Bhutto `killed in Punjab, just like all our leaders,’ says Sindhi man from slain leader’s province
January 06, 2008
SONYA FATAH
The TORONTO STAR
KARACHI, Pakistan–The advertisement ran prominently in Urdu-language newspapers across the country.
“In just three days, we have suffered a loss of 100 billion rupees ($1.6 billion),” it read. “This is not politics. This is not grieving. This is lawlessness.”
Underneath the headline, the advertisement invited all those who have suffered personal, financial and other losses during riots following the Dec. 27 assassination of Benazir Bhutto to call a hotline for assistance.
The invitation, however, wasn’t extended to everyone.
“All party candidates for national and provincial assembly seats and Punjabi, Pathan, Mohajir and Baloch settlers of Sindh (province) who have been affected by the recent violence can contact (us) at these telephone numbers,” it read.
But the ad omitted Sindhis, people from Bhutto’s home province, and the region that bore the brunt of the devastating loss during the post-assassination riots.
“What they’re saying by publishing this advertisement is that no Sindhis suffered during the riots,” said Fayyaz Naich, who hosts a news discussion show on a local television channel. “And they are creating a dangerous precedent.”
The advertisement, from the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam party, comes at a particularly bad time as Pakistanis gear up for next month’s general election and struggle to move on after the assassination of one of the leading political candidates.
It also threatened to bring in a fresh wave of ethnic tension and violence that could jeopardize the already postponed elections.
Although many insiders said the mistake was a misprint, the party’s president, Chaudhury Shujaat Hussain, said PML-Q had decided to run the advertisement because Punjabis had been targeted in the violence following Bhutto’s death.
Pakistan’s largest and richest province, Punjab, which holds 148 general seats in the National Assembly, has always overshadowed its southern neighbour, Sindh, which occupies 61 seats in the same assembly.
The smaller province has regarded Punjab with hostility since partition, with many believing that Punjabis occupy a hugely influential role in the country’s economy, society and its politics. Punjab’s domination of the country’s most powerful institution, its army, also has ruffled feathers in Sindh.
“She was killed in Punjab, you know,” said Ghulam Nabi, 60, from Sukkur in interior Sindh, echoing a much-repeated statement. “Just like all our leaders.”
Indeed, Bhutto is the third Sindhi leader to be assassinated or killed in Punjab. The first was prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan, who was killed by a gunman in 1951 not far from where Bhutto was killed in Rawalpindi. And Bhutto’s father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was hanged in 1979 under the supervision of Gen. Zia ul Haq.
Pakistan’s politicians know just how quickly ethnic tension can flare up. To avoid that situation, Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party reminded its supporters of the party’s national message and its promise not to discriminate based on ethnicity or religion.
Three days after Bhutto’s death, her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, appealed to PPP supporters to put away their swords and not to blame Punjabis for his wife’s death. Bhutto supporters were also in Punjab, he reminded them, and some had served as her bodyguards.
Friday’s advertisement set off panic that an ethnic flare-up could destabilize the country further. But by yesterday, the party had published a new, improved version, which included the omitted province.
But many, including those who are Sindh-based politicians, were unimpressed. In the larger battle for power, national resources and control of the land, between Sindh and Punjab, the ad may boomerang on the PML-Q party by alienating its Sindhi membership.
“It seems as if the party has decided to sacrifice its Sindh candidates to win more seats in the Punjab,” said Ghaus Khan Bux Mahar, a national assembly candidate from Shikarpur, interior Sindh.
Beyond concerns of impacting the upcoming general elections, many Pakistanis said that these were all signs of a greater conspiracy to destabilize and then destroy Pakistan. That theory has been a popular one across Pakistan for years.
“The Americans and certain people within our establishment are trying to break us up,” said Baboo Narayan Lal, 46, in Karachi, expressing a popular view across Pakistan.
“That’s why they are creating tension between the provinces. I’ve even seen the map – Pakistan will break up into little pieces and join other territories,” he said.
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