ISLAMABAD: The anxiety antennas of our Deep State continue to get deeper and deeper, invading the privacy of our homes more and more.

 

And here we are not talking about chasing the Taliban, but the intellectual elite of this country. Senior journalist Mariana Baabar has this annual ritual of gathering friends at her house over Chapli Kebabs from Peshawar. Part of the fun of her rather peculiar sense of humour is that the guests usually don’t know who else is invited. So here we came across, at her Harley Street residence, a diverse bunch of friends, well, almost.

 

There was the inimitable poet Kishwer Naheed, another poet Fatima Hassan, human rights activist Tahira Abdullah, a Resident Editor of an English Daily, a retired Major General of Pakistan Army, who is now part of Pak-India Track Two dialogue, myself and – here comes the punch line, Ranjana Sengupta, the wife of India’s High Commissioner in Islamabad.

 

Mariana knows Ranjana not just as a diplomatic correspondent of The News but also on a personal level. A former journalist, Ranjana had been to Mariana’s place years ago during her husband’s earlier stint in Islamabad.

 

Our spooks knew about her visit as she had to get permission from the Foreign Office. So it made sense when the antennas of our Deep State starting buzzing over Sanjana’s presence in the heart of Rawalpindi.

 

A couple of spooks checked with house servants about any details that they could gather about the guests. The Islamabad journalists are accustomed to such crude surveillance. Normally, they ask you directly instead of digging their information, which can border on intimidation. We actually laughed when Mariana suspected that her wireless music system got disturbed by some audio snooping from outside. What dangerous things could we be talking about relaxing in Mariana’s verandah, sipping cardamom tea, close to a Lychee tree on a Sunday afternoon.It’s Sanjana who should have actually felt worried about her presence so close to the GHQ in an ‘enemy’ country. In any case, the former spokesman of Pakistan Army, who also happens to be the coursemate of the army chief, was there to take care of things. But there was some proactive snooping in action. While Mariana performed another regular ritual of having a picture taken of the group, the spooks almost entered her garden and started taking their own pictures. This was a sheer violation of privacy. Incensed, Mariana ran after them who then skipped away on a motorcycle. Being rooted in Pashtoon culture, she said she was naturally inclined to use her licensed pistol if somebody intrudes the “pardah” of her four walls.

 

While Sanjana laughed about it, we as hosts and Pakistanis felt embarrassed. Mariana had reported a similar incident exactly a year ago.(http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-163715-Under-the-Lychee-tree).

 

She was subjected to a similar grill but she actually enjoyed the naiveté of the spooks who would not understand her subtle humour. As a widow of an army major, daughter of a brigadier and cousin of a general who was also the country’s interior minister, Mariana’s patriotic credentials did not need any certification.

 

But the Deep State is overly active these days. I also have to offer my two cents on this. An Indian diplomat, who is In-charge of media, came to condole my father’s death recently. Later in the evening, two spooks barged into my living room and told me that some Major Aamir wanted me summoned to his office. I had guests in the house, so controlled my anger and, understanding their concern, explained that the gentleman had come for condolence. The spooks had not noticed the condolence meeting was also attended by at least two generals, one of them still serving in their own spooky department.But they would not take no for an answer and later harassed my servant when he was on his way to local market.

 

DG ISPR Major General Asim Bajwa was kind enough to apologise but has still not furnished any answers. Our colleagues confirm that there is increased spooking these days. We are not sure if there is a change of policy after the new chief or it’s a simple case of things getting out of control.

 

Mariana definitely needs an explanation for the violation of her Lychee Tree. And next time somebody insults our high commissioner’s wife in New Delhi, you should know why.

Published on: thespokesman.pk

Date: Monday, 03 March 2014