Plot
Against Bhutto Bodes
Ill For Pakistan
By Gul Jammas Hussain
31 October, 2007
Countercurrents.org
Bhutto
is a religion in Pakistani politics. Either you are a convert to it
or not.
Millions have embraced the
Bhutto cult but there are millions who never did, who think its founder,
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was just a magician who invented a fake religion
to mesmerize his followers.
However, his believers say
Bhutto was a dedicated leader with exceptional intellectual qualities
who gave Pakistan its nuclear program, brought back the 93,000 soldiers
captured by India after the humiliating defeat in the 1971 war, distributed
feudal lands to the poor peasants, and liberated manual workers from
the clutches of factory owners.
From the military to the
masses, from the top bureaucracy down to junior government clerks, and
from powerful feudal lords to the poor country peasants, the whole country
is clearly divided into two distinct factions -- one that loves the
Bhuttos and another that hates them.
Those who hate them always tried to destroy them and their ideology
by any means possible. They hanged Zulfikar Ali Bhutto -- the first
elected prime minister of Pakistan and the founder of the Pakistan People's
Party -- but that did not satisfy them. They went on to persecute the
Bhutto family and their followers.
Bhutto's daughter Benazir
and wife Nusrat were arrested and placed in solitary confinement, and
his son Shahnawaz was murdered under mysterious circumstances. But all
this could not diminish Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's popularity, even in death.
When Benazir Bhutto returned
from exile in 1986, she was welcomed by a dancing, singing crowd of
one million people chanting slogans like "May Bhutto live as long
as the sun and stars exist."
In Pakistan there is intense
love for the Bhuttos, and also intense hate for them. Their lovers and
haters are both unbelievably mad people. Over the years, the intensity
of their emotions has been manifested through incredible feats.
While one group wants them
to live forever, other groups want to see the last politically active
member of the Bhutto family dead. And now Bhutto-haters have acquired
new allies: the Pakistani Taleban from Waziristan and Al-Qaeda militants
from the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
On October 6, when Ms. Bhutto
was preparing to return to Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud, a militant tribal
chief from the semi-autonomous region of South Waziristan, bordering
Afghanistan, threatened her, saying his bombers were waiting in the
wings to 'welcome' her when she returns to Pakistan. "My men will
welcome Bhutto on her return. We do not accept General Pervez Musharraf
and Benazir Bhutto because they only protect the U.S. interests and
see things through its glasses."
Mehsud, who commands a 5,000-strong
private army of tribal militants, is a ruthless warlord of the mountainous
region of northwest Pakistan. He is known to have close links with the
Afghan Taleban, their leader Mullah Omar, and Al-Qaeda militants.
He was greatly inspired by
the Taleban ideology and frequently visited Afghanistan as a volunteer
to join in the Taleban's drive for the enforcement of Islamic law (shariah)
in the Waziristan region.
Mehsud is responsible for
many deadly attacks on the security forces and recently kidnapped 300
Pakistan Army soldiers and beheaded some to show his fury over the Musharraf
government's operation against the Red Mosque of Islamabad.
He is demanding the withdrawal
of the security forces from South Waziristan and the release of his
captured men in exchange for the soldiers' freedom.
Despite his denials, Mehsud
is being blamed by many for the devastating bomb attack on Ms. Bhutto's
convoy in Karachi on October 18, just a few hours after she returned
to the country. She survived the assassination attempt, but over 140
innocent people died and 550 were wounded.
Ms. Bhutto believes that
some hardcore elements from Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the
Pakistan Army also played a significant role in orchestrating the assassination
attempt.
Eight hours before boarding
her flight from Dubai to Karachi, she wrote an email to UPI editor at
large Arnaud De Borchgrave, saying, "I have been informed that
Baitullah Mehsud, an Afghan (sic -- he is actually a Pakistani Pushtun),
Hamza Bin Laden, an Arab, and a Red Mosque militant have been sent to
kill me. I wrote (President Pervez) Musharraf telling him that if something
happened, then I wanted these three held responsible -- the people who
I think are behind them. I have also left a copy of the letter in case
something happens (to me), but I expect all to go smoothly."
And then a day after the
carnage, talking to The Times of London, Ms. Bhutto estimated that no
fewer than four different groups sought to kill her on the day she returned.
"There was one suicide
squad from the Taleban elements, one suicide squad from Al-Qaeda, one
suicide squad from the Pakistani Taleban and a fourth -- a group, I
believe, from Karachi," she said.
And now Ms. Bhutto has received
a new death threat. Senator Farooq Naik, Bhutto's lawyer, said he had
received a two-page handwritten letter in Urdu from an unidentified
person threatening to kill her "by any means." The writer
claimed to be a friend of Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, and the head of
suicide-bombers in Pakistan.
Those who want to kill Bhutto
should know that people die but ideologies do not. The Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto legend is an ideology that can not be killed.
At this critical juncture,
those who are seeking to assassinate Benazir Bhutto should reflect upon
the repercussions of their plot, since it would further polarize Pakistani
society if it succeeded.
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