Judicial Murder of a Prime Minister

Nakhok

Not every thing is about Bangladesh. Here is a very interesting article written by a Bangladeshi.

We are sad, angry, frustrated, and annoyed by the lack of recognition of the brutality in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) in 1971 by the Pakistani army. We blame Pakistanis for not telling the truth to their people, we blame the whole world for not taking note of the sufferings in 1971. When the international community recognizes and addresses the genocide/mass killing of Nazi Germany, Cambodia, Balkans, Rwanda, Kashmir, Kurdistan, Iraq, nobody utters even a word about Bangladesh. Why? Is the world biased against us? Is there a deep rooted conspiracy against Bangladesh being carried out by Pakistan or somebody else? Does the world hate us?
The answer to these questions is No. It is not just Pakistan, but the whole world does not recognize the killing in the then East Pakistan as one of the major genocides of the century. The reason is plain and simple; with the actual death count involved, the 1971 killing does not fall in the category of a major genocide. It was a major human tragedy, but not a major genocide by international standard where hundreds of thousands are killed. Although we have been told that more than 3 million people were killed, the actual figure by all estimates is about 50 times less. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman constituted a commission to find out the actual death toll, and the commission’s finding was a 5-figure number. That report never saw the day light after the first media report in Dainik Bangla. The figure of 3 million is the result of wishful thinking of some people in Bangladesh. Sheikh Mujib himself contributed to this by confusing between lac and million; there is documented proof of that. No matter what some Pakistanis boasted of accomplishing; during 1971, a genocide is measured by the number of people actually killed.

If we stop being emotional, we will find that 3 million figure is absurd. Here are some points to consider:
1. An army of 90,000 facing a severe guerilla war and Indian threat could not have time and resource to kill 3 million people in a matter of 8 ½ months. Even carpet bombing would not make that possible. And Pakistani army hardly used any air power until December 1971. Arson also usually does not kill many people unless they are confined in a closed space like a multi-storied building.

2. If more than 4 percent of population is killed in a matter of months, everybody would lose somebody close. An objective survey would show that the case was exactly opposite. We heard the stories of the ones who lost their loved ones and got the impression that that was universal. Since there was no story of them who did not lose anybody, their cases were not any media tatistic. Almost all the people I know have not lost anybody from their family. There were nstances where many people of the family got killed, but a scientific survey would prove that most families were unaffected to the point that nobody from that family (or extended family) was killed.
3. If 3 million were killed in that short time period, there should have been innumerable mass graves to be found with thousands of bodies. In Bangladesh, only a few mass graves were discovered with several bodies in them. (In Cambodia, where the number of people killed was half of our claim, open piles of bodies were found in hundreds of places in addition to the dug graves). Even a couple of years ago, a grave with 5 bodies was discovered in Bangladesh, and wide publicity was given to that as a mass grave; There were a few other graves like this discovered in the last thirty years.
How can somebody kill so many people and hide all those people not to be found? Bangladesh is a small land.
4. Main killings took place in March of 1971, after which the killing was very sparse. Thousands of innocent people were killed in Dhaka and adjoining areas in the last week of March. Later, there were terror, destruction and eviction, but killing was not on a large scale. Most were in response to freedom fighter assaults. For example, when FFs took position in a village, the army would burn the village. But that was not associated with proportional scale killing. Pakistan army did not have particularly comfortable situation to resort to mass murder or rape as their own survival was at stake. At the end of the army rule in 1971, the number of intellectuals killed was less than 50. And the enquiry into that also ever saw the day light. Mysterious disappearance of Zahir Raihan (who was working on the case) in Indian army protection from the heart of Dhaka kept the
episode unsolved to this date.
5. About the claim of 200,000 women raped by Pakistani army, the number was even more exaggerated. After independence, hardly any woman was found who was raped by Pakistani army. Nobody came forward to claim any assistance from the government (Birangona project). Interview of common people would show that such rapes were probably a couple of thousands if not hundreds.

It is the great misfortune of our nation that we were not only deprived of any justice of the atrocities committed by the Pakistani army in 1971, but also missed on the empathy of the world community that we deserved. And it all happened due to the short-sightedness of our unscrupulous politicians and socio-cultural leaders. The credibility that we lost by the falsification by our government was never gained back. We were the victims of a great human tragedy, but we almost became the crooks by our behavior in front of others. The world community has very clear understanding of the world affairs. We misjudged their capability and thought we would get away with such a big exaggeration. This is a very serious matter but we managed to trivialize it by our callousness. Being a Bengali, it is not hard to understand the motivation behind such falsification; getting more sympathy and assistance from the world, discredit Pakistanis more and get more credit for our sacrifice. But it simply backfired. Now we are in a position where we are ignored due to our false statements, and we are also hesitant to rectify our behavior for obvious reasons. Its like something we can not swallow nor can we spew.

The best chance of getting a justice for 1971 is to get our act together. We still have time to start a survey to estimate the death count. Bangladesh is a small country, it will not be difficult to get the facts. It will be at least an estimate which we can base our claim on rather than pulling a number from somebody’s behind. International participation may be needed to restore the faith of the world community in that. HR Commission report has the casualty count listed as 30,000. The report has widespread acceptability and credibility among different countries. Why it should lie in the report? They took the report seriously that it was not even published for all these years. We also have to have a good explanation as to why the Pakistani army were let go in 1972 when we already made the claim of the 3 million dead. And why all of sudden we are so bent upon justice after 25 years? This fact alone is enough to cast doubt on the claim we made; if we do not believe the numbers ourselves, why would anybody else do? And lets look around and ask; does anybody in Bangladesh really seriously believe the 3 million nmber? Or are we just going with the politically correct and comfortable stream? Ask your inner self and honestly answer.

Zunaid Kabir

``As grand-son of Gen.F A Chishti ( retd ) who was one of the most important persons then and was core-commander,.......`` (Lab)

son -- if ur grandpa .....`` was one of the most important persons then and was corp-commander``-- and did nothing to prevent that Siah man`s CRIME OF THE DECADE -- against Bhuttu -- then your grand dad was an accomplice in the MURDER....ask ur dad or ur mom...if they saw any blood on ur grandpa hands...

if you ask us ....no son ........ the Americans DID NOT do it....

ZAB, remember Bangladesh, idhar hum udhar tum, jo karta hai woh baad mein khudhee bhuggatta hai,

As grand-son of Gen.F A Chishti ( retd ) who was one of the most important persons then and was core-commander , I always wanted to know more about Zia and Bhutto and what really happened and my conclusion is that ` Bhutto ` was a really killed by Americans somehow !

Political icons in the subcontinent come cheap...witness the popular adoration and samadhi (commemorative parks) for Indira and Rajiv Gandhi...as the two show ...all you need is a violent death (this holds true for politics in general,ex JFK) and you are a popular saint.....lets get our history right ....Indira Gandhi, the most masculine of our PM`s was responsible for creating the Punjab insurgency ...nomatter that it acquired an energy of its own and whosoever supported it ....as for Rajiv...God save us from unmitigated Oxbridge educated asses....his support for the LTTE with training by RAW (as a son of an army officer i have heard Rajiv abused most of my life, the army has not forgiven him for sending them to fight the people who had been armed by India itself)......

Bhutto was no sain as your article paints him to be and if the Pakistan army is deeply politicised today, it is mainly due to politicians like Bhutto.....please notice notice a similarity between Bhutto and Sharif...both were replaced by Army chiefs ...who were made chiefs despite not possesing the required seniority......hmm somwething to mull over........

when that ``Murderere Momin`` Siah Ulhaque hanged Bhuttu he hanged Pakistan in the eyes of the world for decades to come....

....the current Army Masihulmulk despite some trappings of foreign-dictated `progressivism` -- has further demeaned and disgraced Pakistan -- by exiling the two main politicians -- by jailing the leader of the opposition for LIFE ....and by staging his own Coronation -- into a client banana republic.....

the way things turned out for this Son of Zia.......he should put a portrait of Osama bin Laden in his bedroom with a garlands of sunflower around it.......and light a Dia/Zia under it daily......

This is a general comment.
I have never heard ZAB was dead before hanging.
Our country can avoid many problems if we are little humble.
Our lcourt system is farce at highest level.
Till the courts and ``judges`` allow at top level `` those who command gun can rule and courts will sanction it`` this will continue. This due to lack of character and Integrity of justices.
We can get help in this matter from United nations or our mentors like ``USA``. It will be little demweaning but worthwhile till things Improve.
Our constitution does not allow the coups by military people. The constitution forbids that. For time being as USA is helping in many fields we can ask for help. We need to appoint majority supreme justices from USA, England white countries where law s are followed even by rulers. A Muslim supreme Court judge from India can be appointed as they have done extremely good to their country. They will not be activist judges like justice Munir who sanctioned coups under faulty thinking. They will strictly follow constitution of Pakistan to letter in spirits. USA is powerful country and judges from there have no finiancial interest or interest in sending children to foreign country. Its honorary position so they will strictly follow constitution in spirit and letters. This can keep coups and illeagal actions in check. As any army ruler needs little cover of decency like Ayaubkhan, Zia or P.Musharraf. They all want nod from high courts. Like if such system was there then there would not have coup or Y.Khan would not have been ruling and still large pakistan than present trunkated pakistan. Former PM could have fired army boss without problem. Also then opposition will not look towards army for terminating elected rulers.
We may not have best honest judges but we can improvise and take help from America in this matter without feeling shame as its good for even army. Every army rule bout gives bad name to army also corrouption in army will go away as law and justice will have backers at top.
This may work. Nothing has worked. Its worth giving chance to foreign experts who can interpreat cour constitution . ( They will interpreat but no modify or change- like they will not overrule religious parallel court system. Even fundamentalists can agree with secular liberal like YLH.)

#12 by ana

*****
according to a high-ranking government official who related the story to my mother, bhutto was already dead before he was hung on the gallows.
*****

DAWN, Karachi, Pakistan
04 April 2002 Thursday 20 Muharram 1423

The hanging of Bhutto
By Mohammad Asghar Khan

..... When the trial started in the Lahore High Court, Bhutto objected to the Chief Justice, Maulvi Mushtaq Hussain, being on the bench which was to try him, on the grounds that Mushtaq Hussain had been superseded twice under his orders and could not, therefore, be expected to be impartial. This objection was over-ruled and from then on Bhutto`s attitude towards the court was one of defiance and often of contempt. The case in the Lahore High Court lasted about seven months. The court held Bhutto guilty and sentenced him to death.

When Bhutto appealed to the Supreme Court against the verdict of the Lahore High Court, a bench of seven judges with the Chief Justice was set up. Justice Yaqub Ali had been replaced by Sheikh Anwar-ul-Haq as Chief Justice on September 23, 1977. This happened immediately following the admittance by the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Yaqub Ali on September 20, of a writ field by Mrs Nusrat Bhutto, challenging Bhutto`s detention under martial law. The Supreme Court had agreed to hear the case and had ordered that Bhutto and a number of other PPP accused be brought to Sihala police rest house near Rawalpindi from Kot Lakhpat prison in Lahore.

After Justice Yaqub Ali`s removal, Bhutto objected to the inclusion of the new Chief Justice, Sheikh Anwar-ul-Haq, as a member of the Bench on the grounds that by accepting the office of acting president during the absence of Zia-ul-Haq from the country, he had compromised his impartial status. Bhutto also stated that the Chief Justice in his public statements had been critical of his government in the recent past.

This objection was overruled and the trial started by a full bench of the Supreme Court comprising all the nine judges at Rawalpindi on May 20, 1978. Throughout the trial, Bhutto`s attitude was more cooperative than it had been at Lahore. He still appeared to believe that political considerations and pressure from foreign governments would save his life. At the same time, he hoped that the Supreme Court`s decision would be in his favour.

The trial ended in January, 1979 and by a majority decision of 4 against 3, the Supreme Court decided to uphold the judgment of the Lahore High Court. The judgment of the Supreme Court was made public on February 6, 1979. Bhutto was given a week to file a review petition, the final decision on which was made known on March 24, 1979 and the decision given earlier was confirmed. It was now up to Zia-ul-Haq to grant a reprieve. During the next few days a large number of mercy appeals were made to Zia-ul-Haq, amongst them many by foreign governments.

Zia-ul-Haq`s answer was made known to the people of Pakistan through the 11 a.m. radio news on April 4,1979, after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had been buried at his ancestral graveyard at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in Larkana district. He had been hanged in Rawalpindi district prison early that morning. .....

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I, for one, do not deem it fair to hold Bhutto resposible in any way for the debacle of East Pakistan. His greatest sin in the eyes of his `murderers` was the creation of the FSF which was intended to be a counterpoise to the army. The civil armed force which was under the direct command of Bhutto was going to be equiped with arms that could checkmate the armie`s attempt at any coup in future. Mind it, it was the first target of the army after take over in 1977.

I wonder nobody mentioned the real sins of Bhuto against the people, humanity and civilization - these were in my view the subversion of the constitution by converting it into a `Fatwa`, declaring certain citizens of Pakistan as non-Muslim, resulting ultimately in making the faith and the national identity of all the citizens of Pakistan calling them as muslims questionable.

His introduction of national registration scheme was no less a sin which we are now facing in the shape of NADRA`s Nadarshahi.

For all that he paid a `Kuffara`. May God bless him. He, nevertheless, proved to be `great` despite all those sins.

#12 by ana

*****
according to a high-ranking government official who related the story to my mother, bhutto was already dead before he was hung on the gallows.
*****

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/mazdak/20040124.htm

DAWN, Karachi, Pakistan
24 January 2004 Saturday 01 Zilhaj 1424

Switching channels
By Irfan Husain

..... A few weeks ago, a London-based Urdu channel had Mustafa Khar tell us about Bhutto`s last torments at the hands of his army gaolers. Then he took on Ijazul Haq, Zia`s son, who was also present in the studio, and asked him to identify the source of his healthy bank balance, alleging that the late dictator had lined his pockets during his baneful stint. .....

Bhutto -- Allah bakhshay! -- was the greatest politician our part of the world has had since Independence (Qaid i Azam excluded). and his death was a tragedy for Pakistan which we have never recovered from. I became a fan of his after reading Wolpert`s biography of him. But I have read a number of biographies/books about him and his era and my view of him is still favourable.

I believe that he was killed on the order of the USA , and explicitly Kissinger who had threatened to make `an example` of him if he did not stop Pakistan`s then fledgling nuclear weapons program. The real architect of Pakistan`s bomb was ZAB. He also understood realpolitik and was trying to develop a third world power bloc before his assasination; he even thought of cutting pakistan away from USA`s apron strings and having a neutral foreign policy with feelers towards the USSR ; he even visited Moscow a short while before he died to discuss defence relations if i am correct. All of this was too much for USA and they used Zia and an old murder charge plus a biased bench of judges to unjustly convict him and have him murdered.

according to a high-ranking government official who related the story to my mother, bhutto was already dead before he was hung on the gallows. it sounds like what the writer described in the first couple of paragraphs confirms this.

i don`t recall justice maulvi mushtaq hussein being chief justice of the lahore high court. was he appointed after the former chief justice aslam riaz hussain was made interim governor of the punjab?

Qaid-e-Awam Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was too clever by half. He thought he could use the military to advance his ambition without having to pay for the ``privilege.``

He did manage to become the supreme leader of a truncated Pakistan by spurning the opportunity to be the leader of the opposition in the Natiomnal Assembly of a united and democratic Pakistan. He couldn`t have failed to realize his mistake as he stood on the gallows waiting for the trap door to open.

The Qaid-e-Awam betrayed the people who had put so much trust in him. ZAB was the first Pakistani leader to mouth the primacy of the concern for roti, kapra, makan in the life of ordinary citizens. He had the talents to be a great leader and do a lot for dispossessed. Alas, his ambition led him astray.

He sabotaged democracy on his way to power and ultimately paid the price for his Faustian contract with the army Generals. The poor in Pakistan had the right to expect a lot from the ``Qaid-e-Awam.`` It is a pity that blind ambition led him to betray that trust.

EVERY GENERAL`S ZULFIQAR - TILL THE GALLOWS DID THEY PART!!

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/cowas.htm

DAWN, Karachi, Pakistan
25 April 2004 Sunday 04 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

Keeping the record straight
By Ardeshir Cowasjee

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[Qaid-e-Awam Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto as prime minister in August 1976 to his foreign minister, Aziz Ahmed, his cabinet secretary and his army chief of staff]

``I will tell you how Ayub Khan became a field marshal. When he promoted Lt Gen. Mohammad Musa to the rank of general and made him commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, he told me in Nathiagali in 1959 that he was worried over the quarrel between General Musa and General Habibullah. He told me that he was worried about Habibullah`s intrigues and ambitions. He asked me for my advice on how to place himself head and shoulders above their squabbles. I told him that one way of doing it was to show complete impartiality, fairness and justice, and I made the other suggestion rather cynically. I told him that since it was essential for him to be head and shoulders above the others it would be better if he elevated his own rank from that of general to that of field marshal. He thought it to be a brilliant idea. He was simply overjoyed but as all his reflexes were influenced by monetary consideration, much to my surprise he said, `The idea is brilliant, it will create stability but we will have to persuade Mr Shoaib, the finance minister, to agree to the financial aspects of the proposal.` Of course, Mr Shoaib agreed. Ayub Khan became field marshal in October 1959. At that time I was leading the Pakistan delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The formalities were completed in my absence. The cabinet willingly agreed to the proposal. All members of the cabinet, except Moulvi Ibrahim, the then law minister, agreed. I was informed that Mr Manzoor Qadir tried to give the impression of not being wholly in agreement but that was only for the sake of showing his convenient integrity. After the decision was taken at Karachi, Ayub Khan told his military secretary to phone me in New York and to thank me for making such a sound suggestion. I am therefore the hero of Ayub Khan`s valorous battles. Of course, the object of this note is not to dismantle the man. Some of us can still refer to him with respect. I am only setting the record straight.``

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It is no surprise that Qaid-e-Awam Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had been just as obliging to General Iskandar Mirza six months before ``Field Marshal`` Ayub Khan launched his ``October Revolution`` in 1958:

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/cowas.htm

DAWN, Karachi, Pakistan
25 April 2004 Sunday 04 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

Keeping the record straight
By Ardeshir Cowasjee

[From a letter sent to President Major-General Iskander Mirza by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in April 1958, from Geneva, where he was leading the Pakistan delegation to the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea]

..... ``I would like to take this opportunity to reassure you of my imperishable and devoted loyalty to you. Exactly four months before the death of my late father, he had advised me to remain steadfastly loyal to you, as you were `not an individual but an institution`. For the greater good of my own country, I feel that your services to Pakistan are indispensable. When the history of our country is written by objective historians, your name will be placed even before that of Mr Jinnah. Sir, I say this because I mean it and not because you are the president of my country.`` .....

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