence, it was invariably acknowledged and quickly actioned. Unfortunately, the number of people he holds in high esteem has gone down over the years. This is partly due to the attitude of some bureaucrats around him but mostly due to a lack of new talent and the scarcity of time at his disposal.

I have close friends in civil service and always admire their intellect, polished manners and executive skills. However, I would also maintain that Shehbaz Sharif was poorly served by some of them. He had trusted and relied heavily on them at a great systemic and personal cost and even prevailed on his elder brother to use the same model in his last stint in the office. Shehbaz has now been incarcerated for what he may or may not have asked to be carried out. Even if this is true, why did such officers hang around if they did not have administrative, creative or personal skills to accommodate or decline his supposedly mendacious directives? Based on personality inventories, I had warned him in writing about a few of them. Great architects of the Civil Service must be turning in their graves as no good officer worth his salt would land himself and then his boss behind the bars for apparently behaving like a small-time crook. In the olden days, Chinese Emperors used to send yellow scarves to such officials to hang themselves.

Shehbaz Sharif is a conformist by nature and tries to avoid confrontationas far as possible. However, when he is in a brawl, you would not find a more valiant tcharacter. He would fight the current cases tooth and nail,with all his might and the heavy arsenal at his disposal.Some keep saying that Shehbaz Sharif’s politics finished the day Model Town incident took place; I am not so sure. Those who ambushed him also know that it was wrong to imprison him in the first place; they should not rejoice. I just know that some birds are never meant to be caged because their feathers are too bright, their songs too melodic and their spirits are too wild. So, hold on Little Master, the floods will recede, the sun will shine, and this storm too shall pass. Beyond the hollow notions of wrongdoings and fictional corruption charges, the field of dreams is unbroken, and your true friends will meet you there.

The writer is a Consultant Psychiatrist & Visiting Professor. He tweets @AamerSarfarz

Published in Daily Times, October 15^th 2018.