Unfolding mysteries
Afzal khan
This fortnight has been a moment of truth for Benazir Bhutto. Last week, Rehman Malik attempted to unmask the mystery of her assassination without clearly naming the murderer but pointed to machinations of General Musharraf to lay down a perfect alibi for her actual assassins to perpetrate the heinous crime. We were told that they were only the pawns in the hands of the mastermind behind the larger conspiracy, whose identity we may never know.
As such Malik’s briefing was regarded as a political ploy to generate another climate of Bhutto sympathy ahead of the general elections.
On Feb 29, the Supreme Court will take up the long dormant petition filed by Asghar Khan to unveil the ISI conspiracy to thwart possible election victory of Ms Bhutto’s PPP in the 1990 elections conceived by Ghulam Ishaq Khan-Baig duo, after dismissing her government within less than two years. Having successfully manipulated the 1988 polls to deny her majority, Ishaq and Baig now conspired to ensure her defeat in 1990.
The IJI of rightist elements had earlier been created in 1988 and its mastermind General Hameed Gul as ISI chief boasted of ensuring that a fragmented house emerged after the elections with PPP leading an unstable coalition, which could be dismantled at an appropriate time. The plan achieved partial success which emboldened the conspirators to design a total rout of the PPP.
In 1988, Ishaq Khan had retained Nawaz Sharif as interim chief minister Punjab and allowed him to use state machinery and resources for manipulating the elections. In 1990, his crony Haider Wyne was chosen for the same objective.
The Mehran Bank chief was compelled to “donate” millions of rupees for distribution against IJI leaders, including Nawaz Sharif, Mustafa Jatoi, Jamaat-e-Islami and others.
General Baig assigned the task to General Asad Durrani to deliver the largesse, which he acknowledged in his affidavit in the Supreme Court. All the Generals testifying in the court had no compunction in admitting their share in the criminal act.
Baig and others claimed they were obeying the illegal order of a legal chief executive, meaning Ishaq Khan. Baig even hinted that a major chunk of the amount was delivered to Khalida Zia to influence Bangladesh elections against the perceived enemy of Pakistan — Hasina Wajid. With impunity General Baig walked out of the apex court daring Chief Justice Zullah to do whatever he likes against him.
In a gathering at Washington’s Kabab Masala Restaurant, General Hameed Gul boasted that he had fathered the IJI to contain Ms Bhutto in the elections. ”Had I not done that, the PPP would have swept the polls” Gul had shameless asserted. The conspiracy to deny any party a stable and comfortable majority was hatched to create political instability and uncertainty in the country and to discredit and give a bad name to politicians for being too incompetent and corrupt to rule the country.
In 1988, Punjab had a split result with PPP winning 104 and PML 109 seats, while 44 independent were returned who could tilt the balance in any one’s favour. It so happened that with 92 seats in the National Assembly against 54 of the IJI, PPP needed only 9 more to form the government.
Ishaq Khan had no option but to name Ms Bhutto as premier, but knew that if he did name BB as premier without first ensuring Nawaz Sharif’s nomination as chief minister Punjab, the independents would immediately switch loyalty to the PPP. To thwart that, he created the farce of consultation with politicians to ascertain who should be named.
Prime Minister Nawabzada Nasrullah told him to call a kid to find out whether 92 is larger than 54. But Farooq Laghari, who had earlier bungled polls in Punjab along with Naheed Khan and Badar, in the distribution of tickets, prevailed upon Ms Bhutto to name him as a candidate for the chief minister slot.
Once she did, he waited at his palatial residence in Lahore for the independents to kowtow him. Nawaz Sharif went to their homes instead, and finally won their support. Laghari did not waste a minute after the vote and returned to Islamabad and took oath as federal minister.
Punjab was then lost to PPP, perhaps forever.
The 1990 polls were stolen by Ishaq and company through a cell he created in the Presidency under General Rafaqat and Benazir was restricted only to Sindh. Dejected and completely disillusioned, she came to Islamabad and invited H K Burki, Ziauddin, Nisar Usmani and myself to lunch for advice. In desperation she declared her intention to leave the country. “They, the opponents, unite when they see me but will disintegrate when I am out of sight.”
I said, BB, there is no long or short leave in politics. Out of sight you make people forget you and let others fill the vacuum (Sharif and Imran have yet to learn that lesson). Like in 1970, 1988 you have again won 38 per cent votes, but in the plurality of equation, have been cheated out of seats you deserved. At the moment, your voters feel disheartened by the fraud. You should go around the country, hold district and divisional conferences to regroup them as your father used to do.”
Ms Bhutto was not impressed. “There is no use of such conferences”, she responded. The rest is history.
Source: http://www.dateline.com.pk/?p=4807
