Conspiracies, plots and myths
By Irfan Hussain UNWITTINGLY, our private TV channels provide us with more entertainment than they know. The other day, I was sent a link to a recent debate between that hardy perennial, Mustafa Khar, and another permanent fixture, Brigadier Imtiaz ‘Billa’. Both have been in and around power, with the former having flip-flopped his way across the political spectrum, and the latter providing his uniformed and civilian masters with a sharp and ready hatchet out of the ISI/MI armoury. This debate — which was more of a ferocious verbal punch-up than a courtly discussion — focused on yet another London conspiracy that was supposed to have been hatched in the mid-1980s. A number of military officers were arrested and sentenced to long terms for planning a coup against Zia; and Raza Kazim, the brilliant lawyer and multi-faceted intellectual, was arrested for his alleged role in the conspiracy. Mustafa Khar was then in exile and was accused of getting Indian support and arms for this plot. ...