Well, Hamesh Khan is back in the town where he was once President of the Punjab Bank, but now he is in NAB custody. This is also the town where the President of Pakistan was arrested back in 1996. From a Governors House whose occupant didnt have any dark glasses. Well, now that there are dark glasses in the Governors House, the President is safe from arrest, but Hamesh Khan isnt. Since Hamesh Khan isnt guilty, according to him, or rather his lawyer, we cant talk too much about the case. Except to say that you dont end up before the Supreme Court, or get extradited from the USA, if you are innocent and pure as the driven snow. But more cant be said, because youre presumed innocent until proven guilty. But the rule of law is not a concept with which we are familiar. We are not even familiar with the idea of reasons of state. What we are best acquainted with is the idea of convenience of state, or rather of state servants. If Hamesh Khan was allowed to loot a bank owned by the Punjab government, there must have been Punjab government employees who found that convenient for reasons that no court could enter into. Once it is proved that Hamesh Khans open season on the bank was convenient to some bureaucrat, then the case should be closed. The other option is the disgraceful exhibition that we saw with the CCPO of Lahore, who was sacked, then the new one was sacked the same day. The CCPO Lahore is no ordinary official, for two reasons. First, he is a uniformed official, and we know that uniforms deserve a special reverence, and when the wearer wears a major generals rank badges ex officio, he is deserving of special reverence. But the second reason is more important, and that is that the CCPO has been given a guarantee of eternal life by the Americans. Take just one look at the guards, the armoured personnel carrier, the narrowing of the road, outside his office, which were all carried out after the blast which took out the 14 office and that proves someone has told the CCPO that he will live forever. The CCPO of Lahore is not just important because this is the capital, but because he provides security to so many VIPs. That he is also responsible for the life and security of ordinary citizens cannot be denied, but between ensuring that all the Very, Very Important People in the provincial capital will live forever, and taking the measures ensuring his own life forever, he no longer has the time. No one supervising him minds, because they are too busy living forever. Of course, why would the Americans bother? First, the guarantee is not a hard one to make. And the CCPO is an important official, not because he guards a whole bunch of natives, but because he is responsible for the security of a lot of places where there are renditions, even if they are on federal departments land. Thus he rates a guarantee. The Americans also take that guarantee even more seriously for themselves. Thats why visa interviews are exhausting, tiring and insulting for those who have to go through the experience. And why do they go through it? Well, they have relatives over there, who are among Musharrafs favourite people because they earn foreign exchange for Pakistan, not because they formed his most loyal support group (something they repented of as soon as he left office). All of these expatriates have relatives back home who want to visit them, even at the risk of being stripped of their shoes. The fun really starts when they lose one (or both) of the shoes, which happens often enough to be a risk that deserves consideration. It was noticeable that Musharraf was recently searched, but there was no mention of any shoes being lost. One presumes he had gone over to find out where all his supporters had gone. Hes been talking of returning to politics in Pakistan. Well, he should soon find out that he is now retired, and should play golf or with his grandchildren, because the party he created while President now belongs to the new COAS (unless the present incumbent gets an extension). Musharraf didnt create the party so much as take over a party which already exists, and which is the property of the incumbent COAS. In politics, retirement is voluntary (except when imposed by the electorate), but here, as elsewhere, retirement means death. Here it is worse, because every post, even in politics, carries both perks and privileges (though only the COAS has a political party to himself, just like the Chairman WAPDA has his own plane). Thats why the national cricket team has not followed the example of the national hockey team after giving up the T20 World Cup they won only last year. Its funny they havent been accused of more match-fixing, which is being localised to this part of the world, and being fitted on T20 cricket. Now it seems that the whole IPL thing was created to let Indians indulge a thirst which matches that of the Chinese, previously noted in this field.