Musharraf's buddy Aziz tipped as
New Punjab Governor
Special
SAT Report
ISLAMABAD: Punjab, the key province where General Musharraf’s
allies have absolute power, is soon to have a new Governor and
the man being tipped is none else than the person who brought
these allies to power --- college time Musharraf buddy, his Principal
Secretary, bureaucrat Tariq Aziz.
Why
and how he is being shuffled away from the sensitive position
of Secretary to the newly formed National Security Council, is
still a mystery but informed circles say it was another attempt
by Musharraf to keep some personal control over political matters
in Punjab by asking Aziz to keep his own boys, the Choudhries
of Gujrat, under control, should they ever start growing wings
to fly on their own.
Aziz
is credited for the remarkable flight of the Choudhries from being
the most corrupt political family of Punjab, with such heavy baggage
as the Cooperatives Scandal of the first Nawaz Government, to
becoming virtual king makers all over the country.
But
in the process, while Aziz pushed his Gujrati friends up, he pulled
his military friend Musharraf down from the level of an unchallenged
hero in October 1990 to a hated despot today who has been forced
to burn the official record of his misdeeds.
Aziz always had a special place in his heart for the Choudhries
because they had done for him something which he could not imagine.
According to his profile published in September this year, it
was reported that Aziz could never put out of his mind the second
tenure of Benazir Bhutto when he was additional secretary in charge
of the Environment Division. At that time environment ministry
was the baby of the premier’s all-powerful spouse Asif Ali
Zardari. Once Zardari dictated Aziz on a matter, which was considered
by the later as violation of the law and rules. Consequently Aziz’s
charge was taken away.
But soon intelligence goons scaled the boundary wall of his official
residence at the busy School Road of Islamabad’s Sector
F-6/3, harassed his family, hitting some of them with gun butt.
It was a traumatic experience for him and his family. This was
the time when the Choudhries of Gujrat came to him for comfort
and consolation. The Choudhries took him and his whole family
to one of their many safe houses till the time the Aziz family
put together its shattered confidence.
Aziz, who joined the Civil Service (Income Tax) in 1967, remained
a low profile officer till the time he was posted as Secretary
In charge Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) in the last government of
Nawaz Sharif, with his buddy Choudhry Shujaat Hussain being Nawaz’s
Interior Minister. ANF falls under the administrative control
of Interior Minister.
Son
of a Sessions Judge, who belonged to a farming family of Bhalwal
in Sargodha, Aziz had never thought he would enjoy such an immensely
powerful role in his life, which began as a college fellow of
“Peji”, then his friend Pervez Musharraf. Peji once
campaigned for Tariq Aziz for elections of the Lahore Foreman
Christian College Students Union. They remained friends ever since
as Peji went into the Army and Aziz joined the Civil Service.
When Musharraf took over in 1999, he immediately called in Aziz
to be his confidant. He was given super-secret tasks such as negotiating
the exile deal with the Sharifs at their Raiwind Estate on behalf
of Pervez Musharraf. Even Musharraf's ISI and Corps Commander,
Lahore were not aware of these negotiations between Mian Sharif
and Tariq Aziz.
“I
am not a kingmaker,” Aziz said in September. “The
media’s outburst coupled with certain politicians’
statements alleging that I am influencing the forthcoming elections
are simply baseless and unsubstantiated.” He insisted that
there was no King’s party.
That was the politician Aziz as he knew that the King’s
Party was there, who was the King and who were in his party. Now
he is preparing to be the King’s right hand man in Punjab.
