| President Pervez Musharraf has received support from an unexpected quarter. At a time when his own life is in such palpable danger, his opponent, the Indian Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, has shown that if there is anything more honourable than coming to the aid of your friends, it is standing by your opponents in their hour of need. |
| Many would have understood had Mr Vajpayee decided to call off his visit to Islamabad for the impending SAARC conference. He could have refused to share President Musharraf’s bull’s-eye seat, and chosen to remain in New Delhi. That would have been the easy course. Instead, by reiterating his resolve to undertake his plane yatra to the very heart of Pakistan, he has taken the more dangerous path of declaring that he is prepared to share Musharraf’s risks with him. |
| It is a bold gesture. [EXTRACT] |
Published in DAWN 8 Jan 2004, and reprinted in WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE (2006). |
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