Former Prime Minister and Senate Opposition Yousuf Raza Gilani
Islamabad … News Time
Yousuf Raza Gilani is a man of great perfection. In 1985, General Zia-ul-Haq introduced many diseases in Pakistani politics through non-partisan elections. In these non-party elections, Yousuf Raza Gilani became a member of the National Assembly and Nawaz Sharif became a member of the Punjab Assembly. Later, Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo appointed Yousuf Raza Gilani as Federal Minister and General Zia-ul-Haq appointed Nawaz Sharif as Punjab Chief Minister. The two had their own place in the Muslim League formed under General Zia’s umbrella. Before the 1988 elections, Gilani joined the PPP. When the party tickets were being decided, PPP Multan district president Altaf Khokhar recommended giving tickets to Riaz Qureshi instead of Yousuf Raza Gilani, but the decision was in favor of Gilani. In the election, Nawaz Sharif also jumped against Gilani but in Multan he was defeated by Yousuf Raza Gilani.
When Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto became the Prime Minister at the Center, she gave the same ministries to Gilani at her request as she had in the days of General Zia. In Punjab, Nawaz Sharif became Chief Minister again. A fierce confrontation broke out between Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. It is no secret that Nawaz Sharif had the support of powerful institutions, but look at Gilani’s miracle that he reached out to Nawaz Sharif to bring about reconciliation in the Center and Punjab. This was the time when the central government was bent on destroying the business of the Sharif family and the Punjab government was raising the slogan of Jag Punjabi Jag. Nawaz Sharif was ready for reconciliation with the central government but he was looking for a guarantor between the parties. In those days, the president was very powerful and would break up assemblies at the slightest provocation.
Nawaz Sharif did not consider the then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan a reliable guarantor. Therefore, he made Yousuf Raza Gilani his guarantor. The only condition was that if the Prime Minister broke his promise with the Punjab government again, Gilani would have to leave the PPP. When Benazir Bhutto found out that Nawaz Sharif had made Yousuf Raza Gilani his guarantor, she was shocked. Whenever Gilani surprised her with his accomplishments, she would ask with great innocence how it happened. Instead of going into details, Gilani would have recited some poems to him. Ms. Gilani began to understand that Mr. Gilani not only has a spiritual power, but he is also a great poet. Mr. Gilani’s further achievement was that even after the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister of Punjab became guarantors, things did not go well between the two. Neither Gilani left the PPP nor Nawaz Sharif stopped conspiring with powerful institutions and finally President Ghulam Ishaq Khan sacked Benazir Bhutto’s government.
In 1990, Nawaz Sharif became the Prime Minister. In 1993, Ghulam Ishaq Khan ousted him and re-elected Benazir Bhutto as Prime Minister. This time he made Yousuf Raza Gilani the Speaker of the National Assembly. One day the Prime Minister hosted a luncheon in honor of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The Prime Minister was sitting to the right of the guest and Gilani to the left. The Prime Minister proudly told Sheikh Zayed that my Speaker belongs to a large spiritual family and he is also a very good poet. Sheikh Zayed immediately asked, “Do you write poetry in English or in Urdu?” Mr. Gilani immediately replied that I write poetry in both languages. Sheikh Zayed asked, “Do you write romantic poetry?” Mr. Gilani immediately replied in the affirmative. Sheikh Zayed ordered to deliver his latest speech. Mr. Gilani recited this poem of a poet
I wish you did not prostrate at your doorstep
That was my love that was my selfishness
Now the question was who would translate this poem? So, sir, this poem was translated by Asif Ali Zardari. Don’t know what Sheikh Sahib understood. He said Mr. Speaker! There is great arrogance in your poetry. The Prime Minister had sensed the delicacy of the situation and changed the subject. The climax of this story is that when Sheikh Zayed was being bid farewell at the airport, he told Mr. Gilani that he would send his Diwan. Mr. Gilani smiled and promised to send it. After the guest left, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Altaf Hussain advised him to buy anyone’s Diwan from the bazaar, put his picture on it and send it. It is not known whether Gilani followed this advice. He did not narrate the incident because he wanted to portray him as a fake poet. This incident was written by him in his book Chah-e-Yusuf. I’m just describing their accomplishments. Once Nawaz Sharif had made him his guarantor then it was Nawaz Sharif who disqualified him through the Supreme Court. A few years passed and on March 3, 2021, the same Gilani became a senator with the support of Nawaz Sharif. Nawaz Sharif tried to atone for all his mistakes but Gilani was given a chance to become the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.
Raja Pervez Ashraf had promised PML-N that if Gilani was the PDM candidate, then the opposition leader would be from PML-N. Gilani could not win the Senate election due to his party’s mistake. They should have shown a bigger container. The promise should have been fulfilled. When the PML-N repeatedly reminded him of his promise, Gilani became the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate with the votes of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP). Surprisingly, the fathers voted for Sadiq Sanjarani in the Senate election and supported Gilani for the Leader of the Opposition.
Inside news is that the real reason for the fight between PML-N and PPP is that PPP somehow wanted to remove Usman Bazdar. Nawaz Sharif thought that this desire did not belong to the PPP but to someone else and he would cut the roots of PML-N by making Pervez Elahi the Chief Minister of Punjab. Nawaz Sharif refused to be a part of the game and pressured the PPP to resign from the assemblies. Whatever may be the real reason for this fight, it is Yousuf Raza Gilani who became the senator through PML-N and then humiliated PML-N with the help of his father. He will be an opposition leader just like a poet because now his politics is due to a father who will be called a government opposition leader after receiving his kind hand.
