Addressing PPP workers in Gujjar Khan, where he had gone to inaugurate a passport office, Interior Minister Rehman Malik claimed that the government had reached all those involved in planning and executing the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Said he, "We have achieved our goal of uncovering the whole conspiracy and people behind the assassination. All the murderers have been arrested along with the weapons they used on the day."
If true, this indeed would be a great accomplishment. It is rather odd though that he announced success in resolving the murder case of as important a public figure as the two-time prime minister of this country at an insignificant gathering of PPP workers in a small town rather than a special news conference in the capital. This country has seen several high profile political assassinations, which remain shrouded in mystery. The very first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, was murdered in 1951 at the same place where Benazir fell.
Thirty-seven years later, military dictator General Ziaul Haq died in a suspicious plane accident when his aircraft exploded in mid-air shortly after take-off. Benazir's brother, Mir Murtaza Bhutto, was killed in a supposed police encounter in Karachi in 1996 - when she was the country's prime minister, and her party ruled in Sindh as well.
Perpetrators may be identified on the basis of suspected motives and circumstances surrounding these assassinations. But no one has ever been convicted and punished (Liaquat Ali's assassin was lynched on the spot to protect the real perpetrators) or formally named for any of these crimes.
If the interior minister is to be believed this would be the first time that those involved in conspiring/executing the murder of a high profile public leader are named. Considering that the party leadership has come under a lot of public criticism for its failure to nab Benazir's killers, his claim could be seen just an attempt to placate public sentiments, but for the categorical nature of his assertions.
Rehman Malik though does not seem to have grasped the significance of what he was saying. For, he went on to state that he would soon brief the PPP Central Executive Committee on the outcome of the case's investigations. And that "the highest forum of the party will decide the future course of action." As the interior minister, he is expected to know that any murder is a crime against the state. It is neither a personal nor a party affair.
He also needs to understand that there is a distinction between government and the state. Furthermore there is also a clear difference between the government and a political party. Which means, it is not for any committee of a political party to decide what to do about the case and what action needs to be taken and how. There is no choice to be made regarding the future course of action, either. As a state functionary, he is duty-bound to make public the details of the case sooner rather than later and initiate the criminal prosecution process.
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