The late President of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was a frequent visitor to Saudi Arabia, so it was not necessary for me to travel to Islamabad to interview him.
On one of his visits I called on the press counselor of his embassy here to find out if it was possible to see him for an interview preferably alone. I did not wish to be surrounded by many others for good reasons. One was that with so many people around interviewees do not feel quite at ease to speak freely, some may at times whisper in his ear and others would request me to abstain from asking certain questions or raising a subject in particular.
The embassy replied the same day to say that the president would welcome me within 24 hours. I was delighted, and quickly prepared a few questions of relevance to the events then of interest to Pakistanis in the Kingdom, numbering one and a half million. Together with the Indians they were easily our most numerous readers and letter writers.
The Pakistanis have also our daily Urdu News while most Indians have our daily Malayalam News. Both papers plus Arab News have garnered a huge readership in the Kingdom despite the competition. Some Indian papers already print here or in Bahrain then reach our markets early morning. The Urdu ones arrive by 4 p.m.
The president was staying at the official guesthouse facing the corniche in Jeddah. He was simply dressed in his native sherwani bareheaded and wearing chappals. Thus with his demeanor and modesty he was easily the most humble leader I had met thus far.
None of the pageantry of some, or the pompous language of others. I felt quite at home and confident of myself as I was ably assisted by a Pakistani colleague of long standing. Zia spoke confidently and superbly about the Pakistani situation and relations with India. I had to mention India in order to attract Indian readers and to elucidate the Pakistani position regarding various subjects. At the time the two countries had the problem of the Siachin glacier in the Himalayas although the area did not grow even a blade of grass according to Zia. It was a silly dispute that cost both countries a precious fortune just to maintain troops and equipment at that height and so far from their main bases. I am glad that neither side is worrying about it at present and have decided that silence was the best part of valor.
Zia met with a tragic end when his presidential plane exploded shortly after takeoff. Nobody has so far claimed responsibility for the misdeed. And despite a number of queries in Karachi during my visit there shortly after his death nobody could shed real light on his death. There was plenty of guesswork including foreign power plots as well as indigenous hands. But no proof and no trial of any sort. Dead-end. Saudi-Pakistani relations cannot be overestimated as they have lasted amicably for many years. When Pakistan emerged from British colonialism in 1947 it found a natural friend and ally in the Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia welcomed Pakistan and trusted it from day one. Millions of Pakistanis have come and gone and there are some one and a half million here at any given time who may be found in government service and the private sector while a few are carrying Saudi nationality although difficult to guess their number. Business relations have flourished just like with other Asian partners including India despite the disparity between the Indian and Pakistani populations. Saudi Arabia through our publishing house produces a daily newspaper in Urdu for the benefit of the many Urdu speaking Pakistanis as well as those hailing from Hyderabad in India which has a large number of Urdu speaking people.
Karachi is a thickly congested metropolitan city that was the capital of Pakistan when it achieved independence following the partition of the subcontinent. It was expanding and growing by leaps and bounds when it was decided to change the venue of the capital to Islamabad, a much more pleasant location which I preferred to Karachi.
It is close to the mountainous Murree and has a cooler climate. Because we had a correspondent there I had a good chance of touring the city, and its surrounding areas. Between 1960 and today it has grown from one hundred thousand to nearly a million, housing government ministries where I found some of my older friends who showed me around. However the main business and industry as well as the port are located in Karachi.
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