Adil Najam
On the first death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto we had carried a post asking “What if she had not been killed?” Today, on the 22nd death anniversary of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) it may be a good time to ask the same question about him.
On previous anniversaries of ZAB’s death we have asked you to comment on Mr. Bhutto and his legacy and about the rationale and reasoning given for his death by his nemesis, Gen. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. This time let us think a little about what his death meant for Pakistan – and, thereby, for all the rest of us.
Of course, one expects a lot of naara baazi from both his supporters and his detractors. That is merely to be expected. But beyond the black and white slogans there was the man and the legacy of the man that has clearly impacted much of what has happened since his death, especially because of the nature of his removal.
Indeed, one could suggest that there are at least two separate questions here: What might have happened had Zia Ul Haq’s coup not happened and if Bhutto had lived on? And, what might have happened if Bhutto had not been hung after the trial?
How might have the PPP evolved in either of those cases? What would these have meant for Pakistan’s politics as a whole? And Pakistan’s economy and foreign relations? Pakistani institutions?
I am not presupposing any answer, nor am I suggesting that these are questions that can be logically answered precisely. But they may be questions worth thinking about today; not just to speculate about how might have happened, but much more important to think about how our acts of political expediency today can have long and deep shadows – nearly always unintended, quite often consequential, and sometimes historically disastrous even for those who orchestrate them.
A lot more questions can be raised:
Why has there been no one like ZAB again? Why has the country been pulled from bad to worse after every progressive leader? Why are the leaders of our political party so self-absorbed, spineless and simply put, idiots? Seriously, whenever I see any of them on TV, I want to cover my face in shame…none of them are worth being there! Then again, we have supported them and put them where they are today! We, as a nation, have failed in producing a leader worth being under! Apart from Imran Khan maybe but unfortunately he hasn’t been able to garner as much support because the level of education in Pakistan is still horrendously low.
The key lies in Education, the more the people get educated, the more wiser decisions we can make as a nation!
پھندا ایک تھا اور گردن دو. ایک نہ ایک نے تو لٹکنا تھا . اب ایک ملک جو فوج کی پرورش کے لیا بنا ہو اس مے ضیاء تو لٹکنے سے رہا. سیستدان سب غدّار اوم سب نکممے. ضیاء نہ ہوتا تو کوئی اور ایوب خان یا مشرّف آ جاتا.
Although the so-called judicial murder of the man who was the chief protagonist of democracy as well as mobcracy has been a black spot in our history lessons yet their lies a bigger lesson behind it.
The question is not that what would have happened if? But what have we learnt from it? As per today neither the political party Bhutto formed is replicating and adhering, his philosophies nor any other political leader has ever taken a leaf out of his classy, immaculate and invincible personality. He was a person to be followed even after he was hanged. Had we demonstrated the courage and dexterity he possessed we could have set the Thames on fire. His was a period of mature politics while today is a period of dirty, mudslinging politics. His was a period of nationalism while today we are going trough a dearth of nationhood and complacency. What have done to ourselves??? That’s why we always ask what if???
Ms. ann Syedha I was an adult in Bhutto’s time and working in a government office where I had some personal observations of Bhutto’s love for awam. I wrote what is histroy. Thank you for your comments.
IMRAN WANTS UNCONDITIONAL APPOLOGY
http://mindovermatter321.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html