On Tuesday, Interior Minister Rehman Malik briefed the Sindh Assembly in detail on the murder of Benazir Bhutto, twice elected prime minister of Pakistan. Ms Bhutto was killed on December 27, 2007. A Sindh Assembly resolution had asked that the findings of the murder investigation be made public. Mr Malik did not reveal anything new as such. He said that the government would approach Interpol for the arrest of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf as he had not provided adequate security to Ms Bhutto. Mr Musharraf on the other hand has denied his involvement in Ms Bhutto’s murder, saying that her security was mainly the responsibility of the provincial government and matters relating to her primary security were handled by her party workers. Mr Malik said that a joint investigation team (JIT) has come to the conclusion that both the October 18 and December 27 attacks on Ms Bhutto were planned and executed by al Qaeda and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “Both Pervez Musharraf and militants based in FATA considered Benazir Bhutto a threat for themselves as she was a strong proponent of democracy and democratic values,” said Mr Malik. In an interview with this paper published on October 5, 2007, one of Baitullah Mehsud’s close friends had quoted Mehsud as saying, “My men will welcome Bhutto on her return.” The men accused of Ms Bhutto’s murder — Baitullah Mehsud, Ilyas Kashmiri and Abu Ubaidullah Misri — are all dead. Thus, it would be difficult to establish their role. Rehman Malik said that the plan to assassinate her was formulated in Darul Uloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak but the madrassa spokesman has rejected this accusation. Mr Malik did clarify a few things. Initially it was said that Ms Bhutto’s post-mortem was not conducted at the behest of her family but now it has been revealed that the police officer on duty did not allow the doctor to go ahead with an autopsy. Mr Malik said that they are now prosecuting the officers responsible for this negligence.
Some people have observed that the Sindh Assembly resolution and Mr Malik’s briefing was an attempt at political point scoring in order to gain political capital. Given that the next general elections may be held in a few months time, this cannot be ruled out. But whatever the motives behind this public hearing, these claims, counter-claims and accusations are not very helpful and Ms Bhutto’s murder still remains unresolved. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The basic question is: did al Qaeda and the TTP act on their own or was there anyone else masterminding the whole plot? Before her death, Ms Bhutto wrote that she would hold General Musharraf responsible if anything happens to her, apart from the names she sent in a letter to Musharraf (former IB chief Brigadier (retd) Ijaz Shah, PML-Q’s Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Arbab Ghulam Rahim and former ISI chief General Hamid Gul). Why has nobody deemed it fit to question the role of former IB chief Ijaz Shah and ISI chief Hamid Gul apart from the politicians named in her letter? Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is now part of the ruling coalition of Ms Bhutto’s own party. The actual tools may have been provided by al Qaeda and the TTP but the PPP is not grasping the real nettle, perhaps for fear the military establishment would be annoyed if they do so. The nation deserves answers.
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