Return o Benazir Bhutto
Return o Benazir Bhutto
Return o Benazir Bhutto
Return o Benazir Bhutto
After eight long years of self exile, two times Prime Minister of Pakistan and chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Benazir Bhutto arrived in Karachi on 18th of October, 2007 to a tumultuous welcome This was expected.
She faced an imminent threat to her life on arrival. No less a person than President Mushaaraf had implored her to postpone her return. Benazir had also been warned by a "friendly foreign country' of the conspiracy to eliminate her on her return Pakistan. She had "written to President Mushaaraf on 16th of October and named three conspirators, two of them men in power." This was disclosed by Benazir herself .Pak authorities have since acknowledged the truth of the assertion. So all this was known The measures adopted by the Pakistan government , if any to at least isolate them' and ensure that they were not able to meddle with the security arrangements made at Karachi on the fateful day remain shrouded in secrecy and therefore subject only to conjectures The authorities have evaded answers to the persistent and pertinent media queries in this behalf .
If the regime attempted to impede the PPP's mobilisation to greet Benazir in any major way not much is known about it . In fact, the PPP leadership was consulted by the authorities while devising the security arrangements The establishments' suggestions to tone down the size and character of the reception and proceed from the Airport to Mazar-iQuai-iAzam by helicopter were , rejected for obvious reasons .As the daily Dawn' commented editorially ,"Those who criticise her for not delaying her return or even for coming back in such grand fashion miss the point hat the leader of a national political party who returns home after an exile of eight years can hardly be expected to be whisked quietly away to her home by a handful of supporters."
That the threat to her person was grave and imminent is concede all around. The authorities were, therefore required to take speedy and effective measures to gain actionable intelligence about the specifics of the terrorist's plans through standard procedures so that the evil designs could be thwarted or at the least the damage minimised. It would also have been fruitful to co-ordinate with the "friendly country" which had tipped Bhutto in the first instance. Having been forewarned they were in an advantageous position as against the terrorists who had lost the crucial element of surprise. As the events unfolded, it was clear that the government had either not performed adequately or it had miserably failed in the sphere of intelligence collection. Even the text book measures in this kind of situation necessitated extensive, intense and intimate surveillance of all suspected and known terrorist of the anti Bhutto variety and mount massive vigilance and activate standard physical and technological counter measures to deny the terrorists any opportunity to execute their nefarious plans and be stopped in their tracks .None of this has happened. The most glaring lapse was the failure to mount an aerial surveillance which could have enabled identification of suicide bombers in time.
The attack did take place and but for the steadfastness, strong sense of loyalty and vigilance of the Security Guards of the Pakistan Peoples Party (recruited from amongst the ex-policemen and ex-servicemen loyal to Bhutto} the terrorists may well have succeed in heir nefarious designs. It turned out Bhutto's bullet proof vehicle was protected by two security cordons. The inner cordon was manned by Ebenezer's personnel and private security men recruited from the party cadres of ex-policemen and ex-servicemen. It is learnt that the PPP leaders had taken a firm and uncompromising position that only their men will man the inner cordon rubbishing the argument of the authorities that the government security personnel were better trained etc. The outer cordon comprised of officers and men of Sindh Police and plain clothed personnel of Pakistan Intelligence Bureau. By now it is known that the suicide bombers were not spotted by the policemen posted along the route and peppered in the crowd In fact they were able to walk through the Sindh Police-IB cordon with ease which speaks volumes. They were, however sighted by PPP Security Guards. Unable to penetrate their cordon they blew themselves up.
For obvious reasons the protection of the person of Benazir Bhutto had to be accorded the top most priority. An impregnable protective umbrella had to cover, apart from other vantage points the route and the points of reception and termination of the cavalcade. Physical and technological surveillance over the suspects atomization of moles' within terrorist outfits and coordination between various intelligence agencies to speedily gain actionable intelligence were some of the routine steps required to be taken with a view to prevent and abort the attack on Benazir. What measures were taken in this regard is not known. However, the suicide bombers came perilously close to attaining their objective which testifies to the failure of the establishment. Bhutto had a providential escape, thanks to the exemplary sense of loyalty shown by her party security Guards.
Her critics accuse her of being plain stubborn and reckless in "throwing all caution to winds and invite trouble not only for herself for thousands upon thousands of her supporters to almost certain terrorist strike? She brushed aside the suggestion that she take a helicopter ride from Karachi airport to the Mazar of Quaid-i Azam. But she did it for sound and politically sound reasons. If nothing else,' writes Aasim Sajjad Akhtar in his piece titled "Who rules the roost' in daily Jang "the relatively raucous reception given to the twice former prime minister by tens of thousands of people on the streets of Karachi points to the fact that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and its chairperson remain a major political force in the country. It should also be a signal to other political entities -- which wax lyrical about street power -- which actions speak louder than words"
Benazir has been asserting that all her endeavours including negotiations with President Mushaaraf were aimed at working out a road map for "transition from dictatorship to democracy". The democratic rights of the people of Pakistan were at the core of her concerns. Her detractors argued that there were no takers for her apologia' for securing withdrawal of corruption cases pending against her and that the political environment had drastically altered to her disadvantage during the eight years she had been out of her country. Ironically, her political opponents notably PML(Q) had begun to believe in their own propaganda knowing fully well that even in the 2004 elections universally recognised as massively rigged, PPP had secured 25.8% votes ,the highest tally.
After she decided to return to Pakistan and the establishment decided to let her come, Benazir had only two options. One. To go by the official advice which would result in total destruction of her hard earned image as a fighter and bury her fathom deep as an epoch making leader. Two .To risk a terrorist attack her person in the belief that people's power will come to her rescue. Somewhere in the back of her mind there must also have been the expectation that President Mushaaraf after having mended fences with her would reign in the mischief mongers.
Predictably, Benazir 0pted for the second course of action. The sea of humanity that greeted her and thronged the eight kilometre long road from Karachi airport to Mazar-I Quaid-iAzam bore testimony to the validity of her decision. Through her bold decision, she has not only struck a mighty blow for democracy but also brought into play the dormant peoples' power that blasted the wishful and self serving political projection of her opponents. With one single stroke she has brought the people of Pakistan on to the centre stage casting aside the fear and so called invincibility of the military dictatorship and its political minions. Of course the revolutionary change has come at a heavy price, 140 dead and over 500 injured.
Her triumphant return negated the calculations of the ruling party that having been marginalised' Benazir could be managed' to play a role of the junior partner. Panic stricken, they lost all control and sense of proportion and set upon a confrontation course even using foul language against her person. Apart from the fear that an adverse Pakistan Supreme court judgement will invalidate Mushaaraf's election as President , the apprehension that she will sweep the Choudhary brothers and their PML(Q) into the dustbin of history was the most important factor that led to the imposition of what has been described as Emergency Plus in Pakistan triggering the on-going turmoil in that unfortunate country.
Note. The article writtn in 2007 has become relevant because the Pak FIA has stated investigaton and sent a questionae to former President Musharaff. Arrest warrants against police officers responsible for her security have also been issued.
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