"But Sir Sheikh doesn't quite support freedom of speech all that much."
"Well, that depends on whether he thinks what the journalists have written is anti-state or not and if it is anti-state then he will go against that particular journalist or newspaper..."
"With express sanction from on high."
"Absolutely. And the key would be the definition of anti-state. Anything said against some people or, shall we say, challenging the claims of the government would be considered anti-state."
"Supported by the man at the top."
"Yes. Sir Sheikh has never ever done anything that would anger the man at the top. "
"Do you think Sir Sheikh is a male chauvinist?"
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, because he has always supported men."
"Ah, but he did support Kulsoom when she was active and Mian Sahib was, shall we say unable to take the lead."
"When was that?"
"When Mian Sahib was in jail."
"Gotta give Musharraf that at least. I mean Mian Sahib avoided jail very cleverly and then along came Musharraf and gave him a taste of it...makes a politician more mature."
"You think now Mian Sahib will be less likely to put his opponents in jail?"
"No, I don't think so, one thing about Mian Sahib he never ever learned from the past."
"Going back to what you said earlier why would Sir Sheikh support free movement of journalists?"
"Because he thinks that our politicians are more adept at dealing with journalists than the Indian politicians."
"Don't think that is quite true. I mean the world now sees the Indian stance on terrorism as the correct one and somehow our government has had to accept that there might be cross border terrorism."
"So now what?"
"Now the continuation of the status quo. Musharraf is in power with his uniform for one year and the Lotas are firmly behind him for at least one year."
"And then what?"
"I reckon there will be a revolt against Musharraf some time next year - maybe after he takes off his uniform."
"I think he will maintain good relations with the Army after he takes off the uniform."
"Yes, but that is never the same thing - whether you are a civilian or an army man once the trappings are gone so is the power - that is why Musharraf doesn't want to retire from the army."
"Oh well - then we may look forward to further improvements in our democracy."