KARACHI – As supporters and diehard workers of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chanted “Tum Kitnay Bhutto Maro Gay, Har Ghar Say Bhutto Niklay Ga” on the third death anniversary of their slain leader Benazir Bhutto Shaheed on Monday, memories of Benazir’s last meeting with senior journalists in Karachi resurfaced in my mind.
About a month before her tragic murder, Benazir Bhutto invited a few senior journalists to Bilawal House to discuss with them PPP’s strategy for the 2008 elections, Pervez Musharraf, and the American strategy regarding PPP and Benazir Bhutto.
Along with Shaheen Sehbai, Nasir Abbas, Mahmood Shaam, Nazir Leghari, and Saeed Khawar, I attended that meeting – unfortunately, it proved to be BB’s last interaction with Karachi-based senior journalists. Benazir was accompanied by her most trusted comrades, Dr Fahmida Mirza, Naheed Khan, Safdar Abbasi, and Sherry Rehman.
The first issue that Mohtarma took up with journalists was the 2008 general elections, which were just around the corner. BB asked us whether her party should boycott the polls amid reports of rigging. Almost all media representatives suggested that her party should not give a free hand to opponents of the PPP in the elections.
Benazir completely agreed with this viewpoint, and said that her party wouldn’t leave the field open for her rivals. Benazir then spoke to us the dual containment policy of the United States.
She candidly told us that on the one hand, the US was assuring her of their support but on the other, they (the US officials) were also continuing their support to the then President Pervez Musharraf. “If the US continues to support Musharraf, how will the PPP be able to win the elections given the reports of rigging,” she feared.
Apprehensions and insecurities vis-a-vis the American role were many, but each and every person sitting before Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed was of the opinion that this must not deter the PPP from participating in the elections. During the meeting, Benazir Bhutto also spoke about the Karsaz blast on October 18, 2007, when a PPP procession organised to welcome her upon her return from exile was attacked.
More than 140 people were killed in the blast which was aimed at eliminating Benazir Bhutto. Reports of threats to here life emerged true on the very first day of her return to Pakistan. I also remember that Benazir talked about a phone call made to her as she was boarding the flight to Karachi from Dubai. Naheed Khan received that call, and later told BB that an influential caller was urging her to stop BB from returning to Pakistan as there were severe threats to her life.
BB said she ignored the message and boarded the plane. She ended the meeting by concluding that threats wouldn’t deter her from participating in the elections, and that she would continue her struggle for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan. She said that she was ready to sacrifice her life for the restoration of democracy.
Sacrifice she did, and on December 27, 2007, she was martyred in Rawalpindi under mysterious circumstances blast outside Liaquat Bagh. Three years ago, she bid farewell with the slogan “Tum Kitnay Bhutto Maro Gay, Har Ghar Say Bhutto Niklay Ga.” Three years later, her supporters continue to uphold the slogan and her legacy.
