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.
Says Mian Mohd Bakhsh:
“Neechaan di ashnaai kolon feiz kise nah paaya
Kikar te angoor charhhaaya te har guchha zakhmaaya”.
@Commentators,
Bhutto split Pakistan not a General,
Bhutto should be hanged 24 times
Zia, as compared to Bhutto was an angel !!
I will welcome from anyone, a chronological encounter
of historical events, pls. consult history not GEO TV
Bhutto’s picture with Zia shaking hands is very telling.
He should have never allowed Zia to even shine his shoes.Army dictators are always there to destroy Pakistan.
Bhutto was born in a wrong country!
I was talking with one of my Bengali friend in Boston and he thinks that Bhutto was as much responsible for bloodshed in Bengal as was Pakistan Army.
So it all depends whom you are talking too. For some he was after God, for others he was evil.
Bhutto’s mother came from a poor family and was not treated well by some of her in-laws. This left a deep imprint on his mind. He genuinely and passionately cared for the poor and still rules their hearts in a manner no other Pakistani leader does or did. He was a great nationalist and an honest leader who stood up to the Army generals and America and did not compromise on his principles till his last moments even though a telephone with a hot line to Zia was put outside his death cell so that he could make a call for mercy but he chose death.