P
resident Musharraf’s book continues to sell like hot kebabs. I haven’t read it. I don’t intend to. The book is for self-promotion. Its lies are for sales promotion. But why grudge the general a whopping bonanza for his days of retirement which may not be too far? Media conferences, comedy show, book-signing—his publishers did the works.Important Indians are rubbishing the general for twisting facts. But Indians can be biased. What aboutCNN’s Wolf Blitzer? He asked Musharraf if the US had paid exchange money to the Pakistan government for nabbing Al Qaeda operatives as alleged in his book. That’s right, said Musharraf. But theCIA says no money was paid to the government, only reward money was paid to individuals, objected Blitzer. Musharraf fumbled. He never wrote the money was paid to the government, he said. Yes he did, that’s what he wrote in his book, Blitzer insisted. Oh, then it must have been a mistake, muttered the general. He would revise it...mumble...mumble....
After that one may feel certain he decided to read the book which carries his name as author. He may have decided also to pull up his ghost writer. Ah well, there can always be rewriting anyway, can’t there?
Err...actually no, general. Writing books is not quite the same as letting fly statements to the media. Statements can be clarified on a daily basis. Rewriting books is a wee bit more complicated. The general’s dropped bricks are no reflection on his writing ability. They stem from attitude. It’s the politician’s belief that after 24 hours words have little value. Each new day creates a new world with its new truth.
That’s what Jaswant Singh thought too. He talked about a CIA mole in the PMO without providing evidence. Did he think the suspicion was sensational enough? Poor chap! If he wasn’t so cut off from the real world he would have known that in every paan shop far more lurid conjectures aboutCIA penetration are voiced daily. Nobody can accuse Jaswant Singh of needing ghost writers. It’s just that politicians can’t stop manipulating public opinion through spurious statements.
The next time reporters approach a politician they might reflect. The guy may rule the nation but could he ever become a successful reporter? Repeated contradictions would lose him his job! He could be, of course, an editor, or a columnist. We are the windbags whose writings are ignored anyway.