I was in receipt of this article with the following attached message
This article was blocked by the press under pressure from the Zardari government, who have issued instructions to all newspapers that no article written by me (Ameer Bhutto) or my father are to be printed henceforth, which is why it is being sent through email. Please circulate it as widely as possible
Its true the artcile has not seen daylight as it most definitely is touching some sensitive nerves. The question is, what remains the fate of the Zardari led government as it seems that there are signs of the older PPP faction to be slowly rising up from the ashes
Chaos and Collapse
Mumtaz Ali Bhutto
Mind boggling bungling, among other more heinous faults, has come to be the identifying characteristic of the Zardari government. From the inept way administrative matters are handled to the fact that Zardari can not open his mouth without something startling pouring out of it, one gets an overwhelming sense of incompetence all around. Not only the task of governance, but even that of running a party like the Peoples' Party has proved to be far beyond the capabilities of the accidental Co-Chairman, who sneaked into power not on his own merits or public acclaim but on a tidal wave of emotions and subservience of those who were salivating at the prospect of memberships of assemblies, ministerships and all the other joys associated with winning an election in the current dispensation. All too soon, the whole set up has exploded and, as pointed out at the start, the lack of calibre and qualification of those who have occupied high offices has become starkly evident. It must be remembered that it was more or less this lot which twice before formed governments but were unable to run them even though Shaheed Benazir held the reins. They have landed the country in serious trouble internally and externally, such as bringing it to the brink of war with India by grossly mishandling the Bombay tragedy and reducing the much trumpeted reconciliation to a joke by violating all commitments. This government basically came into being through a deal with Musharaf and under protection of the cursed NRO. In return, the government does not only maintain him in presidential style, but also follows in his footsteps. The greatest letdown, however, has been in keeping the promise of roti, kapra makan to the people and freeing them from the curse of corruption, lawlessness, high cost of essential commodities and lack of basic amenities. The lure of jobs and handouts under the Benazir Income Support Scheme has proved to be a pipe dream and gone sour. The net result is that within a short period of nine months the government and the Peoples' Party are not only in a chaotic state of disarray and collapse, but also the object of public discontent, which has manifest itself in a recent poll by placing Zardari's popularity at nineteen percent. So much so that ministers and party office holders are unable to venture even into gatherings of party workers without risking harm and their leader can not step out despite the security provided by thousands of protectors at very high cost to the people.
On Benazir's first death anniversary, it was announced that there would be a public meeting at Garhi Khuda Buksh Bhutto, addressed by Zardari. Later, this was cancelled due to security concerns. Then it was on again and Zardari was to address it by telephone from Naodero, a mile away. But on the morning of the anniversary, it was once again announced that the public meeting was off for the same security reasons, much to the anger of those who had been herded from across the country to be there. It is shocking that a man who professes to be a democrat and a leader of the masses, guarded by 9,000 policemen, 7,000 rangers and hundreds of commandos on this occasion, did not feel safe among the people in, of all places, Garhi Khuda Buksh Bhutto, the geographic epicenter of the Peoples' Party's.
While lack of any progress in apprehending and punishing Benazir's assassins, indeed the failure to file an FIR even a year after the murder, falls like a yoke on the government's neck, in his address to a small gathering of party office holders in Naodero, Zardari confessed that he knew the identity of the killers. This being so, the inexplicable twelve month delay in action against them is unpardonable and the façade of approaching the United Nations, at the potential cost of hundreds of millions of dollars for just an inquiry, nothing more than an escape. Knowing the identity of the killers yet allowing them to go free not only casts doubt on Zardari's motives but also implicates him under section 216 of the Penal Code, thereby bringing Benazir's murder at par with that of Mir Murtaza Bhutto.
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This article was sent via email claiming that it has been banned from publication in newspapers by the Zardari government, as it has issued directives to all news agencies preventing the publication of all articles by Sardar Mumtaz Ali Bhutto. His previous article Choas & Collapsewas also prevented from going into print
Readers will recall my repeated warnings that a man with Zardari's reputation, who has no educational or political background and lacks all the other prerequisites of leadership, will be an absolute disaster in a minor office leave alone the top position in the country. This has proved to be true in the short period of six months leading to a nation wide upheaval. His claim to fame rests entirely on being the husband of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and spending eight years in jail. Let us look at these laurels a bit closer: Shaheed Benazir, in her book "Daughter Of The East", confesses to marrying him under relentless pressure from mother and aunts and his own perseverance in the face of repeated rejection, but hastens to add that there was no love or even affection involved. Of course it is also true that the last ten years of the marriage were spent in estrangement for reasons that are stated below. It is however surprising that she was unable to control him during her two terms in office when he went on a rampage for which he has acquired the internationally acclaimed and rather modest sobriquet of Mr. 10%.
For the veracity of this epithet let us not depend on the bouquet of corruption cases against him even though two, the Surrey Palace and money laundering cases, in Jersey and Switzerland stand proved, but recall the laments of the people at large and even Jialas. Accepting the principal that there is no smoke without fire and the fact that before marriage, the Zardari family had nothing to show but a cinema house in Karachi, many questions arise about his lifestyle not only in the country but more so abroad. The internet discloses mansions and lands in various countries, twenty seven bank accounts and forty five off shore companies, the minimum value of which is placed at over two billion dollars and this does not include the cash balances in the twenty seven bank accounts, which remains unknown.
More recently he took a plane load of people for Umra at a claimed personal cost of twenty five million rupees and has gifted five million rupees to his old school at Petaro. During these days of world wide economic collapse, when even international banks have been wiped out, for someone to throw money around in this manner indicates a huge reservoir of wealth. Added to the corruption cases are the four murder charges including that of Shaheed Mir Murtaza Bhutto, who was gunned downed by the police in broad day light, at a time when his sister was the Prime Minister of Pakistan. It is very significant that all the involved policemen have now been rewarded. All the above is a matter of record and cannot be concealed.
It is claimed that the two years he spent in jails and six in a luxury hospital in Islamabad are a sacrifice for the nation thereby establishing his claim to the highest offices in the country. No one cares that such a practice is extremely dangerous as it opens up the portals of power to murderers and thieves who sit in death rows orjails through out the country. Of course the beneficiaries of Zardari's meteoric assent from purgatory to the presidency, albeit as a result of the murder of his wife, explain away that he was not convicted in the long period of ten years and is therefore innocent. Not quite so. It must not be concealed that he was not acquitted either and he and his cohorts have been reprieved only by the unconstitutional and immoral NRO . Besides in public life it is what the people believe and the disgrace that matters, not conviction.
He was elected president on an indirect vote of assembly members who got a mandate to avenge the murder of Shaheed Benazir and provided Roti, Kapra, Makan ( they have done neither ) and not to elect Zardari. If even at the emotionally charged time of the polls this question had been put to the people the answer would definitely have been in the negative as the people holdZardari guilty as charged and also responsible for the murder of his wife whose killers he professes to know. The belief is strengthened by the fact that no complaint has been filed in fifteen months which normally is a knee jerk reaction to even a petty crime leave alone murder of an international leader and mother of his children, in whose name he continues to thrive. In any case he has been convicted in the two cases cited above. As for the long duration of the trials, eight years is no big deal. We all know and speaking from personal experience, cases in our courts go on for ever. However the delay was compounded by Zardari himself who feigned mental illness, heart trouble and back pain (all of which have suddenly disappeared) to obstruct progress and conviction.
As for the distress of imprisonment, here too there is no cause for complaint he being most of the time ensconced in a luxury hospital where all the comforts of a five star hotel were available together with unrestricted visitors and frequent releases on parole with first class travel at government expenses. However it is also being said that he was kept in the hospital at Islamabad to facilitate accessibility to foreign and local intelligence agencies. It is reported that these agencies tutored and trained him for the role of being their man in the PPP. That he was released and sent abroad to join his wife when he was deemed ready to effectively play his part. But she had somehow discovered the conspiracy. Hence his banishment to purgatory with talk of divorce after the elections.
However after Zardari's suicidal stand on the judges issue and the resounding defeat there on, it has become impossible to keep him afloat. The honorable thing for him to do is to quit and take the team of his partners in crime, who surround him, with him. What is desperately required in the present mess is a leader in the true sense of the word who commands trust and respect. Zardari and his cohorts do not and cannot meet the requirement.
The Chaos that is rampant today is the consequence of not only Zardari's unfitness for the job but also the concept of reconciliation : This has given us a political set up, devoid of ideology and principals in which it is proudly proclaimed there is no last word, allowing lots of space for playing tricks and cheating. Reconciliation is merely an invitation to come and sit at the banquet of government and indulge to the hilt. The main purpose is to rope in all dissent so that no one is left out to complain. As a consequence we have the proponents of Niza-e- Mustafa / Shariat, leftists, Nationalists, adventures with no commitment to the people, who believe only in being with the government of the day or as close to it as possible, joining the majority party which calls itself the "chain of federation" to enjoy the perks and pleasure of power. Such a conglomerate of adversities is a non starter ab initio.
Apart from the huge costs to the exchequer of providing ministerships to all and accommodating everyone to his satisfaction, it is impossible to have a lasting state of harmony among these basically conflicting interests, as we see today. There is nothing for the people in reconciliation as the experience of the last twelve months has proved. Never before have the people of Pakistan been so deprived and destitute and the government of the day so helpless and useless. There is no surprise that reconciliation has blown up and the country is once again at the crossroads of uncertainty. This scenario was easy to predicted at the start when, of all people, Zardari become the master of the destiny of one hundred and sixty million Pakistan.
