"It's your imagination - the indomitable Malik is as spry as ever."
"Indomitable?"
"Irrespective of volleys hurled against him by friend and foe alike, he retains his position in the party and government."
"But he never ever says a word against a friend who hurls volleys against him."
"Couldn't be much of a friend who does that!"
"In Malik's case, a friend is defined as anyone the party co-chairman so designates."
"But hasn't the party co-chairman designated Gilani and family as friends?"
"Yes, so?"
"National Accountability Bureau (NAB), an entity that comes under the government, had the temerity to summon Gilani who has reportedly refused to appear before NAB?"
"Doesn't NAB come under the Law Ministry?"
"I don't care; my point is that NAB comes under a ministry that is headed by a PPP man."
"Well, one comes under Malik and the other under Naek so be fair and in any case NAB was following Supreme Court instructions."
"I heard that a lion is being donated to the Islamabad zoo."
"Where did that come in?"
"The federal capital is rife with stories that a brother of a PPP loyalist keeps a lion in his house and so perhaps it is the same lion that is being sent to the zoo?"
"You have a right to criticise Malik, but his brother is a private citizen and even though he is occasionally helped by his well-placed brother, there was a case where the guards of the brother beat up someone and the case was reportedly settled out of court with the intervention of the Interior Minister but the fact is that the Interior Minister is a law abiding citizen and has great respect for the courts as he has repeatedly stated and he sought the court's permission to release the outcome of the judicial proceedings and investigation reports with respect to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto..."
"Why does he need the court's permission for that?"
"That's exactly what the court said."
"Why is he doing this? Oh, I get it, he reckons that may help ease jiyala concerns before elections."
"But Malik is not a political man he is an enforcer so I am not sure the strategy will work."