A new, glowing entrant

There must be a spring in the step of Pakistan's democracy after the news that disgraced scientist AQ Khan, the father of the country's atomic bomb, has set up his own political party. He wants to target youth for whom he has this stirring piece of advice - 'don't give your vote to thieves and liars.' Well, well, well, who would know better about the fine art of lying than dear old Khan himself? For years, he went schlepping about the globe dispensing nuclear technology and material like ice lollies on a hot day. And he chose some clients whose democratic and human rights credentials are non-pareil like North Korea, China, Iran and Libya. But some Cassandras in the West put a spoke in the works of his humanitarian activities.

Why, that agent of imperialism Time magazine even went as far as to dub him 'merchant of menace' with a fetching picture on its cover of his leonine head with a mushroom cloud in the background. Now Khan is just what the youth of Pakistan need - a rogue scientist who would like to incinerate the country's enemies, even blow up the world. And from him they could learn how to win friends and influence people like those gentle dictators whom he so loved to consort with in his heyday. Oh, and the loony mullahs and jihadis revere him for arming Pakistan with the bomb so that it co-uld keep its enemies at bay. Perhaps, the first thing in his manifesto may be how to make a bomb in your basement at minimal cost.

The next would be to lie through your teeth when confronted with evidence of wrongdoing. "Excuse me, sir, but what is that obj-ect which looks suspiciously like a nuclear bomb doing on your mantelpiece?" "Oh, don't be silly, that is an abstract sculpture I had commissioned for my aunt thrice removed." But Khan is at an advantage when it comes to dealing with political enemies. Anyone taking potshots at him is likely to get a ticking parcel in the post, nothing like the big kaboom to liven up politics. But let us wait and see, don't let us mushroom cloud your judgement.