Gujjar Personalities

Chaudhary Anwer Aziz claims he is a retired politician. Well, politicians don’t retire. Chaudhary Aziz-definitely not. He may have passed on his Shakargarh constituency to son, Daniyal Aziz but politics remains the lifeblood that keeps him kicking even at the ripe age of 82. Ripe because, at 82, who else can swim 24 lengths in a row and drive from that last corner of Pakistan, Shakargarh, to Islamabad, sometimes at the speed of 120 km per hour on GT Road. Then return to Lahore the next morning after a late wholesome sitting with friends who may comprise a strange mix. You will find in his company the choicest journalists, politicians, intellectuals and then a ‘Shakargaria’ clerk or a watchman who may have dropped by to say Salaam. You can rest assure that the watchman will always get equal respect if not more. Discussion on such evenings swings from politics to philosophy to anything that flows with the mood but one always gets up feeling a little wiser--or tipsy. One can’t tell the...