Though former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has switched careers to being a touring speaker, he is still to get over his authoritarian ways.
At a recent talk in Baltimore in the United States -- which did not find mention in the local newspapers -- one small incident seemed to have provoked Musharraf's dormant presidential arrogance and also his enmity with India.
American magazine The New Republic, however, did report the incident.
Musharraf was talking on the US's foreign policies to a learned audience of about 2,000 Baltimore citizens, when a voice from the crowd forced him to halt.
A burly South Asian man raised his voice once again and shouted 'Dictator'. Musharraf could not contain his anger and shouted back to the man, 'Yes, I was.'
And continued, 'I wish you were there so I could have handled you also.'
The volley of words could have ended at this point; however, the audience had more drama in store.
When Musharraf began speaking on India-Pakistan relations, he could not stop himself from getting back at the man who had heckled him.
He turned towards the side of the audience where the burly man sat and said, 'Maybe the gentleman who's talking belongs to India.'
The man shouted back saying he was from Baluchistan, a country bordering Afghanistan and Iran, to which Musharraf shot back, 'In Baluchistan, people like you who want to get away from Pakistan need to be sorted out.
'That is what I didÂ…
'If you were there, you would have been sorted out by me. He thinks I'm a dictator. I'm a dictator for people like you!' Musharraf thundered in the hall.
In a satisfying finish to Musharraf, the audience clapped at the clincher and the talk resumed.
