Arsalan Iftikhar… Remember him? Who could forget him? Infamous in Pakistan for his endeavors in helping a certain Mr. Malik Riaz.

Malik Riaz… Remember him? Well, that’s a whole other rollercoaster ride.

Arsalan Iftikhar’s story begins with the lawyers movement; the one where his father was at the helm. His father rode his 4X4 SUV all the way to the capital and reclaimed his position as Chief Justice of Pakistan, becoming the hero of the people.

If my memory serves me, I seem to recall a certain Mr. Sharif supporting the movement whole heartedly and even riding alongside Mr. Chaudry to Islamabad.

Anyhow, back on his seat, Chief Justice Mr. Chaudry started Suo Moto’ing left and right and dragged everyone he could to court. However, this wild ride doesn’t end there… Mr. Iftikhar Chaudry’s true test came when reports of his son’s, Mr. Arsalan Iftikhar, corruption surfaced.

Under immense pressure, our hero Chaudry Iftikhar, had to Suo Moto his own son. A Suo Moto, which eventually led to the implication of Mr. Arsalan in a financial impropriety case in 2012, where it was said that he received approximately PKR 400 million from Malik Riaz in order to influence judicial proceedings.

They say, ‘Raat gayee, baat gayee’, but in this case, maybe not!

Since his cases, Mr. Arsalan has kept a low profile, but not his hero father; Mr. Chaudry has kept on swinging his bat at anyone that he doesn’t fancy; most of them being the political opponents of Mr. Sharif.

Now this as you know is Pakistan folks. Nothing here goes un-rewarded. Mr. Sharif got Mr. Chaudry his kursi back and Mr. Chaudry may just have had a hand in helping Mr. Sharif get on to his.

So the rollercoaster moves on, and by the time Mr. Iftikhar senior retires Mr. Nawaz Sharif is in total control of the country (except of course for Balochistan..and Waziristan…and FATA… oh and Karachi!).

And finally it is time for Mr. Sharif to again scratch Mr. Chaudry’s back.

Enter the infamous Iftikhar Junior, who is now Dr. Arsalan Iftikhar. Why don’t we give this strapping young lad some high up position?

Thus, on 21st June, 2014 Arsalan Iftikhar was appointed the Vice Chairman of the Board of Investment, Balauchistan. The criminal cases against him and his tainted past didn’t seem to make any difference and an extremely important post was handed over to him – in my opinion – as a reward for the services rendered by his father.

The backlash was severe as it was evident what had happened. It was so bad that the PML-N handpicked CM of Balauchistan had to go on record to clarify that he was the one who appointed Arsalan and that it had nothing to do with his father’s influence and that Arsalan had great potential to attract investment to Balauchistan.

REALLY?!

Believe it or not, this rollercoaster ride is STILL not over! News just came in that Mr. Arsalan has resigned from his position of Vice Chairman as of 3rd July, 2014 citing opposition from certain politicians as the reason.

Oh! And I suppose the continuous barrage of criticism and hostility that came his way had nothing to do with it.

My feeling is that we haven’t seen the end of this ride yet and Mr. Arsalan will resurface very soon.

Pray my prediction doesn’t come true!