Last Saturday night, the Press Information Department of the government of Pakistan put out a five-line memorandum saying the country’s two premier intelligence agencies, the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Intelligence Bureau, were being placed under the interior ministry.

Predictably, the news got analysts up and running. Then, even as newspapers had been put to bed and analysts had delivered themselves of their sagacity, around 4 am Sunday, the PID issued another notification which began: “Notification regarding control of ISI is being misinterpreted. ISI will continue to perform its functions under the prime minister. The said notification only re-emphasises more coordination between ministry of interior and ISI.”

“Misinterpreted”? Why then were faces red in the process of reversal? Earlier, Asif Ali Zardari, the man with the perpetual grin who holds the reins of this government, had held forth on what he termed a “historic” decision, one which would yield “positive results”. Clearly, he thinks “historic” and “positive” are synonyms.

Zardari also said that “Nobody will say that this agency is not under the control of an elected government as the interior ministry will be responsible for responding to allegations against the ISI.” For a helmsman, his information (or the lack thereof) on the organisation and role of the ISI and its linkage with the government is disconcerting to say the least.

The prime minister was of course unavailable because he had apparently chosen to sign this historic document while boarding the flight on his first official visit to the United States. The government’s sense of history leaves one overwhelmed; also, the PM needs to learn to clean up after himself.

... contd.