Adil Najam
Today, April 4, marks the death anniversary of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
There is probably no other political figure since Mohammad Ali Jinnah who has left as deep and lasting a shaddow on Pakistan politics as Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB). You can love him or hate him, but you cannot possibly ignore him.
Those who love him, love him with a passion that few – if any – other Pakistani leaders evoke. Those who hate him – and many seem to do – do so with equal ferocity. No one I know is indifferent to him.
I use the words “love” and “hate” because the intensity of people’s views on him cannot really be captured by dispassionate terms such as “like” and “dislike” alone. Whatever else we might think of him, no one can deny his intensity, or the intensity with which Pakistanis of all generations – including those who have never even seen him – talk about him.
So today, on his death anniversary, let me not talk about my views on him. Let him talk to us himself. In his own words and in his own unique and passionate style.
A truly terrible event that occurred in Bhutto
I am sorry, even though the Ahmedia decision was a big big mistake and injustice, I DO NOT think that it is the CAUSE of all the mess we are now in. Lets not mix up things. I agree that was wrong and an injustice. But lets not be one-track about this either.
The problems you are seeing in Pakistan all stem from the decision that Bhutto took on teh Ahmedis and that has led to the rising power of the Mullahs. You reap what you sow!
I think ZAB regretted many things during his last days. His lawyer mentions something in passing in this BBC interview. I am not sure what he exactly meant though.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/multimedia/2009/04/09040 4_090404_bhutto_anniversary.shtml
Of all of Bhutto’s legacies, his decision on Ahmadis is the most tragic. I cannot imagine how he did this and why he did not thin of the consequences.
Oddly, of all his sins this is the one that is talked about the least and is the one that is least reversible.
I do not think we have slipped as deep into Mullahcracy as we have BECAUSE of this decision, but I do know that this decision was the first step towards the mess we are in and should have been the first indication of just how horrible it is to mix religion and government.
I fear that there is no scenario in which I see this being reversed anytime soon!!!
May Allah forgive all of us Pakistanis on what we have done here!