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Islamabad’s New Clothes
CHENNAI Kangayam R.
Narasimhan: Unlike Pervez
Musharaff, who remained exiled in the
United Arab Emirates and repeatedly
spurned summons from Pakistani
courts, Nawaz Sharif has returned
from abroad to boldly face the prison
bars (The Pathan Suits, July 30). The
election was indeed Sharif’s final polit-
ical litmus test. And he positively lost.
The triumphant Imran Khan built
Sharif’s downfall bit by bit. It was
Imran who brought the Panama
Papers case against Sharif. All said, the
economy performed well during
Sharif’s tenure. The country’s GDP
rose to 5.7 percent in 2017, the highest
in 10 years. As for new skipper Imran,
it’s unclear how he plans to lead. Dub-
bed ‘Taliban Khan’, he has pilloried
India for its “anti-Pakistan policy” and
pooh-poohed Sharif’s fence-mending
with India. A confused Islamist, Imr-
an’s soft approach to religion could
embolden radical Islamists to unleash
violent terrorism in Pakistan as well as
across its borders.
ON E-MAIL Brig. N.M. Paul: If a vet-
eran subscriber is to receive Outlook’s
thoughtfully designed (I’m sure) rec
ent cover on the Pakistan elections in a
torn condition, with the a sticker of the
subscriber’s name pasted on the face of
Imran Khan, peeling it out would take
Pakistan’s new PM’s face off too, what
good is the copy? It gives you no joy.
Need I say anything more?
NEW DELHI Mahesh Kumar:
Times have changed for Pakistan and
so has the international outlook about
the once-unstable state. But the ‘ter-
rorist hub’ tag stays. The new regime
must change this perception. No doubt
that a democratic and stable Pakistan
will be of enormous benefit to the
neighbourhood too. The new captain
ASIAD 2018
ARE WE GAME FOR PENCAK SILAT, SAMBO, WUSHU
J