Print Print edition: 2011-04-20

Murder of a great leader

Published Updated

On the morning of 4th of April 1979, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged in the early hours, by the military dictator and his international accomplices. There have been many books written and analyses made during these three decades. As to why he was removed from the scene, and how the local establishment with the aid of CIA and western powers executed a grand conspiracy for making him a horrible example, this is not the subject matter of this discourse.
Educated from the west, he opted to emerge as a hero in the political history of the land he belonged to. Without prejudice to his standing in history what he contributed to in terms of political awakening is beyond doubt and even his opponents acknowledge his stature as a hero who gave us the Constitution, nuclear status, steel mills, heavy mechanical complex and intellectual and social awakening. For brevity purposes, we come direct to his last writing 'If I am assassinated' and attempt to establish an intellectual link and critically analyse if he was sound in his assessment about himself, his countrymen and the future course of events after his death.
However, Bhutto's major mistake is not his political agenda but the two layers of adversaries. The international establishment or local establishment. Bhutto might have set his agenda to focus on the local capitalistic class and develop a tax regime instead of nationalisation. Instead of relying on the feudal power structure he could have empowered the common man. We need industry, education, healthcare, infrastructure, and the safety of life and discipline enjoyed in British era.