President Asif Ali Zardari has sent a reference to the Supreme Court under article 186 of the constitution to reopen the case of Zulifkar Ali Bhutto to give its opinion on the death sentence awarded to ZAB by Lahore High Court and subsequently upheld by Supreme Court in March 1979 in a split verdict. It was PPPs promise to the people during the election that it will rectify a historic wrong. Zia-ul-haq used judiciary to live another day.
Zulifkar Ali Bhutto was convicted on an evidence whose authenticity is questionable. There are hundred of historical wrongs done by military dictators and political leaders during the last 63 years of chequered history of Pakistan. Who will revisit them? Instead of PPP fulfilling its promise of roti, kapra aur makan, it is diverting its attention from the real issues.
Why has the ZAB judicial murder become so important at this time for the PPP? Why did Benazir Bhutto not ask for reopening of this case during her two tenures as PM?
The present government has done little for the peoples welfare. Instead of implementing judiciarys verdicts, it is finding the excuses for challenging the past misdeeds of the judiciary. Instead of chasing the past, the mystery of Benazirs murder should be solved first.
S T HUSSAIN
Lahore
