Book Excerpt: Reham Khan’s Tryst With ‘No-Nonsense’ Maryam Nawaz

Pakistani journalist Reham Khan’s eponymously titled book talks about her tryst with Maryam Nawaz during 2013 polls.

(Photo: Yasmeen Nazir/The Quint)

(The following excerpts talk about Reham Khan's first encounter, as a news anchor, with Maryam Nawaz during the 2013 General Elections and how she still holds MN in high regard by placing her in the tradition of brave women political figures of Pakistan.)

By the time of the election itself, I was at AAJ TV. During the live transmission of the elections, I was surprised when my guests were suddenly replaced by the new bureau chief of AAJ. My new guests were two journalists I wasn’t familiar with. As I opened the discussion, one of the men, Amir Mateen, rather condescendingly suggested I sit like a prop and let them set the theme. Clearly he mistook me for the young girls who would merely complement the older, silver-haired analysts. I ignored him.

As I continued my line of questioning, he rather rudely rebuked me in the break, calling for me to be replaced. I couldn’t believe he was saying it right in front of me. “This young girl has no clue how to run the show,” he called out. I said nothing, and sent a message to the Managing Director, Ahmed Zuberi, asking to remove the guests immediately, or I would walk away. The gentlemen were both removed and replaced by my pre-booked guests.

This was my first taste of what it was like to stick to the script handed over by higher authorities. A year later, at PMLN leader Daniyal Aziz’s house, the same man would apologise profusely to me in public for his rudeness.

I was able to get some pretty high-profile interviews in this period.

Tryst With Hamza Shehbaz

My interview with Hamza Shehbaz, the son of Shehbaz Sharif, was certainly interesting.

I found him to be an extremely polite individual. Not only was he courteous to me, but he also braved the blunt attacks of my makeup lady, Sitara. She was very direct and informed him that they had chosen a couple of unpopular candidates. He listened to her calmly and assured her that it was now too close to the elections, but he would bear her comments in mind for the future. His pleasant response charmed her, and she was raving about him the whole way back. He left after the interview but insisted that our team should stay back for a lunch prepared for us.

I wanted to milk the opportunity, so rather cheekily asked his coordinator to try to get me an interview with Maryam Nawaz Sharif. It worked.

Maryam, Not a Stereotypical, Pampered, Desi-Elite Woman

They squeezed me into her busy schedule, and soon enough, I was being pleasantly surprised by her mannerisms as well. I was expecting a lady with all the airs and graces you’d imagine of the heir apparent of a powerful dynasty. But unlike the princess label she had been given by PTI, she came across as a focused, time-conscious woman. She would get up and open the door herself to call her next appointment in, rather than ringing a bell, and stuck to the allotted time.

Interestingly, we all thought that Hamza had the mannerisms of his uncle Nawaz, while Maryam had strong administrative skills like her uncle, Shehbaz Sharif. She was operating the office with the discipline an army officer maintains. While Hamza came across as a more laid-back and diplomatic politician who could connect because of his awami (everyday and relatable) appeal, Maryam was very direct and to-the-point, unlike most Pakistanis one would meet.

She was certainly not a stereotypical, pampered, desi-elite woman, but very independent and competent.

None of us would really know how independent she would prove to be until the post-Panama crisis that hit that family in 2017. But I felt the visceral hatred for this woman was undeserved. She was not the ‘Pharoah’ that she had been labelled by people who had not met her. She simply did not waste time with idle chit-chat and pleasantries more typical of the subcontinent. Women are expected to be more docile and sweet. A taskmaster man is admired, but a no-nonsense woman is intolerable in our society.

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(The second excerpt talks about the religious controversy around a modification in an oath election candidates must take while filing their nomination papers. The change was made through the hastily passed Election Reforms Amendment Bill 2017. Some clauses in the Bill were seen as tools to aid Nawaz Sharif in regaining his position as PMLN's head. He was disqualified after the Supreme Court found him guilty in the Panama Papers case.)

When the Nawaz family were thrown into the Panama crisis in July 2017, they were to irritate their Saudi hosts further by keeping the Qataris close. Nawaz ended up annoying both.

As a budding journalist I had craved for such inside information. Not in a million years would I have imagined that the stories would come to me via a marital relationship. No one could have foreseen how I would be caught up in the middle of it all.

To Laugh or Cry at the ‘Hypocrisy’?

In the last months of 2017, an observant Muslim family would end up being attacked for being blasphemous on the wording of an oath issue. Electoral law dictates that every candidate must take an oath declaring the finality of the Prophet. This had allegedly been reworded from ‘I solemnly swear’ to ‘I believe’.

Even though all the parties were onboard with the proposed changes in Parliament, PTI supported the anti-blasphemy protests that the governing party had to face. Even though the words were swiftly changed back, a minister had to step down. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the hypocrisy and the drama being played out on TV and the streets of the country. This was the same PTI leadership that sat with extremists and militants, and insisted that terrorists were abandoned and misguided brothers. Anti-Arab lobbies like the Mehdi Foundation UK (led by the openly blasphemous Ali Gauhar) and other proponents of a modern softer Islam like the Quilliam Foundation were strong backers of PTI.

The people behind PTI advocated a diluted version of Islam but would take action on something silly like this. Conversely, the Nawaz family had always had a strong Sunni religious identity.

Their association with the Tableeghi Ijtimah at Raiwind and their close ties with Saudi Arabia and other Arabic nations (which were further cemented because of their exile) were well known.

This movement seemed clearly motivated to break the traditional right-wing vote, as the post-Panama Nawaz Sharif was actually getting more popular. Now abandoned by friends and the old guard, he and his daughter had decided to behave like their party symbol.

The lions were roaring back, louder than ever before.

Maryam Nawaz’s Launch Into Politics

The internal party fragmentation never happened. The maligning tactics had failed. In fact, the political engineering by the establishment had ended up giving Nawaz’s daughter the best possible launch pad into politics. These were unintended consequences, but the public were rallying with their cause.

Nawaz Sharif was free to say whatever he wanted now that he was banned for life from holding political office. Unshackled, he became more volatile than ever. He had been an elected PM thrice but he gained even more respect and admiration for his resistance.

The real winner, however, was Maryam Nawaz Sharif, as she made history by becoming the first political leader to start her career opposing the military establishment. Not even her father could boast those credentials.

The ‘Unlucky’ Ones

Not everyone has been this lucky in Pakistani politics for taking a moral stance. Malala was painted as a CIA agent, like many others who had fled into exile because they were powerless to fight the propagandists. I would wonder how many other myths had been conjured up about other individuals and issues; how many lies had we been fed? I thought that if people could lie about me, why would they not lie about issues where there was a lot more at stake?

Night after night, the primetime hosts would tell lies about my family. I shudder to think of how many lies we may have been told on India, Afghanistan, Syria, and Iran. The corruption claims were not new either. Every government in our 70-year history was dismissed on the basis of corruption. No PM has been allowed to complete a term. Benazir Bhutto wasn’t even allowed to return as PM for a third term. She was considered too dangerous and risky to keep alive. She was killed in front of the whole world and the killer was never caught. The masterminds will never be found.