Forty years on, Bhutto’s legacy lives on in Pakistan
When would the vote be the only way for change? Who would be the first prime minister to finish his term? These are compelling questions before the country
On April 4, 1979, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was hanged in the dark of night. History would describe that hanging as a judicial assassination. My mother used to watch his speeches on television. Without grasping the meaning of politics, elections, government, parliament, opposition, election results and rigging, the elementary school, precocious me became interested in the words of people I saw on television. My fascination with politics began with Bhutto’s electoral victory in the 1977 general elections.
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, opening 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 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”. Unbeknown 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.”
Chillingly prophetic or politically farsighted, Bhutto’s words are the encapsulation of Pakistan’s political history from 1979 to 2019. Zia having hanged, arguably, the most loved political leader in the history of Pakistan, remains to date the longest-serving ruler of Pakistan.
Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz, having beaten Benazir’s party, became the prime minister on November 6, 1990. Benazir became the prime minister again on October 19, 1993. Sardar Farooq Ahmad 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 comes Imran Khan.
Poverty and corruption
In April 1996, former cricketer and philanthropist, Imran formed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Imran announced a movement against poverty and corruption. Not much attention was paid to Imran or his party. Fate winked. And before you could enunciate civilian supremacy, Sharif won the new election and became the prime minister for the second time on February 17, 1997.
Fast forward to November 19, 2019: Sharif on a chartered jet flew to London. The image of the opulent interior of the jet triggered a storm on social media. 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 the vote be 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.