ISLAMABADb – Opposition Leader Nisar Ali Khan on Monday said that 99.9 percent Pakistanis believed that the hanging of former prime minister and PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was unjustified and he himself believed that Bhutto was not given a fair trial. During his speech in parliament on the presidential address, Nisar alleged that the government was trying to kill two birds with one stone by filing a reference to reopen the Bhutto case with the apex court.
He said it was interesting that although the rulers were reluctant to share Benazir Bhutto’s murder report even with the PPP’s central executive committee, they wanted the apex court to settle a disputed case after a lapse of 32 years. Nisar also came hard on Law Minister Babar Awan without naming him. He time and again referred to the law minister’s public support for ZA Bhutto’s hanging, arguing why with the same vigour, he was now asking the judiciary to probe into the controversial case. “It’s a pity that the reference has been prepared and filed by a person who had publicly welcomed the court verdict and had even distributed sweets on Bhutto’s hanging.
Let sanity prevail within the PPP and the PPP leaders should be told whether the man has sought forgiveness,” he said. He said the “man” should also seek forgiveness from the people of Pakistan for his dual character. “He should tell the nation which of his act was right. He should tell who the martyr is, Bhutto or General Zia,” he argued without naming the law minister, who had reportedly distributed sweets on Bhutto’s hanging and has also called Gen Zia a martyr in his articles written after his death.
Nisar said the PPP reference was based on weak grounds and none of the lawyers, even belonging to the PPP, thought that the reference was justified.
Nisar also referred to the law minister as a person who even was not able to get himself elected as a councilor, while the PPP government had made a mockery of the democratic process by making him a minister.
