Gunfight at the OK Corral
The Birth Anniversary of late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto the founder-Chairman of PPP, was celebrated with some fervour by his heirs and their supporters, principally in Larkana and at his gravesite nearby in Garhi Khuda Baksh. If he had been alive, the late lamented leader would probably have wished that the fireworks display would have been of the non-lethal kind and better targeted in the air than at each other between his surviving siblings. At least three innocent people lost their lives in the firefight between the police and Murtaza supporters including a policeman on duty who died a lingering death due to a bullet-inflicted stomach wound. What had been taken universally as a stage-managed farce in continuation of the drama (the incarceration of Mir Murtaza Bhutto) played out to placate the doubts of those who were turned off at the Prodigal Son’s terrorist connections (Al-Zulfikar, RAW, etc) has suddenly turned deathly serious. The entire exercise may or may not have been a “Noora Kushti” meant to distance the PPP hierarchy from the terrorist overtones acquired by extremists among the Party elements over the Martial Law years, the initiation of a cycle of bloodletting has created new dynamics, unleashing demons lower down the pecking order that may run totally out of control. Others may revel in the never ending misadventures of the Bhutto family as regards familial peace and harmony but this is a continuing tragedy that must come to an end. For the sake of the Bhutto family and the Pakistan Peoples Party, sane counsel must prevail to terminate this insanity. While the functioning of the government may not have come to a standstill, it has certainly been severely affected to the detriment of the people of Pakistan. Despite her personal travails (and possible anguish), Ms Benazir has managed an extremely brave front, essentially remaining a class act.
The divisions within the PPP has brought into sharp focus the deliberate inaction of the government during its 90-day “honeymoon period” and raised an element of doubt about the continued stability of the Federal Government if they continue to get bogged down and distracted by such internecine quarrels. It is understandable that Ms Benazir should proceed with caution as compared to the frenetic activity of her first period of reign but the public needs to see some movement to offset its in-built cynicism at government apathy. Given the fact that some initiatives have been taken on the domestic front, in the Economy and Social Sectors as well as in Foreign Affairs, it would be unfair to state that the Government has gone into a state of suspended animation. It is also true that the results on many initiatives will not be discernible for some time but in two critical areas of concern that the PPP propagated as their “specialties” for early solution, Kashmir and the nuclear issue, we seem to have come to a rather sudden dead-stop, even giving the impression that we may be worse off than we were. Though it is too early to tell yet, Sardar Assef Ali seems to be a good choice for Federal Minister. Why such an articulate individual was not used by Mian Nawaz Sharif in a public role of some consequence remains a mystery. His political predecessor Siddique Khan Kanju, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in the IJI Government, had established an enviable reputation, giving a clearcut impression of sincerity and credibility, carrying his Foreign Office colleagues with him in effectively expressing Pakistan’s viewpoint in all forums. Siddique Kanju’s track record will be an hard act to follow.
Sardar Assef Ali comes across as a much more garrulous and flamboyant personality but the logjam strangulating our foreign policy may be beyond individual capabilities since they are more the creation of new emerging geo-political realities and the dynamics of forces beyond our control. Since no Pakistani has a better image abroad than Ms Benazir, she remains Pakistan’s best “Foreign Minister”. As an individual and as a democratic leader the PM excites universal favourable impression in governmental and public perception, particularly in the west. While that is an undeniable fact of life, the sight of her tearful and distraught mother recently on BBC and CNN removing the mantle of decency and civility that the PM cloaks herself with was not conducive to the perpetuation of that image, both as an individual and (by extension) to her stature as a democratic leader with deep-rooted beliefs in the qualities of principle and justice. This episode has been an unmitigated PR disaster and requires swift action by the regime’s “damage control” specialists. In the past almost all the allegations hurled against Ms Benazir have deflected off her by what seems to be a superior version of Reagan’s famous Teflon-hide, mainly because she was seen as the underdog. The accusations of the mother on Prime Time TV, though bordering on hysteria, have been extremely damaging to her personal image. From a beleaguered waif standing against the forces of evil and the champion of the fight against oppression, she is now being portrayed by her own mother as an unfeeling autocrat in the same mould as her former oppressions. An urgent solution to the continuing family saga is extremely necessary.
The deaths of innocents was an event that could have been avoided. Being incarcerated in prison, Mir Murtaza Bhutto had no choice but to use his father’s birthday as a symbolic event to highlight his claims as a political leader in his own right. The resort to macho-politics to highlight his present predicament was thus predictable. Knowing that the occasion was bound to degenerate into a no-win situation, Ms Benazir could have handled the situation in a more mature fashion by not going eyeball to eyeball. On her part the show of strength was not necessary, as a matter of fact it highlights a basic insecurity of her position. A confrontation became inevitable when almost the whole PPP hierarchy as well as the Federal and Sindh Provincial Cabinet descended en-masse on Larkana City. Besides the wasteful expenditure on what essentially should have been a private affair, the personality cult propagation does not sit well in today’s world. More importantly, Larkana was set up as a potential battlefield for a family feud, a powder keg waiting to explode. That lives would be lost on either side was a foregone conclusion. It was also safe to conjecture that innocents rather than the main protagonists would be in the line of fire.
Credible observers present in Larkana on January 5 give a coherent sequence of events that lays blame on both the sides. To summarize briefly, Murtaza supporters who were holed up in Al-Murtaza tried to break the police cordon around the house to go to the grave of late Z.A. Bhutto 10 kms away. When the police resisted this pressure, the mood got violent and the crowd started stoning the law enforcement agencies, who retaliated by teargassing. After a short period of back and forth of this, a group of Murtaza fans from outside tried to break the police cordon. Firing generally started from both the sides at about this time. At least one person inside the Al-Murtaza compound died immediately while a number were badly wounded while two persons including one police constable were grievously injured. Among the Al-Murtaza injured was the notorious Suresh Kumar, a RAW-trained terrorist, who promptly escaped from hospital (OPD) after being treated for his injuries. What this confirmed Agent Provocateur was doing in Al-Murtaza does not need much imagination, why he is being stoutly defended by Mrs. Nusrat Bhutto is most mystifying as it gives credence to Mir Murtaza Bhutto’s RAW links. Mrs. Nusrat Bhutto has maintained that when Ms Benazir was not PM she had visited PPP activist Suresh Kumar’s house in sympathy of the lashes he received during the Zia era. However, the PM cannot be held at fault for not checking the antecedents of all that she meets in her political mode as a part of public life. The Suresh Kumar-escape evading the police cordon around the hospital is something that needs to be very strictly enquired into. The fact that the ISI got him before he crossed over into India is reason for kudos, we await the results of his disclosures.
In stark relief, a birthday bash thus became a tragic bone of contention. Instead of celebrating the advent of life, three human sacrifices were given over at the altar of ego. What about the families of these poor people? This is one gunfight that was eminently avoidable. Moreover, the family laundry went on public display. To quote Bernard Shaw, “if you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance”. No daughter would ever wish that the police fire a hail of bullets at the house inhabited by the mother who gave birth to her. When the force of circumstances reduces a daughter to doing just that, it becomes a matter of serious concern to the populace at large. Whether or not one agrees with her or not, one can only feel pity at the mess the PM has got herself embroiled in.
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