April 4 marked the 44th martyrdom anniversary of Shaheed Zulkiqar Ali Bhutto. The day’s programmes revolved around the subject of what the speakers termed as ‘judicial murder’ of ZAB. The social media accounts and news reports and colums were abuzz with discussions.

On April 4, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of the country, was hanged and is being termed as judicially murdered, but the killers did not know that the person they were killing, his name will continue to echo for centuries. May his name live for centuries. Today those offering salutations day and night at the shrine of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto can be heard saying that Zinda Hai Bhutto Zinda Hai. Yes, this voice definitely comes from their hearts that Bhutto is alive but justice has been killed, his supporters say and add:

The way decisions are made in days for Imran Khan is surprising to us. It may be recalled here that the reference of Bhutto’s ‘judicial killing’ was sent by President Asif Ali Zardari to the Supreme Court many years ago, but till today no hearing has initiated on this reference.

On the other hand, former PM Imran succeeds in getting relief from the courts, but the popular people’s Prime Minister is denied justice posthumously. By God, the people of four provinces do not have any problem with each other whether the Sindhis, the Punjabis Pathans or Baloch , because there is a flood or any natural calamity, the sons and daughters of each province are seen delivering aid to Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and KPK and with Shaheed Bhutto, the way the Jiyalas of all provinces fulfilled their pledge, there is no precedent for this. A number of Jiyalas on the social media have asked the honorable judiciary that what is there in Imran Khan that was not in other prime ministers? Bhutto did not sell the gifts of the Arabs but gave atomic bomb to this country.

Imran Khan after becoming the Prime Minister raised question marks on projects like CPEC, angered a friendly country like Saudi Arabia, made an agreement with the IMF which has led to economic crisis and today our blood is being sucked, but you are the people who are giving relief to Imran Khan, yes and relief at the doorstep of the house, but in case of Asif Ali Zardari, they transferred the case of President Asif Ali Zardari from Karachi to Rawalpindi, the tweeteritis said.

For many months, Asif Ali Zardari and his sister did not get bail while justice for Ladley  is done immediately.

A Jiyala wrote on social media: Shaheed Bhutto’s soul is still questioning the judiciary why did they kill me? Why don’t you give me justice? They said that there should be fresh movement to seek posthumous justice for Bhutto and they say that the judiciary should not delay any more and start the trial of Bhutto’s judicial murder immediately.

Another Bhutto follower wrote: Today, when the judiciary is independent and the relief given to  various persons is a proof that the judiciary is independent, and freely gives justice to whoever it wants and punishes whoever it wants, so the Jiyalas have requested the honorable judiciary to provide justice to Bhutto.  As a matter of fact, they were afraid not only of Bhutto alive but also of his death. In his autobiography ‘Mera Zamana Meri Kahani’, famous PTV newscaster of his time, Mahpara Safdar, described the PTV newsroom on that day (April 4, 1979) in a way that is not difficult to guess. How much difficulty the military rulers were in even after the ‘hanging’. “I was preparing to go on TV after a long journey when I got home, when our news producer got a call from the PTV newsroom. They were very nervous. You must have heard the news. He said yes to me. Will you read the news of Bhutto’s execution? They were not satisfied with my reassurance. The phone rang again. This time News Controller Habibullah Farooqui himself was on the line. He said, “Look, you will read the news of Bhutto’s execution, you will not cry.”

Mahpara goes on to write, “Perhaps she was a little more mentally prepared under the pressure of being asked again and again. Khalid Hameed was with me in the nine o’clock news. He too was cautioned. The newsletter started. I read the headlines. Khalid Hameed started reading the details of the news. But after reading a few lines, Khalid’s voice trembled slightly, as if a noose had fallen in his throat. Barely finished the sentence. The pause before starting the next sentence was noticeable. However, as soon as the news was over, everyone came to life. In the make-up room, Khalid said, I could hardly read this news. Along with this news, a few seconds footage of Bhutto Sahib’s funeral prayer was shown. A glimpse of his face was shown for a few moments in the closed casket. Its purpose was not to make people see his face, it was intended to tell that the buried body belonged to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Former Prime Minister of the country.

Let’s say that the decision was made and he was hanged, but history proved that it was a ‘judicial murder’. Politically, today even Bhutto’s worst political opponent acknowledges his bravery and courage. Perhaps for the same day when he forbade his family not to plead for mercy for him, and he also refused to go abroad or take any kind of NRO, the main reason was that he wanted to make sure that truth must prevail. He told his wife and daughter, “They (Gen. Ziaul Haq) will not leave me, so you need not to plead for mercy for me”, he said, adding.

“I don’t want to die at the hands of history by accepting forgiveness at the hands of Zia, but I want to be hanged and live in history.” And time has proved that he is alive even today in the hearts of people.

Published in The Daily National Courier, April, 05 2023

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