indus queen - benazir bhutto

Indus QueenShaheed

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto1953-2007

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Great Sister & Leader

Shaheed MohtarmaBenazir Bhutto

Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani, Jacobabad

I N D U S Q U E E N 3

ShaheedMohtarmaBenazirBhutto

Indus Queen

By Mir AijazHussain Jakhrani

"The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies andhis rule begins," 19th century Danish philosopher SorenKierkegaard said of difference between a tyrant and martyr.December 27, 2007 goes in our history as a monumental daywhen the tyrant forces of Pakistan attacked and martyred thePeople's Queen Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto inRawalpindi. Still unbelievable by my senses, but looking at thegloom and mourning across the world, especially Pakistan, Ireluctantly admitted to myself that my great leader and sisteris no more in this world.

A source of inspiration, an enormous mind whichcommunicated to the every mind in Pakistanis creating hopeamong hopeless, a brave lady with a brilliant brain, a rarecombination of physical and spiritual being, ShaheedMohtarma Benazir Bhutto had been Pakistan's biggest asseteven more powerful than the nukes that we have. The chain offederation that she really was is martyred by anti-Pakistanforces hidden in different garbs and veils. The earth is shaken.Evil eyes that want to tear apart this nation of 170 million arethe only eyes, which didn't shed tears. Every eye is weeping.All those who love and care for the motherland are mourningand will continue to mourn for losing a leader of such highstature that this country would take centuries to produceagain. She was killed because she looked like a hope for everyPakistani. A nation is orphaned.

I am one of the few of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto'sfortunate brothers whom she blessed with her brotherlyaffection. In the general elections scheduled for January 08,2008, it was decided that the Chairperson will address publicmeetings at Divisional Headquarters only because of theshortage of time. She was addressing a huge public meeting inMirpurkhas on December 18, 2007 when I sent her specialrequest through email that since caretaker Prime MinisterMohammad Mian Soomro has gone mad to get his nephew

4 I N D U S Q U E E N

from Rawalpindi win against me from NA-208 and wasadopting all powers under him in pre-poll rigging while bravePPP workers are giving strong resistance, hence my sistershould consider to come to Jacobabad to address a publicmeeting here to boost the people's morale here. I wassurprised to receive her phone call from the stage ofMirpurkhas public meeting tell me that "Aijaz, I am coming toJacobabad on December 19". And she did come and energizedthe PPP workers and people of Jacobabad to stand boldagainst dictator's cunning caretakers. My great sister andleader stayed overnight at my home and Jakhrani family hassaved the memories of the moments Shaheed MohtarmaBenazir Bhutto shared with us for generations. She talked tome till 1:30 am when I yawned asking me now is the time togo to sleep. The stamina of work that my sister had isunmatched as she slept less.

My tall and brave sister is not with us now but her ideas,love, affection, personal sacrifices, ideology, and commitmentwill stand as guiding lights for entire nation. "I put my life indanger and came here because I feel this country is in danger".Such is the quality of leadership in my Shaheed ChairpersonMohtarma Benazir Bhutto. She was the real leader as leaderssacrifice themselves while politicians seek sacrifices from thepeople.

Pakistan and its generations will always rememberShaheed Chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and herlegacy will live on for centuries. May God Bless My Sister WithHeavenly Abode and Rest Her Soul in Eternal Peace. AMEEN



AssassinatedIf I am

“On Oct 16, before returning home, I wrotea letter to Gen Musharraf in which Iinformed him that if anything happens tome as a result of these attacks, then I willneither nominate the Afghan Taliban, norAl Qaeda, not even Pakistani Taliban orthe fourth group. I will nominate thosepeople who, I believe, mislead the people. Ihave spelt out names of such people in theletter,” she said. “I have named threepeople, and more, in that letter to GenMusharraf. I have named certain peoplewith a view to the attack that took placeyesterday so that if I was assassinated,who should be investigated.”


Below are excerpts from somepublished news reports about

Shaheed Benazir Bhutto’sapprehensions and accusations

about her possible killers sincethe terrorist attack on herKarachi rally on October 19,2007

Email to be used only‘if I am killed’Associated Press/Dawn, December 29, 2007

It was a story CNN’s Wolf Blitzer hoped he would neverhave to report — an email sent through an

intermediary to him by Benazir Bhuttocomplaining about her security. Conditions

of use: only if she were killed.Ms Bhutto wrote to Wolf Blitzer that

if anything happened to her, “I wouldhold (President Pervez) Musharrafresponsible.”

Mr Blitzer received the email onOct 26 from Mark Siegel, a friendand long-time Washingtonspokesman for Ms Bhutto. Thatwas eight days after shenarrowly escaped an attempt onher life on Oct 18.

Benazir Bhutto wrote toBlitzer: “I have been made tofeel insecure by his(Musharraf’s) minions,” thatspecific improvements had notbeen made to her securityarrangements, and that thepresident was responsible.

Blitzer agreed to theconditions before receiving thee-mail. He said on Friday that


he called Siegel shortly after seeing it to see if there was anyway he could use it on CNN, but was told firmly it could onlybe used if she were killed. Siegel could not say why she hadinsisted on those conditions.

Blitzer reported on the e-mail late on Thursday. He notedthat Ms Bhutto had written a piece for CNN.com thatmentioned her security concerns and that Americanpoliticians had tried to intervene on her behalf to make herfeel safer. “I didn’t really think that it was a story we weremissing out on,” he said. “I don’t think the viewers weredone any disservice by my trying to hold on to this.”

Wolf Blitzer was the only journalist sent such a message,Siegel said. He also sent the e-mail to Representative SteveIsrael, a New York Democrat.

Siegel said he did not believe Ms Bhutto’s opinionshad changed since she wrote the e-mail. Her messagespecifically mentioned she had requested fourpolice vehicles surrounding her vehicle when

travelling; Siegelsaid it seemed

evident fromp i c t u r e s

taken att h e

assassination scene that the request was not fulfilled.Ms Bhutto did not necessarily believe that President

Musharraf wanted her dead, but felt many people aroundhim did, he said.

Her husband contacted Siegel onThursday to remind him about the e-

mail message and to make sure it gotout, he said.

‘Zia remnants’blamed for

Karachi carnageDawn, October 20, 2007

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto on Friday (October 19,2007) condemned the suicide attack on her rally (in

Karachi) and blamed it on what she termed ‘Ziaremnants’. She said that before returning home, she had

written to President Pervez Musharraf that more thanthree officials were planning suicide attacks on her.

“The attack was a message sent by the enemies ofdemocracy to all the political parties of the country. It was

intended to intimidate and blackmail all the political forcesand elements working for democracy and human rights. Itwas a warning not only to me and the PPP but to all politicalparties; indeed to the entire civil society.”

“On Oct 16, before returning home, I wrote a letter toGen Musharraf in which I informed him that if anythinghappens to me as a result of these attacks, then I will



neither nominate the Afghan Taliban, nor Al Qaeda, not evenPakistani Taliban or the fourth group. I will nominate thosepeople who, I believe, mislead the people. I have spelt outnames of such people in the letter,” she said. “I have namedthree people, and more, in that letter to Gen Musharraf. I havenamed certain people with a view to the attack that took placeyesterday so that if I was assassinated, who should beinvestigated.” She alleged that more attacks were beingplanned on her life. She said her apprehension was that astrike would be made ……..“The modus operandi will be thatselected people will be planted in the police department andposted near my house. Perhaps, commandos will be sent inthe garb of a rival political party and blamed for the attack.”

Ms Bhutto said she had shared this piece of informationwith Gen Musharraf and was confident the governmentwould take pre-emptive measures.

After Bombing, BhuttoAssails Officials’ TiesNew York Times, October 20, 2007

Looking pale and shaken the day after she survived asuicide bomb attack, the opposition leader Benazir Bhutto saidFriday that she had warned the Pakistani government thatsuicide bomb squads were going to go after her on her return tothe country and that it had failed to act on the information.

Ms Bhutto pointed the finger at government officials whoshe said were sympathetic to the militants and were abusingtheir powers to advance their cause. She did not identify themon Friday, but said she had in a letter to the government thisTuesday. It was not clear if she was implicating the officials


directly or accusing them of dragging their feet on her warning.“I am not accusing the government, but I am accusing certainindividuals who abuse their positions, whoabuse their powers,” she said.

Aides close to Ms. Bhutto said that one ofthose named in the letter was Ijaz Shah, thedirector general of the Intelligence Bureau,another of the country’s intelligence agenciesand a close associate of General Musharraf.

Mr. Shah hung up when asked bytelephone for a reaction to the allegations.

Bhutto namessuspects inletter toMusharraf24 Oct 2007, 1706 hrs IST , PTI

Former Pakistan Premier Benazir Bhutto hasnamed four well-known persons, including Punjab ChiefMinister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and former ISI chief HamidGul, as those who pose a threat to her life in a letter toPresident Pervez Musharraf, the media here reported today.

In the letter written on October 16, two days before shereturned to Pakistan from eight years in self-exile, Bhutto saidshe feared there was a threat to her life from Elahi, Gul,Hassan Waseem Afzal, the former Deputy Chairman of the

National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and IntelligenceBureau chief Brig (Retd) Ijaz Shah, Geo TV reported.

In a press conference held hours after the suicide attackon her motorcade in Karachi on Thursday night that left

nearly 140 people dead, Bhutto had, however, saidshe had named three persons in the letter.

She had indicated that therewere also other officials who

posed a threat to her life as, sheclaimed, they were abusing their

powers and positions. Bhutto, who also referred to

three persons posing a threat to herlife in a complaint she submitted to

police in Karachi, has so far notpublicly named these persons.

In her complaint, Bhutto only saidthat police should take action against

“those whose names were given toMusharraf”.

The government has so far been silenton her allegations though Musharraf’s

spokesman defended the IB chief’s integrityand reputation and said there was no move to

sack Shah. Some media reports had earlier suggested

that Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahimwas also named in Bhutto’s letter.

Afzal, who played a key role in probing graft chargesagainst Bhutto and was removed from his post in the NABdue to pressure from her PPP party, is currently serving asSecretary to Punjab Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Khalid Maqbool.

The DutyMyWifeLeft UsBy Asif Ali Zardari Co-Chairman,Pakistan Peoples Party The Washington Post January 5, 2008



Last week the world was shocked, and my life wasshattered, by the murder of my beloved wife, MohtarmaBenazir Bhutto. Benazir was willing to lay down her life forwhat she believed in -- for the future of a democratic,moderate, progressive Pakistan. She stood up to dictators andfanatics, those who would distort and defy our constitutionand those who would defame the Muslim holy book byviolence and terrorism. My pain and the pain of our children isunimaginable. But I feel even worse for a world that will have

to move forward without this extraordinary bridge betweencultures, religions and traditions.

I married Benazir in 1987 but spent less than five yearsliving with her in the prime minister's house over her twoterms in office, which were interrupted by militaryinterventions. I spent more than 11 years in Pakistani jails,imprisoned without a conviction on charges that former primeminister Nawaz Sharif and Pervez Musharraf (who broughtand pursued the charges) have now publicly acknowledged

were politically motivated. Even before Benazir was firstelected prime minister, in 1988, Pakistan's intelligenceagencies began working to discredit her, targeting me andseveral of her friends. I was called "Mr. Ten Percent" bytheir hired guns in public relations, and the names of herfriends abroad were besmirched with ridiculous chargesthat they headed the nonexistent "Indo-Zionist" lobby.

This campaign of character assassination waspossibly the first institutional application of the politics ofpersonal destruction. Benazir was the target, and herhusband and friends were the instruments. The purposewas to weaken the case for a democratic government. It isperhaps easier to block the path of democracy bydiscrediting democratic politicians.

During the years of my wife's governments, she wasconstrained by a hostile establishment; an interventionistmilitary leadership; a treacherous intelligence network; afragile coalition government; and a presidential sword ofDamocles, constantly threatening to dismiss Parliament.Despite all of this, she was able to introduce free media,make Pakistan one of the 10 most important emergingcapital markets in the world, build over 46,000 schoolsand bring electricity to many villages in our large country.She changed the lives of women in Pakistan and drewattention to the cause of women's rights in the Islamicworld. It was a record that she was rightly proud of.

Her murder does not end her vision and must not beallowed to empower her assassins. Those responsible --within and outside of government -- must be heldaccountable. I call on the United Nations to commence athorough investigation of the circumstances, facts andcoverup of my wife's murder, modeled on theinvestigation into the assassination of former Lebaneseprime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. And I call on the friends of



democracy in the West, in particular the United States andBritain, to endorse the call for such an independentinvestigation. An investigation conducted by thegovernment of Pakistan willhave no credibility,in my country oranywhere else. Onedoes not put the foxin charge of thehenhouse.

But it is also timeto look forward. Inprofound sadness, thetorch of leadership inthe Pakistan People'sParty (PPP) has beenpassed to a newgeneration, to our son,Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Iwill work with him andsupport him and protecthim to the extent possiblein the trying times ahead.The Bhutto family has givenmore than anyone canimagine to the service of ournation, and in these difficult days it is critical that the partyremain unified and focused. My wife, always prescient andwise, understood that. Knowing that the future wasunpredictable, she recommended that the family keep theparty together for the sake of Pakistan. This is what we aim todo.

The Musharraf regime has postponed the electionsscheduled for Tuesday not because of any logistical problems

but because Musharraf and his "King's Party" know that theywere going to be thoroughly rejected at the polls and that thePPP and other pro-democracy parties would win a majority.Democracy in Pakistan can be saved, and extremism andfanaticism contained, only if the elections, when they areheld, are free, fair and credible.

To that end, the people of Pakistan must be guaranteedelections that are (1) conducted under a new, neutralcaretaker government, free of cronies from Musharraf'sparty; (2) supervised by an independent and autonomouselection commission formed in consultation with themajor political parties; (3) monitored by trainedinternational observers who have unfettered access toall polling stations as well as the right to conduct exitpolling to verify results; (4) covered by electronic andprint media with the freedoms they had before martiallaw was imposed on Nov. 3; and (5) arbitrated by anindependent judiciary as provided for in theconstitution. In addition, all political activists,lawyers and judges being detained must bereleased.

The enemies of democracy and tolerance whotook my wife from me and from the world can and

must be exposed and marginalized. Dictatorship andfanaticism have always been rejected by the people ofPakistan. If free and fair elections are held, those forces will bedefeated again on Feb. 18. And on that day, the vision andindefatigable spirit of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto will burnbrightly, and, in the words of John Kennedy, "the glow fromthat fire can truly light the world."

Pakistan'sTippingPoint We cannot let mymother's sacrificebe in vainBy Bilawal Bhutto ZardariChairman, Pakistan Peoples PartyJanuary 6, 2008



You can imprison a man, but not anidea. You can exile a man, but not anidea. You can kill a man, but not an idea.-- Benazir Bhutto

My country mourns. And as mycountrymen join me in personal griefover the loss of my mother, I join themin national grief over the loss ofsomething even greater: the loss ofPakistan's greatest voice for democracy.

Benazir Bhutto's death, however,shall not have been in vain. We will goforward, as she would have wanted,and bring freedom and democracy toPakistan.

For those in my country who wouldfind it easier to walk away fromdemocracy and seek revenge throughviolence, I urge you to remember mymother's words: democracy is thesweetest revenge. To plunge the countryinto more violence and chaos wouldonly play into the hands of those whohope for democracy's failure. Theterrorists have no use for democracy,and the current government fears it.We must unite and rise above both.

And to those outside of my country,who support our fight for democracy, Iurge you to consider this: We cannotoppose one form of tyranny whileturning a blind eye to another. Together,we must stand against the violence ofthe terrorists on the one hand, while

standing equally firm against PervezMusharraf's use of it as an excuse to imposehis own repressive will upon the people ofPakistan.

Musharraf has made a mockery of ourconstitution. The world watched in disbeliefas he declared emergency rule and senttroops into the streets in November - notbecause of a terrorist threat to thegovernment, but a constitutional threat tohis autocratic grip on power. The men hethrew into jails were not terrorists butSupreme Court judges and respectedlawyers. The newspapers he intimidatedwere not organs of terrorists but of free andindependent citizens of Pakistan.

My mother stood bravely against boththe tyranny of terrorism as well as thetyranny of dictatorship. She has beenmartyred for her courage and pursuit ofpursuit of freedom, but now that courageand pursuit has been bequeathed to the tothe people of Pakistan. We shall carry on.

It will take the kind of courage mymother showed showed. It will take courageamong her loyal followers to calm theiranger and renounce violence or revenge. Wemust instead demand fair and openelections, free of government intimidation,and then make our show of force on electionday.

It will also take courage on the part ofPervez Musharraf and those who havesupported his government, including those


outside of Pakistan. With my country's judges and lawyers still in jail, its free

media intimidated and silenced, and its political leaders unsafeto walk the streets, we cannot pretend to havefree and open elections. Therecan be nolegitimacy toelections heldunder sucho m i n o u sc o n d i t i o n s .Those whoespouse thevirtues ofdemocracy cannotstand by idly andmaintain theircredibility while thisrepression continues.

Our free andindependent SupremeCourt must be

restored; the justices jailed byMusharraf must released and returned to their proper seats,replacing the cronies with which Musharraf has packed thecurrent court. Our other judges, lawyers and civic dissidentsmust be freed. The intimidation campaign waged against thefree media must be halted. International election observersmust be allowed to monitor our elections to ensure againstgovernment intimidation. And, finally, a credible internationalcommission must be allowed to investigate the mysteriouscircumstances of my mother's assassination. Only after thesesteps are taken can we begin the honorable march todemocracy and stability.

For those who think that by supporting dictatorship theyare somehow securing stability in Pakistan, I can say only this:Where is that stability today? My country teeters on theprecipice of anarchy not because of any actions by radicals orterrorists but because of the unchecked and power-madactions of a military dictator.

Pakistanis will soon hold themost important election in ourhistory. We have reached a tippingpoint. We will either unite behinddemocracy and the fight againstradicalism and violence, or wewill descend into the all-too-familiar cycles of despotism,terror and instability.

Those of us who will fightfor democracy must make ourstand now. Then, together, aunited and democraticgovernment can turn itsattention to the extremistsand terrorists who seek toundermine freedom in ourcountry and throughout theworld.

BENAZIR BHUTTO

TheUnmatchedQueen OfHistoryBy Anam Soomro


Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto did not choose life, it chose her.Iit is very rare to come across a person who posesses it all, youname it and she had it! Be it her gracious looks, her charismaticpersonality, her soft heart , her loving and caring nature andmost of all her selflessness. She was one of the noble peoplewho spent most of her early life outside Pakistan, but she didnot forget any of her norms, customs and values, she did notforget the people back in her country, but their pain dwelled inher heart. She was, one of the rare bread of political leadershaving studied from universities like Oxford and Harvard. Imust say that here we notice that from an early age she was onthe footsteps of her father Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto could have opted for aneasy way out, she could have stayed back in America orLondon and got herself an awesome job with perks to lead aluxurious and a peaceful life, but why would she go forsomething that was easy? She was the precious daughter of aprecious father, she had to prove herself, she had to fulfill thepromises that she made to her father that no matter whathappened to her she would come back to Larkana, herancestral village. Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto alwayssaid 'the dust and heat of Larkana was in her bones'. ShaheedMohtarma Benazir Bhutto decided to come back after shecompleted her studies, she came back to Pakistan. She cameand she conquered too small a phrase, because to conquer shehad to go through a lot of pain and sufferings. It seemed as ifher father Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto already knew thatbehind her 'pinky' hid the brave and tough Sindhi tigress. If Ihad to describe her in two words i would say 'a tigress', 'afighter'.

Her divine and beautiful brown eyes were like a mirror,reflecting all the pain and sorrow, the pain of loosing her fatherat a vey early age, the person she loved the most, but she wasstrong and did not bend, hence she decided to pick up a battlewith General Zia, who sent her father to death on April, 4, 1979



and threw the constitution and gulped the rights of the peopleof Pakistan. She decided to carry on with her father's missionthat is to bring democracy in Pakistan. Shaheed MohtarmaBenazir Bhutto fought marvelously and bravely, not afraid ofbeing 'baton charged', not afraid of being house-arrested, notafraid of being jailed, not afraid of losing her life. I must saywhat a brave lady she was. She finally succeeded in hermission and Pakistan People's Party won the elections held in1988, therefore Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was the firstwoman to have been sworn as a Prime Minister of Pakistan onDecember, 2, 1988, the first woman to lead a Muslim nation.But, her struggle did not end here, she had to fight for herrights of the downtrodden, as sadly gender bias has alwaysexisted in Pakistan, and she being a woman had to walk anextra mile for everything. Questions were raised on her beingeligible for the post of a Prime Minister for being a woman.Then again Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto fought and shewon, and in turn cleared a hurdle for the future woman PrimeMinister of Pakistan. She was tear-gassed during herpregnancy, and had to go as high as Siachen glaciers duringher second pregnancy , this was all to break her spirit, but shewas a woman of her words, she did not shrink from any of herresponsibilities but accepted them, open handedly. She wastwice elected as a Prime Minister of Pakistan. During her ruleshe faced many ups and downs, and many hurdles. Herbrother, Shaheed Mir Murtaza Bhutto was assassinated duringher rule, this was a move by the establishment to break thestrong walls of PPP and kill the party. Shaheed MohtarmaBenazir Bhutto's spouse Senator Asif Ali Zardari was arrestedand imprisoned for around 8 years. Can you believe it? Beingarrested for 8 years without having proved guilty. What ashame on such regimes. Despite all odds and huge sufferingsand difficulties in the form of jails, media trial mud-slinging,she survived and raised her head instead of lowering it. Shewas forced into exile for more than 8 years, and all these years



Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto is known to have spentmostly travelling from one world capital to other. After somany years she came back to her country on October, 18, 2007despite imminent threats. We can never forget the divine andsacred face of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, when shefirst stepped on her country and raised her hands towards thesky, praying and thanking Allah, Almighty. It seemed as if herface was lit up with joy that day, with the feeling of relief andcontentment, her face was full of noor that day. The brave ladydenied to stand behind the bullet proof glass, but chose tostand in open air on a truck waving to three million peoplewho had come from every nook and corner of the country toreceive her at the Karachi airport. However, the anti-Pakistanforces nurturing the terrorists could never see her and peopleof Pakistan happy together, and there was a bomb blast on thevery same night, where our Shaheed Mohtarma BenazirBhutto managed to survive but 150 innocent and poor peoplelost their lives. The brave tigress was unmoved by the attackon her life, instead she bucked up, delivering speeches atplaces like Jacobabad, Hyderabad, Larkana (which personallyis one of my favourite speeches of her's) where she was in joshand shouts "kal bhi bhutto zinda tha aaj bhi bhutto zinda hai ** jiye jiye jiye Bhutto". Sadly, her speech at Liaquat Ali Baghproved to be her last speech ever, as she lost her life, onDecember, 27, 2007. Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto wasassassinated , that is shot while she was waving at her peoplefrom the sun-roof of her jeep, and then the shots were followedby a bomb blast, and she fell in the jeep uttering the last words'Ya Allah'. This tragedy occurred when I was in London, I gota phone call from one of my friends who said, Anam, Bibi isno more and I shouted back on him saying listen this is aridiculous joke and then I put on Geo and I see 'muhtarmabenazir bhutto goli lagney ki waja se jaan bahak'. I feld frozenand not believing what I saw. My body became heavy, and Icalled up my baba, who works for the Pakistan Peoples Party

and I heard him crying, crying like never before in life and atthat moment I myself burst into tears, crying over the loss ofthe whole nation, the loss which could not be defined. The losswas more than anyone could have ever imagined and peoplewill realize this in the many coming years. We hail her, as herlife was full of opportunity, responsibility and fulfillment. Sheis alive in us and the three candles that she left behind i.e.Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari and AseffaBhutto Zardari to give light to us in darkness in the manycoming years, inshallah, Ameen. Shaheed Mohtarma BenazirBhutto always said 'democracy is the best revenge'. Ghar Gharse Bhutto Niklega Tum Kitne Bhutto Maroge.

BilawalBhuttoZardari:

(Published on September 21, 2006 on 18thBirthday of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and ShaheedMohtarma Benazir Bhutto liked it very much)

By: Surendar Valasai


Children are theirparents' ambassadorsto the future society


How would a boy grow who spent nearly five years of hischildhood in the Prime Minister House in two internals?

How would that same boy be who saw his parentsdragged from the Prime Minister's House to court rooms andjail for the rest of his nearly 13 years childhood?

This boy became an adult on Thursday, September 21,2006. Every Pakistani can guess rightly who that boy is.

He is Bilawal, the serious, sober and only son of formerPrime Minister Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto (and the firstgrandson born to Quaid e Awam Zulfikar Ali Bhutto) whoturned 18 years old on this day.

Many of the countrymen may have failed to rightlyunderstand the feeling of this budding personality. Theexperience together with the knowledge this youngman hasgained in 18 years of childhood life is exceptional. He observedthe ruthless face of dictatorship first hand. He saw thetreatment being meted out to his parents at the hands ofdictatorial foes. Ordinary souls will need hundreds of years tounderstand things that he knows today at his 18th birthday.

He knows that in his motherland those who disintegratedthe country never went to jails. Yet his parents who laidfoundation of sound national defence through nuclear powerand missile system are pushed into jail and hounded throughworld's worst slander campaign. Millions were poured in fromstate's resources to run this cruel campaign.

His mother heads Pakistan's most popular political party,the Pakistan Peoples Party, and his father, Asif Ali Zardari, hasbecome an asset to it through personally sacrificing ten yearsof his life in jail for the cause of people, party and democracy.Those afraid of people's rising political awareness tried to quellpeople's wave by hanging its Chief Architect Quaid-e-AwamShaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1979. Then his beloveddaughter was targeted, jailed, hounded and forced into exile.

But the wave of awareness continues to swell and dwell atthe height its Chief Architect had built. Dictator Zia, who ledassault on rising political awareness, was forced to announcegeneral elections in 1988. Though he vanished into Basti LalKamal air even before conducting the elections, his successors' ensured that the most popular political party of the countrywould not get an overwhelming majority in the elections bycreating the IJI. Yet the Pakistan Peoples Party led byShaheed's daughter Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto came out aslargest parliamentary party in these elections.

It was during this period that Zia tried to play with achild's schedule of birth through his schedule of elections.


Thus Zia had already attacked nature, whichinstantly plucked him away in a horrible style.Thirty-six days after Zia vanished, Bilawal isborn and lands in the Prime Minister Housewithin two months of his birth. His motherMohtrama Benazir Bhutto's induction asPrime Minister was received with jubilationin every nook and corner of the country.Political power restored people'sconfidence that power rests with them.But this was felt as a threat by themilitary dictator Zia 's successors. To killor curtail this emerging confidence ofstrength and empowerment amongstthe masses, Mohtrama's governmentswere dismissed in 1990 and 1996. Sheand her husband Asif Ali Zardariwere hounded with manyreferences, and fabricated cases.Jails become second home to AsifAli Zardari. He may have been inspiritual communication with hischildren but jails kept him awayfrom his son. Every father hadright to see his childrengrowing. There is a naturalenjoyment of seeing thisprocess for a father.

Every historic event takes decades toevolve and unfold so Mohtrama and Asif AliZardari ensured their spiritual guard attains physical strengthto be able to protect ordinary souls from evil and devil. Hismother has polished him into a serious and sober youth of 18years. Bilawal, which means the first, has few personalitieswho can match him in history. He was the first child since the


beginning of time to be born to an elected Muslim womanleader. His expected birth was the first to lead to a generalelection. It led to the end of an eleven-year militarydictatorship. He was born amidst national rejoining by apeople who saw his birth as an omen of better times to come.There are a handful of examples when an unborn childinspired political action even before his physical birth. Suchchildren stand tall as great heroes of their time in historybooks.

Today Bilawal knows that his mother was targeted due toher popularity amongst the Pakistani masses whom her Fatherand she sacrificed for . Dictatorial forces fear a popular

leadership at helm of affairs in the country, which willempower the people and disempower the forces ofexploitation. They have conspired with brains and tools tokeep the popular leadership away.

But with Bilawal at 18 means Mohtrama Benazir Bhuttoand Asif Ali Zardari attained the age of having grand-children.What Bilawal learnt in his 18 years of life experience othersneed hundreds of years to learn.

Bilawal's physical arrival on earth restored political powerto the people in 1988. Today many pray that his entry intoadulthood will restore both political and economic power tothe people .


ArulerofheartsBy Dr Javaid Laghari

The News - January 19, 2008


My friend, my sister, my mentor, my leader, I wasfortunate to be associated with her, leading a universitynamed after her father, of which she was the chancellor.Having the privilege of travelling with her around theworld, I wish to share her unique leadership qualities.

What is the difference between a politician and aleader? A politician asks for sacrifices, a leader gives one.She gave the ultimate sacrifice for her nation. One does notneed power to be a leader. A leader needs followers, andshe had plenty of them, even when out of power. Howmany prime ministers, presidents and generals can claimthat? Power does not make leaders. History and followersdo.

Determined to succeed and deliver the agenda ofmoderation and reform, she had the drive to put Pakistanonto the right track. Far bolder than any male leader, shetold the Afghan president hours before her tragicassassination on December 27 that "life and death is in thehands of Allah, and that is why I have the courage to starein the eyes of death without any fear."

Her star power and striking beauty made her morecharismatic than Princess Diana and John Kennedycombined. Her sophistication and diplomacy established alarge network of friends and admirers around the world.At the World Political Forum in Italy in 2003, when shewalked into the conference hall, almost forty worldleaders stood up and applauded her. She would stop aconversation or an activity just by walking into a room.She lectured regularly at universities globally where shewould dazzle a large audience.

Intelligent, wise, well-educated and well-read, herfavourite shopping at airports were bestsellers,autobiographies, history and leadership books. Withinminutes she would devour every newspaper on a flight.Her photogenic memory would remember every meeting


and everyone by name. She was a genius and a decision maker.While others would fumble for weeks strategizing partypolicies, she would analyze the situation within seconds andcome up with a creative solution and new directives. Whenreflecting over disagreements, time would tell shewas always right. Her other interests in life includedfeng shui, astrology, health and nutrition. A talkingcomputer and walking encyclopaedia, she had multi-tasking abilities. Very well-organized, disciplined,and punctual, she could bring any management guruto shame. She spent countless hours on the PC andthe blackberry. Working with her on the electionmanifesto, each document was ripped apart with ink.The final manifesto is a full credit to her creativeabilities, spelling out the five Es: employment,education, energy, environment and equality.

Empathetic, compassionate, generous and kind,she supported hundreds of desperate individuals andfamilies around the country, people unknown orheard of, except through an email received. Once shereceived an email from a critical patient with sixunmarried daughters, requesting a major hospitalexpense. With tears in her eyes, she opened her purseand asked to see the money reached its destination. I havewitnessed tears in her eyes when talking of the assassination ofher father and two brothers, and of the plight of the poor.

Hospitable and caring, she would remember her friends,relatives and admirers wherever she was and send them giftsregularly. I recall once in Germany, our attendant driver wasstunned to receive the same gift from her which she had askedhim to help choose for someone else.

A strong believer of reconciliation, she would forgive andforget. Many have accused her wrongly of adopting this policyof forgiving her father's killers, and recently of reconciling with

the existing setup, but for democracy she believed in healinghearts and forging unity. She was not vengeful. One can nowsee this reflection in Bilawal when in his first public address tothe media after his mother's assassination he stated that

"democracy is the best revenge".When at home, she would exclusively dedicate her time to

her children--discussing their interests in life as well as relatingher own experiences. She would spend weekends with herfamily as well and take care of her ailing mother. Spiritual andpious, she offered prayers, did walks, practised yoga, wentshopping and had a craving for chocolate and ice cream.

She was a jewel in the crown, a royalty who ruled hearts.This country will never be the same without her, at least forthis generation. Bibi is gone but her legacy will continue.


Whereangles fearto treadBenazirdoesn't The Post | Dec 6, 2007

PPP chairperson movesfreely in NWFP, thehotbed of suicidebombers, extremists Hafiz Sanaullah

Sunday last was not off for the enthusiastic and excitedPPP activists in the provincial metropolis. They cancelled orpostponed all their Sunday's engagements. For them the longawaited arrival of Benazir Bhutto was more important thantheir participation in weddings, their weekly visits to relatives,their drawing room, Hujra and baithak sittings and theirgossip in qawakhanas. It was after 10 years long span of self-exiled period they were going to capture the opportunity tohave a glimpse of the bold daughter of their beloved partyfounder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who used to refer to Peshawar assecond Larkana. Benazir Bhutto's whirlwind tour coupled withher to unannounced dashes to late Arbab Jehangir's Hujra-styled residence, to Walibagh without Wali Khan, to the mudhouse of a PPP victim of the Karachi bomb blast and to awood-cum-mud grassy hut of a slain PPP activist and to thesmall house of her party's assassinated minister, were enoughfor Peshawarites to call her "lioness" of the jungle of politics toget a lions share of politics in this politically fertile andconscious province. In Frontier, where Aftab Sherpao is foundcautious about his and his emerging politician son's security,Amir Muqam is scared of free movement and Salim Saifullahseems careful, nothing worried Benazir Bhutto whether thisbelt is the hotbed of suicide bombers or stronghold of religiousmilitants or gripped by a wave of militancy. She listened tonone of the "don't go to Frontier" advice. She moved intoPeshawar and elsewhere and put her head together with theimpatiently waiting PPP activists here and there to ponderover the controversial issue of boycott or no boycott of thepolls. Her visit coincided with the rebellion of loosely knitMaulana Fazlur Rehman's JUI lawyers wing. The lawyers saythe Maulana hurt the lawyers' feelings for speaking against thedeposed judges while BB won over them for voicing theirreinstatement.

It was charismatic Benazir Bhutto who brought backseveral old sincere but annoyed PPP leaders and activists into



the party fold once again. Former provincial minister IqbalKhattak is back in the pavilion. The uncle GeneralNaseerullah Babar is also back. She kept the door open forQazi Anwar advocate.

During her stay Benazir Bhutto addressed the partyworkers and a press conference as well to sum up thepurpose of her visit.

What she wanted to tell was her stand on thecontroversial issue of election boycott. She made it clearthat she was for boycott provided all the parties areunanimous. She said so because she doubted the unanimityof all the parties. It is the reason she in the same breath saidboycotting the polls means nothing but to give a blankcheque to President Pervez Musharraf.

I heard much about Benazir Bhutto when she emergedas Benazir with her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in the PrimeMinisters House. I could not see her during the lifetime oflate Bhutto having his fame spread far and wide. I sawBenazir Bhutto for the first time while she was in gloom andsadness over her father's hanging to death in jail by amilitary regime. She came to Peshawar to condole with lateBhutto's jiyalas and share her grief with them. Where werethe jiyalas she could not find? Many were thrown into thejails after receiving lashes by the military courts. A fewwent underground. I was then bureau chief of the newsagency PPI. One day Qazi Anwar advocate, a progressiveand diehard leader, sent me a message inviting me to ahighly limited gathering of not over one dozen for BenazirBhutto in Park Hotel, just in front of my office. Qazi Anwarsaid it was just a get together with Benazir Bhutto over acup of tea. "What is the use of my coming to the hotel? Pressis gagged and there is no chance of getting into the printeven a harmless story on Benazir Bhutto," I told Qazi.

I went to the hotel where I saw the teenager Benazirsitting on a sofa in the hall. Hardly were four to five people


each on her both sides. I found Benazir Bhutto tremendouslyreserved and shy. She was neither well versed with the style ofspeech making nor oratory or sermon giving. Then she was tooyoung for this. She spoke very briefly and that too in a gloomyand sad manner as the bereaved daughter of late Bhutto.

She could only say, "My father is a victim of tyranny. Myfather is assassinated for a crime he never committed. Tyrantsand the cruel have deprived Pakistan of a great politician."Benazir neither hurled any threat nor talked about revenge ofher father. She was brief, sober and civilized in her talk. Therewas complete silence in the hall. The whole atmosphere was

gloomy. Qazi Anwaradvocate introducedme as a journalist toBenazir Bhutto afterthe tea. I saw in hereyes the rising flamesof revenge. She neitherused the bullet nor thegun to take revenge ofher beloved father'sdeath. However sheextinguished the fire ofher and millions ofJiyalas' revenge by apolitical sword. She ledthe 10 hours longprocessions whichjolted the President'sHouse. Benazir Bhuttowas elected primeminister twice after theair crash of PresidentGeneral Ziaul Haq.Like her father she too

called Peshawar as second Larkana. She paid frequent visits toPeshawar.

During her last visit to Peshawar she faced anembarrassing situation in the Governor's House where she wasto address a tribal jirga. The venue and the dais werebeautifully decorated. Red carpets and bouquets addeddecoration. Meanwhile Benazir Bhutto, the then primeminister, with a purse in her hand appeared from the porchcoming to the lawn of Governor House, the venue of the tribaljirga. The then Governor Khurshid Ali Khan and formerfederal minister for tribal affairs Abdul Qayyum accompaniedher. As Benazir Bhutto tried to climb and stepped on the dais,she suddenly slipped and fell on the ground. She lost the gripon her purse. Her palms and knees received slight bruises.Nobody could dare to pick her. Governor Khurshid's face wentpale. The Minister blushed. Since Benazir was a female,nobody dare to lift her. There was no female in the tribal jirgato help her. Perhaps she could be easily lifted had Asif Zardaribeen there. However Benazir Bhutto herself stood up andoccupied the seat on the dais. There was no sign of anger orannoyance on her face. But her mood was off from the core ofthe heart. The audience noticed this. While addressing thetribal jirga she said that eight tube wells have been approvedfor the tribal areas. Upon this the minister for tribal affairsintervened and corrected the figure to 18.

"You told me eight. Why you did not tell me before,"Benazir Bhutto filled with anger asked the minister.

The same day Benazir Bhutto's plane wheel tyre burst atIslamabad airport after she flew from Peshawar airport. Thesetwo mishaps were a bad omen as Benazir Bhutto's governmentwas dismissed after three days.

This time on her visit to the US about NWFP bordering thetroubled Afghanistan, she conveyed to the White House shewas capable to converting heaven into the hell for the militantsonce she was voted to power.


OCT 18:The Dayof NationalAwakening!

By Lateef Mughal

Terrorism is big threat to peace inthe world. Terrorism breeds whenextremism gets sponsorship. A similarkind of situation prevails in Pakistan.Ruling establishment, which nurturedextremists to keep popular democraticforces at bay and creating artificialthreats for modern world, perhapsturned its back to them unwillingly.Nation was informed of the fightagainst terrorism.

The fight against extremism inPakistan cannot be fought withoutnational reconciliation andinvolvement of the masses. Pakistan isawakened now that such crucialinternal fights, sponsored by outsiders,cannot be won through a fewinstitutions alone. Masses can alonemake such Hercules national task asuccess. Our master brains, who sawstrategic depth in Afghanistan forPakistan have finally ended up thecountry in a quagmire self-made. Itseems that minds, which are selectedand trained with geographic defenceeducation have admitted now that onlya popular leadership has the capacity toprotect the ideology of Pakistan and itsnational interests.

It is appreciatable that such anawakening seems visible especially at apoint of time in history where Pakistanstands at a crossroad today. There ischoice available now for Pakistan,



whether it wants to be another Afghanistan or goes back to thefounding ideology of Pakistan.

Washington-based anti-terrorism group 'Terror FreeTomorrow' said Pakistan Peoples Party Chairperson andformer Prime Minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto is thepopular hope for majority of Pakistanis. She enjoys the supportof 53 leaving behind another two-time Prime Minister NawazSharif. The ruling clique may even loose in homes if their

family members are given real freedom of choice. Thus it is outof the survey ambit. In 2002 general elections, MohtarmaBenazir Bhutto was restricted from contesting the generalelections, but the chief of a banned extremist organizationMaulana Azam Tariq was allowed to contest and become anMNA to be able to cast his decisive vote to form thegovernment of covert extremists. The Pakistan Peoples Partybagged the largest number of votes was pushed to the third


position in Parliament representation. . Covertextremists were given task to root out overtextremism and terrorism. Instead, they squeezedthe space for civil society and its liberal forces.The overt extremists were moved in to fill thespace. Country's largest civil society political forcePakistan Peoples Party appeared the real target ofthis regime. PPP remained the most victimizedpolitical party in Pakistan during the last eightyears also. Its leaders were targeted and killedincluding MP Abdullah Murad and theChairperson's close confidante MunawarSuharwardy. Media trial and characterassassination of its leadership was carried out bythe regime spending millions of dollars. Agenciesmade defections among the party legislatorsthrough carrot and stick policy. PartyChairperson's spouse Asif Ali Zardari was held injail for eight and a half years. All the worstvictimization was carried out against it becausethe PPP is always the symbol for democracy andcivilian rule.

Time is running out for the covert extremists,who ruled Pakistan under the shadow of uniformsince 2002. The establishment must have learntnow that the nation cannot get rid of extremismand its bye-product of terrorism without popularsupport of the masses. PPP's goal from the outsetwas to set the course for to a successful transitionto a democracy and a political marginalization ofthe anti-people and extremist forces. The partywants to rekindle the dream of Quaid-e-Azamand Quaid-e-Azam for Pakistan and its people.

Rekindling the dream of Quaid-e-Azam forthe people of Pakistan is the real hope and this

HOPE returns to Pakistan on October 18. And hope fortomorrow lands back in the country after 3565 days in exile.Pakistan braces to welcome its hope. "I am coming back toPakistan regardless as to what happens to me because thecountry is facing the threat of disintegration, the regime haslost control over tribal areas, there is insurgency inBaluchistan, rule of law has collapsed in Karachi and Punjab isfacing sectarian and religious violence eating the very roots ofthe federation," Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said last monthwhen her return to home was announced in eight differentplaces in Pakistan.

"My goal is to prove that the fundamental battle for thehearts and minds of a generation can be accomplished onlyunder democracy," said Mohtarma. "Extremism looms as athreat, but it will be contained as it has been in the past if themoderate middle can be mobilized to stand up to fanaticism. Ireturn to lead that battle."

It is clear now forces that considered "War on Terror" as alucrative project and condensed it to limited ruling groupshave finally awakened, Pakistan seems to have finallyawakened. Why the masses were kept aloof from participationin nation's fight against extremism and terrorism? Thisquestions whispers in every ear that cares for future of worldpeace and progress and prosperity of Pakistan. October 18 isgoing to be the Day of National Awakening when Pakistaniswill rekindle their dream of a liberal, democratic, peaceful,vibrant Pakistan with justice, fair play, equality, human rights,freedom, progress and prosperity as the most recognized andfollowed rules of the society.



CryTheBelovedCountryGulzar Bano - Lahore

Be proud Karachi Lahore Peshawar Quetta

The Iast century records a historic birth

A heroic girl child of Destiny in Pakistan is born

Her bones close to the land of Moenjodaro

Her blood with the power of the mighty Indus

Her will with the measure of the Karakurrams


She could on IV be named BENAZIR

Beauty and brains without fear Benazir inherits

Tutored by a gra.ciou5 mother

In the shadow of a charismatic father

When the gallows devour her towering parent

She stands by her mother" a granite pillar

Mother and daughter cannot be destroyed

By the forces of land or sea or air

They hold a and lead the PPP

The people yearning for dignity with Roti Kapra Makan

A Muslim woman in obscurantic Zla's chauvinistic land

Twice Benazir is elected Prime Minister

Fatherless brother-less she is never alone

The rich in wisdom and or wealth seek her

The poor in worship and penury follow her

In power or powerless at home or exile

Benazir has home in Punjab Sindh The FrontierBaluchistan and Kashmir

No other politician can achieve such presences

Exiled she still meets the high and mighty of the world

Nourishes her fearless ambition and wilt for Democracy

In her fifty fourth years she plunges into destiny

A global woman, not only daughter of the East

Her mother can no longer embrace her

A phenomena she returns in Hope for Pakistan

Unable to watch and kiss her own children

Karachi welcomes Benazir with tumultuous joy

The angel of death permits her homecoming glory

Benazir now in touch with Eternity moves every day

Her devotees elated energized mesmerized

In the armored commandoed city she must descend

Set agendas for free fair elections in the land

In Rawalpindi she rides on a pinnacle of victory

Her love for Pakistan people never more passionate

Her faith in the oppressed never more firm

The earth trembles with the love of thousands

Her human brain defeated, her heart victorious

Benazir must salute, must salute on the Twenty Seventh ofDecember 2007

Death her companion since her father's death

Benazir salutes

In maturity she grasps Eternity

Cry The Beloved Country

CRY

I N D U S Q U E E N 59 I N D U S Q U E E N 59


When the world was still to be bornWhen Adam was still to receive his formThen my relationship began

When I heard the Lord's voiceA voice sweet and clearI said "yes" with all my heartAnd formed a bond with the land I love When all of us were oneMy bond then began

from Marvi of MalirShah Latif by Benazir Bhutto

The Storyof Benazir


An exile now by destinyI am nearer home than my heart's beatI wonder: when will I be freeTo return to Larkana

From dust to dustLoved ones returnTo what they wereWhen will I walk home from Arab landsTo my own sweet Motherland.

Waiting for news in dreams and dayWaiting for messengers in dreams and dayWhen will the message comeTaking me from here to thereI want the answer to my heartI want to pass God's test O God, I await the messengerTaking me to where I belongAlthough the tyrants do not care Strands of white my hair now showsMy face is gaunt with sadnessI to my people want to go I came in the winter of repressionI pray to return in different timesLike the joy of a seasonal rainThe peoples support I will reclaim. Almighty God,


Let Mother's sickness not worsen in exileTrapped in a mind wanting to forgetA heart weeping for young sons killedO let Mother first her homeland see

O where is my husband gone?His life's prime and his grace?Prison Walls confine himCourt rooms frustrate himJudges are frightenedCourage has fledSalaries are more importantThan honour for which men gave lives Pakistan, my health is wornMy joy is goneAnd yet my heart is strongFor the fightFor our people lost rights Each day I smile for the world,For my children and my selfThey ask: when can we return?I speak of justice fledFrom hearts of menInto the breasts of beasts I tell themWe will smile and we will eatWhen freedom from chains is freed I think of the poor people



A better fate they deserveThan the military conqueror's boots Yet the lust for land growsPlazas and Plots for the elite lotGovernment homes tooNot one but twoAll on starving backs of people robbed The sweet lands lie parchedFor water people prayThe crops perishThe cattle dieThe stoves grow coldAs labour is sent home Fair Pakistan's face is blottedMug shots and finger prints are demandedWorshippers live in fear and dreadTenants are ejectedSoldiers in snows abandoned The poets in the mountains and the desertsSpeak of another timeWhen the country and the individual hadrespectBefore the Benazir Government left One pension is too little for someOne state, two jobs, two salaries and twopensionsFor retired Khaki specialsDemocracy is for those in Mufti



Dictatorship the dream of Generals in Khaki The British left last centuryTheir space the Khaki filledThe Father died too quicklyIn an ambulance in Karachi One day the tyrants will departPublic opinion will set us freeThere will be dancing in the streets,Music and songLaughter will fill the airAs people rejoice in their destiny

Larkana, Loved-one, I rememberThe sweet scent of rosesOf fresh rain on desert sandOf trees washed by nature's hand Away I live in a mansion grandBut I long to campaignOn long and rocky roadsIn bumpy jeep ridesWith flags and bannersWith selfless zeal to changeThe sad presentInto a smiling future I want to breathe the breathOf home,a breath both fair and fineMy spirit is in one placeMy body in anotherMy mind torn asunder

The Elections were so UnfairMade of Broken PromisesBillions spent in marketingA dictatorship as a democracyThat too unsuccessfully. The European Union called FoulSo did the Office of the CommonwealthBoxes were filledBallots tornPeoples verdict shornBy cowards masquerading as patriots The presidential palace is uglyIn a land with widespread povertyParliament has yet to dress itselfWith Constitutional powerThe phoenix rises from the ashesPeoples Power will be born againCentres of learningI will build for the children of the poorProvide the aged and the youngDignity, hope and securityWe will raise buildingsWhere there are desertsAnd stop the weeping of the women ofthe land Cry notFor change is in our handsTo reject wrong and embrace right



These days of despots will soon goJust as other despots did Memory forever recalls Quaid e AwamThe sword of truthWho gave his lifeSo we could liveWith legal rights and economic securityWith knowledge and OpportunityWith representation and successWith peace and with progressHis name will forever shineWho can forget himThat historical memory embracesForever in its folds. He who wore threads of fine goldTore them for prison cellsHe who slept in silken sheets and fed withsilver spoonsThrew them aside for the darkness of thedeath cellDefying death The rulers offer comfortIn return they demand conscienceDon't offer comfortTo history's childrenTo the brave and the bold The Kurds fought for decadesThe Kashmiris do too



The Palestinians refused to surrenderIn every continentIn every eraThe brave and the boldCarved history with their bare hands One has mightThe other right

One has the swordThe other the penGuns rust and fall apartIdeas live forever Tyrant: do not offer comfortComfort leaves me coldMuch dearer do I hold

6 I N D U S Q U E E N 69

Marvi's ancestral shawlSymbol of our Treasure From Marvi I learntFrom past mystic saintsFrom my dear brother Shah I learntThat handsome youth who fought another tyrantThatWere I to breathe my last, livingAway from the home I lovedMy body won't imprison me. Shah returned home while his soul went free

No stranger to the soilEmbracing his body in deathMaking it part of the legends of our land When his last breath cameWe carried him to the hidden coolness of the desert sandPride and sadness mixed in our heartsSwaying emotionsKnowing that his life was givenFor a clear cause of liberationFrom a Dictator's occupation We buried him lovingly



In the land that was hisIn a sea of peopleThat loved himFor his lifeAnd for his deathKilled and yet the struggle lived The cranes fly to their native hills

My heart longs to fly with themInvisible chainsHold me prisoner The wounds of the pastFester againFor my country and meAs I see people denied rights


Denied opportunities Youth looking for hopeDemocracy separated from the polityDictatorship cuts cruelly to the boneUndermining the economyUndermining the societyIntroducing suicideEconomic suicide for those too poor to livePolitical suicide for asymmetric warfareJoy left when the stove turned coldJoy fled when the church and hospital blew Some sent messagesTo forget about politicsTo leave the peopleTo find happinessThey thought it foolishThat the weight of persecutionCould be borneWith a Mother illAnd children smallWith the pain of exileOf a husband separated by prison walls. They thought it generousTo offer freedom for abandonmentThe abandonment of a people, of a landOf a struggle, of a dreamOf principles and of conscienceI thought it wrong

I know I will returnOn a wave of peoples supportLed by the bravest Party of them allA Party of martyrsA Party of struggleA Party that servesA Party of the people My enemies wish I never was bornFor them it was a torture and a shameThat I becameThe first woman leader of a Muslim StateCrumbling centuries of controlTriumphantly proclaimingThe equality of men and womenThe pristine message of IslamHidden under prejudice and discrimination Destiny's hand moves onWriting its own taleOf triumph and tragedies,Of wars and peace,Of bombs pulverising houses Above the stench of deathLife begins againThe tide of sorrow turnsThe sea of happiness awaitsThe patient pray and persevereLoved ones parted meet


Prisoners are freedFresh ones take their placesOr fleeDestiny's moving finger writes on Seasons changeRealities changeThe rest is a testBetter a life of testThan a worthless life of rest The land reclaims its ownWhen the dead dieThey live againBecoming part of a landCenturies oldHolding secretsOf great civilisationsOf heroes and heroines of bygone timesShaping history and heritageShaping cultureShaping the futureTime beginsTime endsWe decideWhat to do with time Remember the poor and the wretchedRemember the desperate and the hopefulRemember God's sacred trustThe children of the land



Do not let your conscience dieFor Power and Pride The scent of the homelandWafts through the ocean airThrough continentsIts insistent callA reverberating soundThrough sunset and dawnCallingThrough wallsCallingThrough mountainsSeeking to reclaimIts own To my dear ones I sayWorry notShed no tearsBear no regretsThese days will passAfter night comes dayAfter sorrow comes joy The daughters of the desert knowThat DestinyCannot ChainThe dream of a people freeOf a youth redeemedOf a landWhere the sweet scent of justice


Fills the air Where human rightsAnd economic rightsBreak the prisons of povertyBreak the dungeons of diseaseThe repression of retrenchmentThe despair of downsizingThe evil of unemployment Prisons holdThose that defy dictatorsThose that pay the price for freedomKnowing the chains holding liberty will breakThat the desert menWill write of desert courageOf integrity, loyalty and unityBaptised in sufferingThat a desert maidWill return home Hear the windIt carries the message:Of dictators that came and wentOf tyrants now particles in the sands of timesHow many armies came and wentHow much blood was shedConquests proclaimedKingdoms fell; Tyrants tooThe desert sands speakThe desert winds whisper

Truth will triumphThe desert maid will return Travellers travel bringing newsOf political developments,I hear of miseriesOf families without incomeOf fear of hungerI hearAnd my own suffering retreats Days passLife passesI am shackledTo the dream of democracyUnhappy are the daysFar from Malir and MultanFar from Mardan and Makran My countrymen are farNo one can reproach themFor they stand strongAs the October elections showed One day I will recall these daysAnd forget the painOne day I will recall these daysWhen political storms roaredWhen thundering threats filled the airOne day I will recall these daysKnowing my commitment to my landWas purified and sustained.



I think of those exiledfrom their homelandsIn Los Angeles, London, DubaiOf the days they passSome in despair,Some in frustrationSome with determinationThe seasons changeMy face with themTheirs tooWill my fellow villagers recogniseA faceReflecting the seasons of fate Night fallsThe world sleepsDarkness fills the airI raise both my handsAnd ask my childrenTo raise their little hands Marvi, of Maru and Malir,In the mists of timeShe raised her handsWhile the world sleptTo GodFull of hopePraying to see her homeland Marvi,We raise our hands

As you raised yoursTo GodIn hope For the homelandI was born inBuried my FatherBuried my brotherMarriedHad my childrenServed a NationHelped a peopleWithout telephone or electricityComputers or emailsPolio drops or iodineEnter the modern age But the bullets were fired Piercing my tall and handsome Brother His precious blood on the pavement fell Where once we walked The angels came And took him away To my Father and my Brother As the Martyrs watched In July we met His warm embrace I recall In the chandeliered Prime Minister's Hall His special goodbye as he left His voice on the phone



When we talked As family members do The phone came It spoke of bullets fired Of Murtaza wounded I took a plane With Holy Book in Hand To the Hospital where he lay God, do not take The brother that I love It was too late He was gone

Again I buried a brother The killers buried the GovernmentHusband was imprisonedTiny children exiledWith ailing grandmother Midnight raids and imprisonment Torture and terror Perjury and Perversion Billions spent on false cases On propaganda Psy war and special operations On a Mother

Courts cal liberated With different orders Caught flights daily From one to the other Lahore to Rawalpindi Then to Karachi The persecutors fell In divine retribution The military marched In Hear the wind It carries the sound Of horses that galloped Of caravans that came Of tanks that rumbled Of planes that flew Before the torch of time Was passed As history's pendulum swung The desert wind callsMarvi callsA timeless callA callThe desert wind carries. Children: Hear the desert windHear it whisperHave faithWe will win.


A devi, A queen

You Had been

The hope of everyone

History will record

Benazir was one

Oh Mother of future Pakistan

Your memories will live

Till last human on earth

By Roshni Suviii


indus queen - benazir bhutto

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