‘I love my baba’

Viewpoint

Head of PPP Media Cell

The curdling nightmare of Gilani family, thankfully, is over with the safe return of Ali Haider Gilani after three years of captivity. The nation also took sigh of relief in general and the PPP leaders and workers in particular. The instantaneous and jubilant words and photo of Jamalluddin beaming out, ‘I love my baba’-- six years son of Ali Haider Gilani--, were flashed in the national and international media. These words indeed set the tone for celebrations as the news broke out about the safe recovery of Ali Haider Gilani from Afghanistan’s Paktia province as a result of joint operation conducted by American and Afghan security personnel. Pakistani people are deeply grateful.

PPP workers, office bearers, members of the civil society rushed to the former prime minster Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani’s Lahore and Multan residences to share the happiest moments with the family members. They were extending their heartiest congratulations to the family while dancing on drum beats. Sweets were freely distributed among the people who were there. Some were holding the PPP flags with portraits of the PPP founding father, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and Chairman Bilawal Bhutto including Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani. The celebrations were seeing in believing. The national TV channels were doing full justice to the auspicious occasion by according high key projection in exceptionally befitting manners.

The happiest news of the recovery of Ali Haider Gilani was first conveyed to Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani by Afghan ambassador to Pakistan. The news started hitting as the breaking news in national electronic media moments after Chairman Bilawal Bhutto in a tweet extended his congratulation to Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on the safe recovery of his son, Ali Haider Gilani. The Afghan Security adviser and Pakistan’s Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz also spoke to Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani to share the happiest news soon after the call of Afghan ambassador. Army Chief, General Raheel Sharif, extended his congratulation to Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani who was about to fly to AJK in the company of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto to address the Party public meeting at Bagh.

The messages of felicitations of the leaders of political parties also started pouring in over the end of the ordeal the family had been through during the last three years. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif extended a nice gesture of courtesy by offering his plane to bring back Ali Haider Gilani from Kabul to Lahore. Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, in his message expressed his extreme happiness on the good news of the year. Imran Khan, Asfand Yar Wali, MQM leaders, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and others also sent their messages.

US presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton also telephoned to Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani to convey her congratulation on the recovery of his son.

Ali Haider Gilani was kidnapped during his election campaign in Multan in May 2013 as he was on election campaign to contest provincial assembly seat from Multan. The kidnappers took him along to Afghanistan after over a month in Pakistan. The family sources disclosed that they spoke to him only once during the entire period of three year ordeal. But, the family never lost hope and they were sure God’s grace would shine at the end of the day. Safe recovery of Ali Haider Gilani is not less than a miracle. The recovery of Ali Haider is indeed the answer to the prayers of the family members and well-wishers spread over right across the country.

The US military and Afghan security personnel did not plan to recover Ali Haider Gilani because they had no intelligence report of his presence at al-Qaeda compound to be stormed. They did not know that Ali Haider Gilani was there along with other eight Fata kidnapped people. Almighty Allah had planned so to mitigate the miseries of the Gilani family. Ali Haider Gilani was rescued unscathed and unhurt from the jaws of extreme dangers. It was not at all possible without the Divine’s special kindness.

The insidious move of kidnapping Ali Haider Gilani by terrorists was a well thought out plan to sabotage the 2013 elections anticipating that PPP would boycott the elections over the cowardly act and the whole democratic process would be pushed to jeopardy as a consequence. Obviously, enemy’s calculations were based on their misplaced understanding. They were surely oblivious of the level of commitment of PPP and its leadership to democracy and its continuity. The PPP and its leadership scuttled their plan by not boycotting the elections and stood for the continuity of the democratic process in the country.

Elections were held and the one democratic government transferred power to the other political party that emerged as majority party in the elections. Democracy remained on track. Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and the PPP leadership deserved credit for taking such a good but difficult decision at that time. The toxic game plan of the terrorists failed comprehensively and thoroughly because PPP held democracy and its continuity as its top priority. The transfer of power took place in an exceptionally cordial atmosphere according to the rules of succession as enshrined in the Constitution. It was for the first time in the history of the country that power was peacefully transferred from one party to another.

The other pusillanimous motive of the kidnappers was to use Ali Haider Gilani as a bargaining chip to get released the accomplices of terrorists under custody of the Pakistan security agencies and also extracting huge sum of ransom money. By the grace God, they failed in achieving their objectives proving the universal truth that the Saviour of life is mightier than the snatchers of life.

The home coming of Ali Haider Gilani also underscored the importance of promotion of close cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan to bring peace and normalcy in the two countries and beyond. The leadership of the two countries repeatedly had declared that the peace and security of the two countries was intertwined because security of Afghanistan was the security of Pakistan and vice versa.

Peace and security in Afghanistan and Pakistan is critical for the socio-economic development of the two countries in particular and of the region in general and beyond. The full potential of this region cannot be realised without the enabling environment further augmented by good neighbourly relations between the two countries based on mutual respect and mutual interest. The Casa-1000 pipeline and TAPI –Pipeline are the futuristic projects those will not only address the energy requirements of the growing economies of Pakistan and Afghanistan but also of India and other South Asian countries. The dream of qualitative growth in GDP cannot be realised without the sufficient and uninterrupted energy supplies to the economies of the countries. The bright future of the people of these countries hinges on the completion and gainfully utilising the full potential of the gas pipeline projects in an enabling environment. The stakes are high that demand paradigm shift on the part of regional leadership with propitious futurist overtones.

muhammadshaheedi@yahoo.com