Pakistan today is like an airplane lost within a thundercloud, running on autopilot. Both its coordinates and destination were set by previous crew members, who have long since parachuted out. Passengers on board have had the sinking feeling that trouble is afoot, but are paralysed about doing anything. They have watched crew member after crew member either jump through the escape hatch or be pushed out – shady hunks in khakis, mostly, but also the rare trustworthy one.
The captain, Asif Zardari, took over when his wife was shoved out of the plane. His first officer, Nawaz Sharif, is there by virtue of his one-time benefactor, General Zia ul-Haq, who was forced to jump off after CIA operatives tied a crate of mangoes carrying explosives to him. Back in the passenger cabin, every so often, the passengers are shown photographs of the grinning faces of the two pilots, to assure them that the plane is still in safe hands. But there is a lack of sparkle and empathy in their eyes.
Air-traffic control is in the hands of Former-General-Current-President Pervez Musharraf, supported by the Americans. It was the latter who built the plane's autopilot in the first place, and are now the only ones with any idea about the pre-programmed flight plan. Unfortunately, even they cannot quite remember the details, nor why there are still so many bugs in the system, which keep affecting the flight path.
Suddenly, a violent thumping on the terrorist-proof door disturbs the peace inside the locked cockpit. Outside, deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and his attorney, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, having caught wind of the plot taking place inside, are trying to force their way through. Meanwhile, pandemonium has broken out in the passenger cabin. A mullah from NWFP with a largish beard announces that he is the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. While the agitated passengers look at him incredulously, from the back of the cabin a man in cricketing whites, who had earlier been talking to the mullah, declares himself Master Tara Singh. Jinnah and Singh launch into a bhangra dance in the aisles, but they have lost the attention of the agitated passengers, who have suddenly collapsed in their seats. Something is wrong with the thermostat; they are sweating bullets and getting sick to their stomachs, desperately seeking in-flight attendants, who have also evacuated the aircraft. Fearing more trouble, on-board security eventually locks up the two mad entertainers in the toilet.