DAWN - Cowasjee Corner; 25 April, 1999
Her father's daughter
By Ardeshir Cowasjee
BENAZIR BHUTTO, politician, and Asif Zardari, lowly politician and her lawfully wedded husband, have been found guilty of corruption, robbery, misuse of power, and fraud. They have been convicted by a court under Nawaz Sharif's law.
We heard Benazir Bhutto lie when interviewed in London on the BBC, saying nothing we had not heard before. Her party people protested, as was expected, they shouted, lay on train tracks, had themselves photographed. An e-mail arrived in my mail box this week, circulated by Bilawal House and written by the PPP Human Rights Coordinator and Information Secretary of the party's Women's Wing, Fauzia Wahab. With Fauzia, it is possible to have a reasonable conversation as she at least pauses to listen to what is said.
When I asked where she was in 1971, when today's Pakistan was conceived, and how knowledgeable she was about its origins, her answer was that she was then enjoying a carefree student's life and was too young to worry about the affairs of state. I explained that it was then that it all began - the precipitous slide of values, the elimination of public and private morals, the subjugation of the judiciary, the destruction of institutions, the demoralization of a proud army - all to satisfy the greed of one man who had jockeyed himself into a position from where he could manipulate people and pursue his lust for absolute power, irrespective of the cost and consequences to the nation. When faced with the option of being either leader of the opposition of the whole of Pakistan or top-dog of half the country, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, father of Benazir Bhutto, plonked for the second option and contrived to lose the other half.
"Democrat" Bhutto emerged as president of the remnant and as the first ever civilian martial law administrator in history, I told her. Later, having installed a puppet president, he became prime minister and in 1973 promulgated a constitution which guaranteed due protection to the people's fundamental and human rights. He effectively suspended his constitution within four hours of its promulgation and proceeded to imprison all his political rivals. Was this move not preconceived? Was his 'niyet' not dishonest? Did he not blatantly rob the people of their life and liberty? As a champion of human rights, what do you have to say about this, I asked Fauzia? What could she say?
The destruction of the judiciary, the institution which could have thwarted his designs, was foremost in his mind. For the judges he had contempt. In 1973, he and Jam Sadiq Ali went to the extent of arresting district and sessions judge of Sanghar, Owais Murtaza, who was not toeing the line. The Chief Justice of Sindh, Tufail Ali Abdul Rahman, strong and true, protested and demanded to see Bhutto. He was refused an appointment. Tufail persisted. Bhutto, fed up, wrote to 'talented cousin' Mumtaz Bhutto, the chief minister of Sindh : "For heaven's sake, meet this old woman and keep him happy, otherwise deal with him." The message was clear : Tufail must either bend, or else....
Mumtaz Bhutto could neither keep Tufail happy nor make him bend. He informed Bhutto that a meeting with the chief justice "is usually not an event to which I look forward. The Chief Justice is just impossible." Owais was ultimately released.
How this country longs for a chief justice able to stand up to a prime minister and wear him down.
Between 1973 and 1977, Bhutto amended his own constitution seven times, the amendments in the main dealing with the subjugation of the judiciary. Steeped in law and learning as they were, Bhutto, Attorney-General Yahya Bakhtiar, Law Minister Hafiz Pirzada, Talented Cousin Mumtaz, Fast Runner Rafi Raza, and even Kamaluddin Azfar, cannot be pardoned for actively tampering with the judiciary and the law or acquiescing in such tampering, all in the name of democracy and the law. The harm they did remains irrevocable.
Bhutto was followed by Zia-ul-Haq who did all that was wrong in the name of religion as he read it. In this he was ably helped by Allahbakhsh Kaderbakhsh Brohi and Jadoogar of Jeddah Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada. Their contribution to the downfall of the judiciary was as effective as had been Bhutto's.
When Zia fell from the skies, Benazir Bhutto came in. Had she willed it, she could have set matters right. We had hope. In March 1989, I wrote : ".... Given time, she will be good for us." Had she commenced the process of accountability then and there, hauling up those who had made merry in the Zia days, including Chief Minister of Punjab Nawaz Sharif, she may not have found herself in the predicament in which she today is. But no, she concentrated on running on her own fast track, robbing the exchequer until she fell.
Nawaz Sharif followed her, continuing on from where he had left off as chief minister of Punjab, pursuing his own agenda. He, too, was in a hurry to make a killing. Some money was left to be borrowed or robbed. He could not bear the thought of running second to Benazir Bhutto, so he and his lot amassed wealth until he fell.
Unfortunate as we are, for our sins, we had Benazir Bhutto again. In her first stint she had wrestled with the country and the exchequer, pinning them down, playing by the rules of "catch as catch can." The second time round it was "no holds barred". There was much work to be done in a short time, the bottom had to be scoured. Credit must be given to her and her husband for wiping it clean, for working so hard, until she was deposed for the second time.
We had to be stupid to accept Nawaz Sharif again as prime minister for a second time. Many were persuaded to believe that it would be a chastened Nawaz Sharif who, realizing the wrong he had done, wished to put it right. We were mistaken again, as events have proved.
Back to the judiciary, the institution that must be in place to hold the ring in any worthwhile republic or democracy. Is it not conceivable that had father Bhutto allowed the judiciary to grow strong and remain independent, there may have been a court in the country which would have saved his neck? Is it not conceivable that had the judiciary been encouraged by subsequent rulers to rise again and maintain its independence it would have deterred the selfish and the arrogant from doing wrong by the people? There may even have been a court today which would have stemmed Nawaz Sharif's excesses, particularly in the field of law-making.
In her letter, Fauzia refers to Benazir Bhutto as "the two-time prime minister and the first Muslim woman prime minister." She should have been more forthright and stated that Benazir Bhutto also has the distinction of being the first Muslim woman prime minister to have been dismissed twice on charges of corruption.
Under any reasonable law in any country of the civilized world, Benazir Bhutto and her husband stand guilty of having committed serious crimes against the people of our country. Her party has filed thirty-one references against Nawaz Sharif under his 1997 Ehtesab Act some of which are: illegal appointments in PIA; Abbotabad land scam; import of BMW cars in violation of laws; taking loans without fulfilling the legal requirements; concealment of property in the US; illegal appointments in the FIA; US wheat purchase scam; Murree land scam; irregular promotions in the FIA; income tax evasion; forcing passports and money laundering; concealment of helicopter when filing assets; favourable treatment to Kohinoor Energy Ltd causing a Rs.45 crore loss; unlawful cash finance facility given to Brothers Sugar Mills; bribe offered to ANP Senator Qazi Mohammed Anwer; illegally appointing the chairman, CBR; whitening of black money by amending laws; causing a Rs.35 billion loss by writing off/rescheduling loans; relaxing import duty and amending laws to import luxury cars; utilizing funds from the national exchequer to bribe Maulana Sattar Niazi; plundering Rs.200 million from Jahez and Baitul Mal funds; opening false acounts; making 130 political appointments in federal departments; relaxing export duty and rebate to transport sugar to India; whitening of money through FEBCs; wealth tax evasion; concealment of facts to evade property tax; withdrawal of case against Senator Islamuddin Shaikh. All this does not absolve Benazir Bhutto in any way.
Nawaz Sharif assumes that he has made himself impregnable. He does not know that no government can survive for long on the misery of its people. He does not know that His stick makes no sound, and that its fall cannot be deflected by minions or by constitutional amendments.