A Sneer for a Prince

In the 10th Century, Arab warriors from Bagdad knifed into western India and founded Bagdad-ul-Jadid (New Bagdad). When more Moslem immigrants spilled through the fertile valley of the Indus River, the Princely State of Bahawalpur was born.

The current Amir of Bahawalpur is 45-year-old Sir Sadiq Mohamed Kahn Abbasi Bahadur. He was polished by English tutors, became adept at tennis and polo. One of his four royal wives is British-born. The Amir, however, has never been strongly attracted by British ideas on democracy. He was one of India's most despotic rulers. When India was partitioned and Bahawalpur became Pakistan's second largest state, the Amir became one of the Moslem League's sharpest thorns.

This month, the Amir of Bahawalpur rounded out 25 years of rule with a lavish silver jubilee celebration in New Bagdad (pop. about 50,000). At dawn a 19-gun salute (since independence he has added two more to the 17 guns allotted by the British) thundered over the city, and the show was on. Through the streets of New Bagdad snaked a morning-long parade of elephants, camels, jeeps and ambulances. The Amir rode in a Rolls-Royce.

In Gulzar Mahal Palace, the Amir sat on a silver throne, fanned by two garishly uniformed attendants; a Negro jester clad in scarlet tunic stood at his elbow. The Amir was a mass of glittering green. His head was ringed by a gold and platinum crown studded with $3,000,000 worth of emeralds. More emeralds flashed from his silver-braided Moslem long coat and sword belt. Only his shoes, British-made black oxfords, were plain. While Arab minstrels wailed in the background, 500 red-fezzed subjects came up one by one, bowed, and dropped gold pieces (worth $7 each) at his feet.

Pakistan's Governor General Khwaja Nazimuddin and Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan graciously wired congratulations and promoted the Amir to lieutenant general in Pakistan's army. It was the Amir's turn to be gracious. As a climax to his fabulous shindig, he announced the first popular reform in the state's history: a 25-member state assembly. The Amir would pick nine members, leaving 16 to be chosen by a complicated system of indirect election.

Last week, as Bahawalpur prepared for elections, Moslem Leaguers were skeptical. They complained that the Amir's police had ripped down the Pakistan national flag in one village, and in others were persecuting wearers of the Jinnah cap (a Persian lamb fez which serves as party badge). In Lahore, the Daily Pakistan Times sneered that the Amir's political reform was "meaningless," his jubilee show "grossly out of keeping with the needs of our people."

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