Sadkey Tumhare. (For Your Sake)

twenty one

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The Pakistani Prince finally takes oath as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan. The youngest Prime minister in the history of the country.

Following his father's footsteps, the former foreign minister and chairman of Pakistan's largest political party, Zaydaan Ziagil finally took oath as the twenty second Prime Minister of Pakistan.

PM Ziagil had run a populist campaign this year, promising his people the same change that his father had promised five years ago.

Former PM, Idrees Ziagil sat in the front row, tearful as he watched his son take oath as the new Prime Minister.

Dressed in an all black Sherwani, the Prime Minister took oath at the Aiwan e Sadr in Islamabad.

PM Ziagil swore to "bear true faith and allegiance to Pakistan", and to "discharge my duties and perform my functions honestly, to the best of my ability... and always in the interest of the sovereignty, integrity, solidarity, well-being and prosperity of Pakistan" at his oath ceremony. 

Chief of the army staff, naval chief, Air Marshall Aslam, ambassadors of various countries and several famous personalities were present at the oath taking ceremony.

Prime Minister Ziagil's wife, Aaina Zaydaan was also present at the oath taking ceremony.

Dressed in a beautiful fancy shalwar kameez, she sat at the front row, smiling as she saw her husband take oath. PM Ziagil had disrupted the rumours of his marriage being a political alliance just months before the general elections.

Talking to the state run, PTV, Prime Minister Ziagil's brother and debutant member of the national assembly, Ahad Ziagil said "It's a very big day for not only my family but also for the whole country. My brother is very dedicated to bringing change in this country, the change that was promised five years ago is still under process, people are happy with us and under my brother's guidance, I'm sure they'll be ecstatic."

After taking the oath, PM Ziagil and First Lady Aaina greeted guests. Later, Mr Ziagil was presented a guard of honour at the Prime Minister House.

Pakistan hopes to flourish under the new democratic government. PM Ziagil and his supporters are hopeful that the fresh blood will change the fate of Pakistan.

Following are the images from yesterday's oath taking ceremony.

Prime Minister Zaydaan Ziagil in a custom made J. Sherwani.

Prime Minister Ziagil's wife, First lady in a custom Nomi Ansari dress.

Ahad Ziagil (Railway Minister) in a Republic shalwar kameez and waist coat. 

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Zaydaan.

Making a difference, changing the world. They sound like such big words, words that hold more meaning than they should.

If you want to make a difference, you need to start today. They say.

I say f**k making a difference, break the whole god damn wall down.

For as long as I can remember, I have been selfish. I have craved power, control and respect. I have craved it all, and now I have it.

But power, all kinds of power comes with a price. A price that we all have to pay.

The price I had to pay was sacrificing my entire personal life, the price I have to pay now is to work day and night, get s**t done and earn the appreciation of my people.

Personal life. What even was personal life for a politician? It was just a facade, it was a pawn you had that you could play or get played for, it was something you could sacrifice to have the power you so passionately craved.

When I was born, for the first few years, I was given whatever I wanted by my parents, but as I grew up, things changed.

I was given a choice by my father on the day I turned sixteen.

Be man enough to stand by my side or be a coward and live life on my money.

He had said. I had told him that one day, I would take away his power and make it my own.

And I did it.

But what price did I have to pay for it?

He gave me another choice that day.

Marry the woman you love and stick to being a minister or marry the girl that I chose for you and take the party chairmanship.

I chose power over love that day. And my heart got sealed in that exact moment.

There was no place for love in it anymore, no place to love a girl who was madly in love with me.

Because I had been in love with another woman since I was eighteen.

Minal had been the only person who understood me, who understood my personality and it was like I had a gift from God in her form.

But fate had been cruel and my own choices had killed the love we shared.

Making her believe that I didn't love her, that I never loved her was hard. Making my wife forget all the horrible things my lover had said was even more hard.

Aaina was pure, innocent, kind. Minal was savage, cunning and smart, except that she had a heart of gold. Personality wise, Minal was almost like me and Aaina, she was just a girl.

The moment I became the Prime Minister, the first person who had congratulated me was Minal, herself.

No matter what, I'm glad you're where you've always wanted to be. Congratulations Mr Prime Minister. 

Love, always. 

Your Mina.

Her text message had meant alot, and I was almost ready to meet her but then Aaina's confused face passed through my eyes and I couldn't help myself.

I made a mistake that day. I shouldn't have hugged her. It felt right, it did. But the very next day, instead of talking about me, they were talking about the fact that the Prime Minister had hugged his wife, that love had truly conquered.

It pissed me off.

I met with my chief of staff, several issues to be discussed.

Next, I met with my press manager and junior advisor, over looking the strategy for tomorrow's press conference.

"Hello everyone." I greeted my cabinet the moment I entered the hall.

"Prime Minister Sahab." They mumbled back.

"All good?" I questioned my cabinet members as they took their seats again.

"Yes,"

"We have work to do here." I was almost rude to the official photographer but he was used to my crude ways.

Flashes erupted for a few seconds before one of my guards opened the door.

“That’s enough,” He replied, waving them out.

I almost missed Sami, he didn't need to be told anything, he simply did things on his own.

The door shut and I looked at all the members of my cabinet, letting the taste of the silence sink in.

Even my immature, playful brother was silent. I knew Ahad was still angry at me for declaring him the railway minister but he deserved to go through some hard s**t. Giving him defense ministry would be like giving him the job of a governer, pointless.

Ahad didn't deserve to be here, he hadn't worked hard like father and he hadn't worked as hard as me either. Yes, I was served the party chairmanship, yes, I was here because of my father but I had given my blood, my sweat, my tears and even my love, just for the sake of the party.

But I just couldn't say no to my brother, so I gave him a job that was tough.

"You're all under forty, educated, mature individuals. I chose you all to be a part of my cabinet because honestly, I was getting really f*****g tired of old people telling us how to handle shit."

The whole room was filled with silence, my voice above everyone else's, just the way I liked.

"For the first time, my cabinet is gender balanced. You women always complain about not getting equal opportunities, well here, you have it. Prove that you're better than the men."

Making a gender balanced cabinet was both a good and a bad decision, but I was hoping that it would turn out to be an excellent one. I had faith in all these women, they were good at what they did. It was only the reaction of people that I truly feared.

"First hundred days will be crucial. Perform well or leave my cabinet, is that understood?"

They seemed intimidated, all of them.

“We’re going to have alot of work, there’ll be days when we sleep very little, eat very little, sometimes I won't let you people leave this very hall for hours. I want to be sure everyone understands this."

They mumbled their yes and ofcourse, focusing entirely on what I had to say.

I had to say alot, ofcourse.

But before I could proceed, Ahad's phone started to ring. I glared at him but my brother didn't seem to mind the fact that he had disturbed the entire cabinet.

"Ahad. What did I say about phone calls?" I questioned, leaning against the table.

"Sorry, bhai. It's Aaina,-"

Bhai. Aaina.

It pissed me off. Why did he have to be so unprofessional? I didn't want anyone to think that I was biased towards him, I wanted everyone to be treated equally but Ahad's friendly attitude towards me, I knew it would cause problems.

"Prime Minister." I reminded. "Give me the phone."

My wife had a habit of calling.

She would call and call, even if I would ignore her.

We hadn't slept in the same bed since the past three days, I needed her too but I had work to do now, I couldn't stay idle.

How would she even live this life if she didn't understand it?

If only she had been a little more mature, a little more educated.

I picked up the call, putting the phone near my ear.

"Ahad yaar, kidhar ho tum? I'm so tired of doing nothing, Zaydaan bhi call nahi utha rahe-" (Where are you, Ahad? Even Zaydaan isn't picking up the phone)

I wanted to yell at her, but somehow I controlled myself and cut the call, switching off my brother's phone.

"Okay, where was I?" I put it away, glancing at everyone.

"Right, we're announcing accountability across the country. No more black money, no more corruption."

"Open your files, the first ten names are put in the exit control list, tomorrow they're going under NAB's custody. I know that NAB is not a government owned organization but we've decided to work together, for the better."

Everyone opened their respective files, gasping and reading it thoroughly.

"Holy shit." Ahad commented, eyes widened with shock as he looked at me.

"Any problem?"

"Imran Uncle's name is on the list."

Aaina's father was the richest businessman, but he was also rich in money laundering, off shore companies, corruption.

And betrayal.

Nobody could betray me and get away with it.

I shrugged.

That asshole was going to pay.

"And?"

Yes, he was Aaina's father. So what? Aaina was mine now. Who cared what happened to her father? The same father who didn't give a crap about her.

"It's, he's-Can we talk in private?"

I wanted to say no, but somehow I knew he would create a scene if I had.

So I nodded, standing up.

I walked a few steps away, my brother standing close to me as he started to speak but before he could, I interrupted him.

"Ahad, this attitude is very unprofessional. Never do this again."

He rolled his eyes.

"Bhai, Imran Uncle is your father in law. He's the man who helped us, he's Aaina's father. Think of how she'll react the moment she sees this. She'll be devastated."

Does it look like I care?

"Imagine what the people will think. The PM doesn't care about his personal relations, if someone's wrong, they're wrong." I responded.

Ahad sighed.

"Bhai, you should talk to her first." I put my hand on his shoulder.

"I don't need you to tell me anything about my decisions."

If I had made a decision, I was going to stick to it.

"And Aaina needs to get over herself. Alot of s**t is coming her way, best that she gets prepared."

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