Monday, July 5, 2021
Forty years later, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s words still haunt Pakistan
Mehr Tarar
‘More than my life is at stake. The future of Pakistan is at stake'
HIGHLIGHTS
- Forty years is too brief for a country to be fully in control of its fundamentals and its present and its future.
- Forty years is enough to form a picture of the actions taken, mistakes made, lessons learned, paths chosen, price that was paid, power paradigms that jostled, shifted and solidified, and rules of ruling Pakistan that were written and re-written so many times the exception became the norm.
Bhutto’s first arrest on July 5,1977 after the opposition’s unwillingness to accept the results of 1977 elections, in which his Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) gained majority, and he became the prime minister, opened the door to a Pakistan that rewrote its laws, its ethos, its principles. General Zia-ul-Haq’s midnight coup on July 5, 1977 is the gigantic shadow on Pakistan’s political dynamics. The coup happened under a justification that was as flimsy as Zia’s promise of holding free and fair elections in Pakistan after he self-placed on his head the thorny crown of chief martial administrator.
The two warring parties, Bhutto’s PPP and opposition’s Pakistan National Alliance, had “found a way out of the crisis, which could have served as a pretext for disruption of constitutional life.” Zia thought otherwise. He “insisted that he had intervened to save the country from bloodshed and chaos.” Unbeknownst to the stakeholders, the uneven fight between democracy and dictatorship became a permanent feature of the complex and controversial power paradigm of Pakistan. In September 1978, Bhutto wrote from his jail cell: “More than my life is at stake. Make no mistake about it. The future of Pakistan is at stake. If I am assassinated through the gallows...there will be turmoil and turbulence, conflict and conflagration.” A loved leader Chillingly prophetic or politically farsighted, Bhutto’s words are the encapsulation of Pakistan’s political history from 1979 to 2019. Forty years is too brief for a country to be fully in control of its fundamentals and its present and its future. Forty years is enough to form a picture of the actions taken, mistakes made, lessons learned, paths chosen, price that was paid, power paradigms that jostled, shifted and solidified, and rules of ruling Pakistan that were written and re-written so many times the exception became the norm. Zia having hanged, arguably, the most loved political leader in the history of Pakistan, remains to date the longest-serving ruler of Pakistan. His single-man reign lasted from 1977 to 1988. It could have gone on for much longer, who is to say. Zia died in a plane explosion on August 18, 1988. The very unfortunate death of Zia remains a mystery to date: who was behind his assassination?On December 2, 1988, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s daughter, Benazir Bhutto, 35, became the first female prime minister of Pakistan. She was also the first female Muslim prime minister in history. Democracy had won its first battle.The long-time ally of Zia, the new president of Pakistan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, empowered with 58-2(B), dismissed the government of Benazir on August 6, 1990 on accusations of “corruption, nepotism, and despotism.” Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan Muslim League, Zia’s political protégé, and Punjab chief minister after Zia’s party-less 1985 elections, having beaten Benazir’s party, became the prime minister on November 6, 1990. Apparently, President Ishaq Khan did not think too highly of the blue-eyed boy of his deceased leader. On April 18, 1993, using the omnipotent 58-2(B), he dismissed Sharif’s government. The allegations against Sharif were an echo of accusations against Benazir: “corruption and mismanagement of the economy”.
Sharif stated in a televised address that his removal was a conspiracy of Benazir and ‘drawing room’ plotters: “I wanted to clear the debris of the past...but the enemies of progress did not like this...They tried to stop my hand by conspiracies...My heart is full of secrets. If I reveal all, a multitude of people will take to the streets in expression of anger.”No ‘secrets’ were revealed, and no one took to any street in support of Sharif. Benazir became the prime minister again on October 19, 1993. Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari was the new president, one of the most respected PPP leaders, a minister in Bhutto’s 1975 government, and fiercely loyal to Bhutto. A different Pakistan, perhaps? Not so fast. President Leghari of PPP dismissed Benazir’s government on November 5, 1996. The accusations against her were “Karachi killings, disregard for federal institutions, ridiculing the judiciary, and corruption. Along came Khan. In April 1996, former cricketer and philanthropist, Imran Khan formed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Khan announced a movement against poverty and corruption. Not much attention was paid to Khan or his party. Fate winked.
And before you could enunciate civilian supremacy, Sharif won the new elections, and became the prime minister for the second time on February 17, 1997. Benazir went into her second self-exile. She returned in 2007. She was assassinated two months later. The first time was after her father’s judicial assassination. She returned in 1986 to a historic response. Then happened General Pervez Musharraf to Pakistan. Two decades after Bhutto’s hanging on the unproven accusation of conspiracy to murder of his political opponent, Mohammad Ahmad Khan Kasuri, then Chief of Army Staff General Musharraf overthrew Sharif’s government on the accusation of conspiracy to hijack his plane after removing him from his COAS post. It happened on October 12, 1999.Sharif was awarded life imprisonment. Musharraf’s ‘government’ approached the Sindh High Court to change that to death sentence. What happened next was the signing of a deal. The shadow of the hanging of Bhutto became the deciding factor or there were other imperatives in play, who is to say. The Sharifs accepted the deal, left Pakistan and went into self-exile in Saudi Arabia. They returned in 2007. Eleven years of tenuous democracy, Pakistan was back to single-man authoritarian rule. Musharraf did his ‘best’ to rewrite rules of dictatorship, unofficially headed Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, and went on ruling, upending Pakistan’s Constitution as and when it suited his power dynamics, until Benazir’s devastating assassination on December 27, 2007. Pakistan went into a state of collective shock and grief. Benazir’s PPP, now headed by her widower, Asif Ali Zardari, came to power in February 2008 elections. Musharraf resigned from his presidency on August 18, 2008. Zardari became the next president.
Musharraf’s self-exile lasted from 2008 to 2013. He returned to contest in the elections to save Pakistan from its ‘corrupt’ rulers. “My heart cries tears of blood when I see the state of the country today. I want to restore the Pakistan I left.” Outside Facebook, there were not many takers for his leadership.Musharraf charged In March 2014, in a twist fit to be in a Machiavellian plot, Musharraf was charged by court for treason. He was the first army chief to face that kind of a trial. Musharraf was “accused of unlawfully suspending the constitution and instituting emergency rule in 2007.” His plea is ‘not guilty’. His stance is consistent: the accusations against him are politically motivated. Reportedly, he could face the death penalty if convicted. He is still in self-exile. Yousaf Raza Gillani was the new prime minister. In June 2012, Gillani was removed by court “for his government's refusal to write to authorities in Switzerland asking them to re-open corruption cases against the president [Zardari].” His government survived. Swamped in accusations of bad governance and massive corruption, the 2008 PPP government became the first one in the history of Pakistan to complete its term.Nawaz Sharif became the prime minister again after the May 2013 elections. Third time lucky? Time would tell. And time did.On July 28, 2017, the Supreme Court of Pakistan disqualified Sharif in the Panama Papers case. His government survived. The allegation of corruption has been a constant motif in removal of prime ministers. The point to be noted: not a single prime minister of Pakistan has finished his or her full term. In July 2018, a few weeks before the general elections, Sharif arrived from London with his daughter Maryam Nawaz, and was jailed. On July 25, 2018, Imran Khan, triumphant after twenty-two years of political failure, secured a narrow victory against parties of Sharif and Bhutto-Zardari. Khan became the new prime minister. He formed government in Islamabad, Punjab, and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, for the second time. Once sworn in, Khan reiterated his years-long stance: no corrupt leader would be spared or given an NRO. Sharif remained in jail. NAB cases against opposition leaders made varied headlines. Some calls the process delayed but necessary justice. The opposition and their supporters call it political victimisation. The war of justice and victimisation wages, as Pakistan wrestles with economic instability and its unfortunate consequences, inflation being the main one for millions of Pakistanis. Musharraf on his departure from Pakistan in 2016 said: “I am a commando and I love my homeland. I will come back in a few weeks or months.” His arrival is still awaited. He is said to be suffering from serious health issues. Zardari is facing a NAB investigation, is under custody, and is reportedly suffering from serious health issues. He has not been charged, granted bail or released so far. Sharif allowed to travel Sharif was moved to a government hospital in October 2019 after his health deteriorated. Due to a dangerously low platelets count, he was given bail and allowed to go abroad for treatment. Khan government asked for a seven billion-rupee surety bond to allow Sharif to travel abroad. On November 16, the Lahore High Court dismissed the government’s demand. Sharif was given permission to go without posting any surety bond. A special court announced earlier this week that the verdict against Musharraf would be read on November 28 in the treason case. Pakistani rulers and courts continue to do their macabre tango. On November 19, 2019, Sharif in a chartered jet, described as an ICU-fitted air ambulance by Sharif’s chief physician and his party spokespersons, flew to London. The image of the opulent interior of the jet created a pandemonium on social media. Barely slept, having spent hours googling dates for various victories, dismissals, coups, jail and exiles, as I think of getting up to have some breakfast, I feel exhausted. A new prime minister, a new government, a new Pakistan, a new hope, a new today, dare I dream? My humanity wishes Nawaz Sharif all the best for his health. The Pakistani in me asks many questions. When would the system be ‘normal’? When would be the vote the only way for change? Who would be the first prime minister to finish his/her term? When would the process of accountability be fair and transparent, applicable to all? When would the rulers not have to leave Pakistan to save their lives? When would the rulers not flee Pakistan to save their political prospects and their assets? When would the rulers be accountable for their misdeeds without it being labelled political vengeance? When would the law be the same for all Pakistanis? In a Pakistan where countless wait for their appeals to be heard by courts, and many die without getting justice, why is the political elite treated differently? Prime Minister Imran Khan, on November 18, 2019, reiterated his vow: “Those who looted the country will be held accountable. No one can buy me, and I will not give NRO to anyone.” Forty years later, Pakistan is still broken.
https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/forty-years-later-zulfiqar-ali-bhuttos-words-still-haunt-pakistan-1.1574327654250
Remembering July 5th, 1977 & ouster of charismatic Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Shaheed
Munawar Anjum
A highly educated individual, a diplomatic and far-sighted politician to a well-read, and intuitive statesman, the man was extraordinary. Being a spellbinding orator, he proved his mettle with his intellect and eloquence, and the world came to know him as a master politician. He remains to date the most loved political leader in Pakistan’s history with a huge countrywide following. Just as Pakistan came into being with the power of the vote, Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Shaheed holds this unique privilege that he was the first elected Prime Minister in the history of Pakistan who rose to power with an electoral majority. July 5th, 1977, is marked as a “Black Day” in Pakistan’s political and constitutional history when a dictator ousted the country’s elected prime minister out of his lust for power. The first elected government was toppled by force, and the 3rd martial law was imposed in the country. That day turned back the wheel of progress, and Pakistan lost its diplomatic relations and international rapport. Democratic forces in Pakistan haven’t still forgotten that fascist act of General Ziaul Haq. It’s been 44 years since the 1st elected government of Pakistan was unseated. July 5th was the darkest day in the history of Pakistan when the founder of PPP and 1st elected Prime Minister of Pakistan was dismissed. General Zia-ul-Haq, then chief of army staff (COAS), overthrew the 1st elected government of Pakistan by falsely accusing it of rigging the general elections, imposed martial law, and pushed the country into a morass of darkness. The first democratically elected prime minister was incarcerated. Nearly two years after this dictatorial move of general Zia-ul-Haq, the spectacular leader of the Muslim world, Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was executed on April 4, 1979. However, history testifies that national and international political analysts acclaim and honor his political vision to date. Bhutto’s image still lives on without fail in national politics. This kind of fervor and adoration is not reserved for ordinary mortals. The vision and ideology on which Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Shaheed laid the foundation of PPP are still alive, and the workers of PPP carry his legacy forward under the leadership of Chairman Bilawal Bhutto. Mr. Bhutto Shaheed played a crucial role in making Pakistan the 1st Muslim nuclear power globally and establishing a peaceful and progressive image of Pakistan. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the 1st leader who gave the country a constitution equally acceptable to all political parties. General Zia-ul-Haq ‘s martial law derailed the democratic process and hollowed the country’s moral roots. History will neither forgive nor forget Bhutto’s assassination, and it will always be marked as the darkest era in the democratic history of Pakistan.
On July 5th, 1977, democratic thinking was curbed, seeds of sectarianism, nationalism were planted, and terrorism raised its ugly head.Then the chief of army staff, General Zia-ul-Haq, in an authoritarian move, struck the axe of martial law against an elected government and promised to organize free and fair elections within 90 days. However, the promise remained unfulfilled till the tyrant went to his grave. July 5th marks an unfortunate black day in the history of Pakistan when Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s democratically elected government was overthrown in the dark of night. Today any mention of General Ziaul Haq will be blown away by a waft of disdain and negativity. The country still has not been able to extricate itself from the ill effects of the fascist Zia regime. The nation will have to wait for decades to mitigate the damage done to the political, administrative, and constitutional framework at the hands of the dictator. Dictatorship in any form is always an instrument of maneuvering of imperial powers. It considers national and state interests only an afterthought and of secondary importance.Ziaul Haq held the country hostage of colonial powers, used its resources to benefit them, and handed over the Siachen Glacier in a plate to the enemy.He didn’t even care for his country and region and victimized it for the personal gains of the outsiders.Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s services for Pakistan are undeniable. His feat of making Pakistan an atomic power and setting it free from India’s terror will always be written in golden words. Gen Ziaul Haq tried to eliminate Bhuttoism by assassinating Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.However, in a karmic justice of history, Bhutto shaheed still rules people’s hearts while the dictator was made a disgrace for the rest of the world. Although it’s been 44 years since July 5th, 1977, careful observation of the state of affairs reveals that we are still standing there where we were 44 years ago. The only difference is that faces have changed. Four decades ago, the political figures, journalists, and representatives of civil societies were targeted, imprisoned, and flogged. Freedom of speech was curbed, and openly criticizing the dictatorial. Gen Majid Malik (late) writes in his book “Hum Bhi Wahan Maujood Thai” that “In a bid to gain the favor of Bhutto, Ziaul Haq set such belittling examples of flattery that were unprecedented and against the traditions of the army. Zia-ul-Haq was appointed as lieutenant general and was handed over the command of Multan Corps. One day Bhutto had to visit Multan. Zia-ul-Haq ordered that all the officers of our corps welcome Bhutto by standing in a queue on the road. When Bhutto arrived, Zia-ul-Haq and all other officers welcomed Bhutto by standing on the roadside. This was totally against the ethics of the army.” To woo Bhutto, Ziaul Haq used such tactics that a shrewd politician like Bhutto was also beguiled by it. Bhutto started seeing him as a kind-hearted, considerate, and harmless individual. He was also a migrant and didn’t belong to any particular region. Had no intense lobbying in the army; therefore, Bhutto thought he was the most suitable army chief for his government. It was Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who, in a way, choreographed the emergence of the Islamic Block by hosting an Islamic Summit at Lahore, gathered all the Muslim countries on one platform, and made invaluable decisions for the unity of Muslim Ummah. Due to the achievements of the first truly elected prime minister of Pakistan, the world’s developed countries felt threatened by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. The way Mr. Bhutto highlighted the Kashmir conflict in the United Nations is unparalleled. To designate May 5th as the “Kashmir Day ” and the Simla Accord are the most outstanding achievements of Bhutto Shaheed. Apart from this, history is full of such distinguished feats of Bhutto shaheed. A ruthless and tyrant immolated a historical figure such as Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto for his lust for power.
https://pakobserver.net/remembering-july-5th-1977-ouster-of-charismatic-zab/
July 5 is black day in history of #Pakistan: Bilawal Bhutto
https://nation.com.pk/05-Jul-2021/july-5-is-black-day-in-history-of-pakistan-bilawal-bhutto
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