The House by the Gallows

General Zia ul-Haq had taken over Pakistan. Piety filled the air; there was much talk of religion: praying, fasting. The General threw a party to break the Ramadan fast at the house of his figurehead Prime Minister, Muhammad Khan Junejo. I was among the writers and journalists invited. We had broken the fast, were eating, when the muezzin gave the call to prayer. The General rose hastily, leaving his food, and walked off to the prayer room. Most of the invitees followed. I seemed to be the only one left behind. I looked around and found Ahmed Ali Khan, a newspaper editor, sitting under a tree in a far corner of the lawn. A few others joined us, while the pious dictator and his guests prayed.

The next evening we were back at the Prime Minister’s house. Junejo had thrown his own fast-breaking party. The same crowd filled the lawns, all except the General. The muezzin gave the call for prayer. The Prime Minister promptly rose from his plate and left for the prayer room. I looked around: a few followed him but the majority stayed by their plates. Prayer is an obligation for Muslims, but it seemed who invited you to pray made a difference.

The General’s call to Islam had the strongest effect. Before him, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had attempted to raise the banner of Islam in Pakistan, but without much success. He decreed the Ahmadiyya sect non-Muslim, made Friday a public holiday, banned horse racing and alcohol. Bhutto wasn’t a praying, fasting man, and his flirtations with Islamism remained suspect.