It was the judicial murder most foul of one of the greatest statesmen of modern times. The general consensus among historians and students of politics ever since April 4, 1979 when the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was executed in the dark of the night has remained unchanged to this day that Pakistan shall continue to suffer uncertainty until hid death is avenged in the right earnest.
Notwithstanding the response that "democracy is the best revenge" from his daughter martyred Benazir Bhutto to the demand by hundreds and thousands of people who had braved dictator General Ziaul Haq's bullets and bayonets, public whipping and long periods of incarcerations - a strong section of the masses, sizeable number of politicians and students of history believe that PPP leader Benazir Bhutto would still be physically alive had she done what the British had done to Oliver Cromwell.
Dictators and their collaborators who subvert constitutions and destroy democratic institutions deserve no mercy. Rather, exemplary punishment to such despicable individuals is a life insurance cover against extra-constitutional interventions endorsed time and again by the apex judiciary.
ZAB's execution on 43 judgment of the Supreme Court (4 judges from Punjab kowtowing to General Zia's dictates while three from smaller provinces declaring him innocent) has inflected an ulcerating wound on Pakistan's body-politics and tarnished the notion of the independence of judiciary permanently. What has followed his execution has been an unending period of unease, ethnicity, divisiveness, sectarianism, heroin and Kalashnikov culture, rise of religious extremism and compartmentalization of patriotism between the civilian and praetorian sectors - each suffering from lack of trust of each other.
No doubt under the present democratic dispensation-- - though some sections of media have gone overboard in whipping up perceptions that all is not going well between the institutions- - it is slowly but certainly emerging that the people's power has finally triumphed and has come to stay. The supremacy of the vote as the sole arbiter of power is being acknowledged as they way forward.
And success of democracy, sharing of power in coalitions, unanimous agreement on the NFC award, the Balochistan Package and the most recent outstanding achievement second only to the framing of 1973 constitution - the signing of the Constitutional Package doing way 17th amendment and other dictatorial changes, the wholehearted backing of armed forces in the war against terror and the stout national resilience in the most challenging circumstances are a tribute to SZAB and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto's populist politics devoted to the greatest good of the largest number with a total commitment to the empowerment of the less privileged, women and minorities.
While the doomsayers keep forecasting what could be around the corner, no student of history or politics can predict the future when we are in the midst of a full-fledged war on terror. SZAB sacrificed his life to give us the nuclear glow and put us on the path to peace, progress and prosperity with an unflinching hope in future. Notwithstanding extra-constitutional Praetorian interventions fully sanctified by the apex judiciary, repeated colossal setbacks Benazir Bhutto's blood has rejuvenated the flame of freedom and democracy and the nation is on the way to complete transition. Both President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani - by deftly handling the post-dictatorship scenario - have successfully pulled Pakistan 's chestnut out of fire. By singing the beards of the terrorists in their dens in Swat, Malakand and South Waziristan the democratic government and its brave armed forces have sent a firm message across that enough is enough.
Pakistan - until democracy staged a come back - was being described as a country "where every kind of deception, collusion and outright sham are recurring motifs in the political theatre" forecasting fate of yet another Yugoslavia in the making. It was a deluge after the creation of Bangladesh. Had there been no SZAB to save the country, Pakistan would have become a footnote in history. He soldered the residual Pakistan into a new nation binding its federating units in a consensus constitution that has kept the country and its people together despite the extra-constitutional interventions.
General Zia and his gang of usurpers and the four judges of the Supreme Court did not know that the man they thought they had physically eliminated would continue to rule from his grave. Lying besides her father is his "dearest daughter" who gave her blood to carry forward his mission of the empowerment of the people, supremacy of the constitution and the Parliament. There could not be more shameful fate for his killers that Bhutto name continues to be on the lips of every Pakistani as the national hero and the bravest of hearts - while nobody remembers the military dictator.
The democratic government has completed two years. It has still a long way to go to. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto put the entire nation onto a transformation course. They gave the people renewed hope and confidence in the destiny of Pakistan. Both father and daughter by laying down their lives made death look small. Their lasting contribution - from where there would not be a turning back - is now firming up to make the people and parliament sovereign.
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