... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in...
nine years ago can perhaps be summed up by this: the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights has referred the matter to the National Commission on Human Rights -- and demanded that the NCHR submit its report in two weeks. Perhaps the senators can be lauded for doing whatever little they can to draw attention to the lingering resolution of one of the most traumatic episodes in the country’s history. But what the Senate committee may have inadvertently highlighted is the utter helplessness of public officials and the disregard of the state when it comes to bringing to justice those responsible for the liquidation of an iconic woman and a two-time prime minister of the country.
Consider the role played by the PPP itself in the current impasse. Less than a month ago, as the PPP chairman and co-chairman, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Asif Ali Zardari respectively, gathered near the mausoleum of Ms Bhutto to commemorate her ninth death anniversary, there was nary a word mentioned by either party leader -- or, indeed, anyone else in the party -- about the stalled investigations and prosecutions. Instead, Mr Zardari chose to make himself the centre of attention once again by announcing a perplexing run for parliament. But the problem goes deeper than that. Ever since manoeuvring retired Gen
Pervez PervMusharraf
... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ...
out of the presidency, the PPP has sought to focus blame for the liquidation on the former dictator -- a political strategy that may be rooted in a factual reality, but not something that the party has appeared particularly committed to helping prove. Meanwhile,
...back at the bunker, his Excellency called the chief of staff and complained that the artillery was keeping him awake...
the five individuals in jug and accused of involvement in or having knowledge of the plot to kill Ms Bhutto have largely been disregarded by the PPP. The party leadership’s contention that low-level figures involved in the liquidation plot are mere pawns, and therefore of little relevance, may be partly true, but laying bare the full spectrum of involvement in a crime that shook the nation ought to be a permanent priority of the PPP.
Perhaps, though, no explanation of the PPP’s apparent disinterest in concluding what has sadly become a saga of trials related to Ms Bhutto’s liquidation can be complete without an examination of the state’s utter disregard for solving what remains a national mystery. The Constitution was amended, military courts were created and more than 150 so-called jet-black turbans sentenced to death by those courts -- many for high-profile attacks against military targets. But the interest in identifying and prosecuting the cabal involved in Ms Bhutto’s liquidation is nil. Why? The long, bitter political history stretching from the liquidation of the country’s first prime minister to the elimination of arguably its most famous prime minister needs legal and political closure.