Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was a leader of international fame and stature. His daughter Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was trained and groomed by her illustrious father. Both of them studied in prestigious universities and colleges and were well versed in international law and politics. Just like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, his daughter had her power base in Punjab too and both never allowed themselves to be ever associated with provincial or ethnic biases. It is unfair of those who lay claim to be political heirs of Bhutto legacy to reduce stature of these two great political leaders of Pakistan to their province of domicile.
Repetitive use of Sindh card on the occasion of their death anniversaries is an insult to the memory of these larger than life politicians. It should be borne in mind by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and his father that ZAB was judiciously murdered by the establishment and hanged in a prison located in Rawalpindi Jail, which is near the federal capital Islamabad. It was in Punjab and KP that his jiyalas self-immolated themselves to condemn his hanging and not in Sindh.
Similarly, the first attempt to assassinate Benazir Bhutto was in Karachi, when she landed there on 18 October 2007. It was such a brutal and ferocious attack that almost 150 people were killed. However, as fate would have it, she miraculously escaped the attack, but fell victim to the assassin’s second attempt at Rawalpindi while she was leaving after addressing a mammoth public meeting at Liaquat Bagh. Why is the present PPP leadership trying to reduce ZAB and BB to the status of political leaders from Sindh, instead of leaders of Pakistan and not just of Punjab or KP or Balochistan or Sindh or AJK?
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore
