ISLAMABAD: Benazir Bhutto’s sister Sanam, who lives in London and stays away from Pakistani politics, has issued a surprise statement to defend her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, asserting that the Hamoodur Rehman Report on the 1971 debacle had exonerated her father.
She issued the rare statement in response to an article published in The News and launched a strong attack on Bhutto-haters who, she said, continue to malign her father. “The truth is that my father rules this nation from his grave and his enemies are unable to fathom the mystery of his legend,” Sanam Bhutto said in the statement, which was sent to The News through her friend based in Islamabad.
“My father worked day and night to rebuild a broken country from the ashes of defeat and to restore the image and honour of the Pakistan Armed Forces. His reward was the gallows!... I, as the only remaining child, alone carry the flame of that pain and destruction,” Sanam Bhutto stated.
Political analysts saw her strong defence of her father vis a vis the Pakistan Army and the claim that she was the only one to carry the flame as an interesting political statement at a time when a PPP government is running the country and with PPP leaders sitting in all the top offices of the country.
The following is the full text of Sanam Bhutto’s statement released to The News: “I refer to a news report in The News dated 16 May, 2011, entitled: ëIslamabad continues to hide the truthí. It alleges and infers that the Hamoodur Rehman Commission report laid part of the blame on my father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for the 1971 debacle and that my father accused the commission of exceeding its jurisdiction in order to justify shelving the report. This is a complete travesty. Anyone who has read the report will testify to the fact that the report exonerates my father but lays the blame squarely on the army high command under General Yahya. The fact is that the officers and men of the Pakistan Army were completely demoralised and devastated and, in order to rebuild their morale and honour, my father not only stopped the report’s publication but also put a ban on all media diatribe and propaganda against the armed forces. My father worked day and night to rebuild a broken country from the ashes of defeat and to restore the image and honour of the Pakistan Armed Forces. His reward was the gallows!
“Jinnah created Pakistan and my father saved and rebuilt it from the chaos and confusion of historical blunders committed by military dictatorships before him. He nursed an ailing economy and a broken civil society back to health. He burnt his candle at both ends to equip and arm the Pakistan Army and give Pakistan a nuclear programme, for which a ëhorrible exampleí was made out of him and his family. I, as the only remaining child alone carry the flame of that pain and destruction.
“Thirty years on there are people whose fear of the Bhutto name is so visceral that they continue to malign him. They thought that they had buried Bhutto for good but cannot accept that Bhutto lives in the hearts and souls of even a brand new generation, which never laid eyes on him. The truth is that my father rules this nation from his grave and his enemies are unable to fathom the mystery of his legend. My father gave his life for his country but refused to barter its sovereignty and that is why despite the calumny he stands so tall.”
No comments:
Post a Comment