THE DEATH OF GENERAL ZIA UL HAQ
General Zia
Shortly after the beginning of term and the customary Pakistan Independence Day celebrations, news of the death of General Zia ul Haq hits the headlines. He is not a big part of our lives, Niggle and I, and school carries on regardless with stoppages for the news and the funeral.
Niggle and I are walking along Tariq Road when the electricity fails all along the road and we pick our way past darkened shop fronts and around carts. There is the effervescent fizz of electrical tension in the air and lots of people running and shouting.
There is news of a plane crash or an explosion on board a plane - fuel for numerous conspiracy theories in the years to come. The presidency is handed over to Ghulam Ishaq Khan.
Ghulam Ishaq Khan
A political ferment takes place and, as happens in Pakistan, there is the feeling of the country's potential and growth.
Niggle and I make it back safely to our little ground floor rooms and we sit drinking Mirinda and chatting into the night. Niggle is still hurting from his impending divorce and tells me of the dynamics of the relationship have an inner and outer complexity.
Niggle seems a bit lost. The school work is a great anchor for him - it gives him a sense of purpose that he seems to have lost at some fundamental level. And he seems to be losing Faith.
I worry about that.
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/18/world/zia-of-pakistan-killed-as-blast-downs-plane-us-envoy-28-others-die.html?pagewanted=all
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