The Hamoodur Rahman Commission report was revealed by Indian and Bangladeshi media. While Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gets credit for giving this country the 1973 Constitution, he made cardinal mistakes of choosing Gen Zia and not implementing recommendations for court martial of those guilty of criminal offences and professional misconduct. Instead the ‘Zia junta’ promoted those who should have been court martialed, with disastrous consequences, leaving behind a legacy of extremism, terrorism, ethic/sectarian divide and institutionalized corruption.

The one-man commission headed by former Justice Azmat Saeed to investigate irregularities in the Broadsheet Agreement that was signed in June 2000 by the ‘Musharraf junta’ appointed former Chairman NAB is shrouded in controversies. Azmat Saeed Saheb was also part of Saifur Rehman’s Ehtesab Bureau in 1997 and Deputy Prosecutor General NAB in 2000. Will this be another attempt to cover up the powerful few, who have been identified by an Arbitration judge in London and $65 million it cost the taxpayers.

MALIK TARIQ ALI (LAHORE)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021