Farewell Season

The headlines revolve around the same topics: At least one time consuming legal battle seems to be over. The Prime Minister, condemned for contempt of court was released by the Supreme Court after having served a symbolic sentence of two minutes in the courtroom after the verdict. The Speaker of the National Assembly subsequently refused to disqualify him as a member of Parliament, which would have removed him from office.
The speaker of the house, Fehmida Mirza, is a member of the PPP, the ruling party of President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani.

Dr. Shakil Afridi, the medical doctor who helped the CIA to identify Osama Bin Laden through a fake vaccine campaign, was sentenced by a tribal court to 33 years in prison for high treason. His life is far from being safe in the prison in Peshawar and the Taliban have openly threatened to kill him, be it by abducting him from the prison or having him killed by one of their own from within the prison walls. In the light of the recent storming of the jail in Bannu near Peshawar, freeing 400 prisoners including numerous Talibans, this is a threat to be taken seriously.

The vital NATO supply routes through Pakistan from the port of Karachi to Afghanistan continue to remain closed even six months after intensive negotiations between the U.S. and Pakistan.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) decided a few days ago to suspend all its activities in Pakistan, to put the local staff on paid leave for an indefinite period of time and to send most of its international staff back to headquarters to Geneva. It had to face for the first time in its 149 years of existence the horrific crime of a kidnapping of one of its international delegates which ended after four months with his beheading by the abductors. The British doctor was the third foreigner to be killed in Pakistan by kidnappers, sharing the fate of Daniel Pearl in 2002 and a Polish geologist in 2009. A recent bomb blast right in front of the ICRC's  Karachi office added to already existing concern about the safety of its staff. It is highly unusual for this organization to shut down all their activities, being accustomed to work in war zones and highly respected among all actors. The delegates leave with great sorrow about the situation and the future of the people they took care of.
A family connection, a father-in-law who was working for the ICRC during World War II in Berlin and Washington and me being Swiss myself, let me follow its activities with attention and sympathy.

A drive through the countryside in the light of the setting sun, crossing an adventurously narrow bridge, with a hairpin curve, and we reach the paradise of a beautiful estate on the shore of a river, chatting away hours in the pleasantly warm evening under a sky full of stars. The table is set splendidly in nature's dining room and as we sit down for a sumptuous dinner, a late guest arrives, in a white Shalwar Kameez, tall and athletic. There is an aura around Imran Khan, that lets everyone turn their heads and fills the atmosphere immediately with anticipation. He appears modest and unpretentious, his mission of fighting corruption in Pakistan, restoring law and order and confidence in the state institutions includes cutting back the number of ministries from presently 51 to around 20, raising interest and engagement in politics among the young Pakistanis, is met with great credibility, visible at this table among the guests.
There comes dessert, pot au chocolat, cherries and strawberries, and he talks to me about his two sons who live in London and don't speak Urdu, about beauty, in general, and in women...
A last cup of lemongrass tea and we all depart - a magical evening!

Hélas - the time has come for numerous formal farewell dinners and lunches and not so formal goodbye drinks, dinners and get togethers. The diplomatic corps currently posted in Islamabad seems to disperse and evaporate literally within a few weeks from now on. The intense friendship that is shared among the colleagues is reflected in the many inventive ways of celebrating these farewells and the deep emotions for friends and Pakistan are being expressed in a flurry of moving speeches. Slowly, most of the members of my beloved "Wild Gang" are moving on to new horizons, new challenges on new postings, being part of the species of the trailing spouses like me.

Along with the impending departure comes the shopping frenzy of all the goods that can only be purchased at the place we have to leave, not to be found in that quality, or price, or at all anywhere else! The tailor is being visited in ever increasing frequency and is challenged by diverse demands of wardrobes for different continents and climates. The carpet dealer is delighted about the great interest in his merchandise - even cat food found its way into the luggage of a departing friend.

A talented young guy at a local photo shop accomplishes miracles with our pictures - changing heads with matching better versions of us and adding - or erasing - a whole person's appearance! We spend hours glued to a tiny bar chair in a hot photo lab (no air conditioning, sorry, load shedding!), admiring his skills to the amusement of the whole staff present and discover, that gentlemen coming here for a passport photograph don't need to worry about their look: suit or tie, it's all in the photo shop, you choose your clothes by a finger point!