I got it by courier early morning and finished reading it by lunch . It is a small 188 pagebook written by. An ex IFS officer based on his three years stay in Karachi
and his overall reading of situation right upto the recent Janjau Doval meeting in Bangkok .
The best thing about the book is its racy style of writing . There is never a dull moment and so I never felt like leaving the book . Prabhu Dayal could as well write script for movies . Khushwant Singh is his near equivalent in judging a book by its entertainment value .
Beyond the entertainment , it brings out frustration of a sincere diplomat who like all of us realises the great opportunity region is missing by this confrontational stance . He very colourfully portrays the gradual destruction of civil society in Pakistan and how Zia to get support made military so dominant in national affairs by handing over largesses to his select group of supporters .
However for an avid Pakistan watcher there was nothing new in the book but the background information to may events was very interesting .
1. Zia , a consummate liar , used to ring up Morarji Desai to talk about urine therapy .He posed as interested in practicing it . Desai hated Indira Gandhi which Zia also agreed . In a moment of weakness Desai told him all he knew about Kahuta . Zia made Kahuta an impregnable fortress after that and destroyed RAW . Desai was given highest honour of Pakistan . What a tragedy !
2. Israel wanted to attack Kahuta and just wanted refuelling facility for its aircrafts . It was denied .
3. Zia , visibly came to attend Indira Gandhis funeral . On return at Ashoka hotel , there was a crowd at lift and Zia started cilimbing the stairs . When pointed out that his room was on fifth floor , he remarked ‘ aaj to main pasnch manzil bhi chadh jaoonga ‘ . His glee was unsupressable . Book suggests possible Pak hand in Indira Gandhis murder .
4. Pak denies India most favoured nation status . But whole lot of goods given free transit for Afganistan never cross Peshawar . So really only Pakistan loses custom revenue and it is smugglers paradise , well deserved .
Writers sees no real hope for Indo Pak friendship in view of the hatred taught in school curriculum .
The best course is possibly what another friend of mine wrote from USA , ‘ Talk but do not trust ‘ . We should remember Morarji blunder before becoming emotional .
