GARHI KHUDA BUX: It was a very different kind of event at Garhi Khuda Bux on April 4. Gone was the state machinery of the veritable army of Special Branch personnel and protocol officers and the attendees brought to the mausoleum by their local MPAs and MNAs.
Like the day before, the supporters at Garhi Khuda Bux on Wednesday also have Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) flags and chant Jiye Bhutto. Their chants were followed by several cursing the president and a call for ‘Naara-e-Murtaza’ went out. Their flag was in the familiar red, green and black but it featured a printed sword, and the name Shaheed Bhutto. They have posters of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, but instead of Benazir and her children, the other images were of Mir Murtaza and his son Zulfikar Jr.
This was the second death anniversary event for Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, organised by the Pakistan Peoples Party-Shaheed Bhutto (PPP-SB), founded by Mir Murtaza Bhutto and now headed by his widow, Ghinwa.
“Dum Dum Bhutto,” was the cheer. Ghinwa took the mic. When she smiled, she looked like the young, glowing woman in the images of her after she married Mir Murtaza.
“There is anger in you,” she said. “We are angry because in the past 33 years and the betrayal of the elite and tyrannical leaders that took away our great leader, but the rulers since then have also betrayed us.” She said that the PPP was now in the hands of the ‘Zardari mafia’. “The real heir is junior Bhutto,” one speaker said, referring to Zulfikar Jr.
The PPP flag has been hung on the mausoleum, and the Bhutto memorabilia being sold now included stickers and posters of Mir Murtaza’s family. Inside the mausoleum, all images of President Zardari and a few of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari were ripped up and scribbled over.
“Benazir’s children are not Bhutto’s heirs, Murtaza’s children are. They are Zardari’s children,” said Taufeeq, a PPP-SB supporter from Larkana. “Bhutto’s heirs can only be Bhuttos.”
A crowd quickly amassed. “We will not even let Zardari enter this place when the government’s term is over. His picture cannot be here, he killed Mir Murtaza and Benazir,” another chimes in.
Also at the event was Sindh National Front vice-chairperson Ameer Bux Bhutto. Ameer Bux accused the PPP of using the Bhutto name and of the government of destroying institutions and being corrupt.
He said that the men Benazir had pointed to being responsible if she was assassinated were now part of the government.
Ghinwa dubbed Watan Cards and Benazir Income Support Programme a last resort to give people money because the government did not make any policies for the poor. She addressed the women, and told them the programme was flawed because it paid Rs800 instead of Rs1,000 and the remainder was paid back. She also hit out at Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani for not respecting the Supreme Court and his refusal to write to Switzerland to reopen cases against the president. “I am very happy that my friends from Railway Colony are here. You have made your struggle an example for the country. She hails the colony’s residents for not leaving the area when the police came to remove them. She asks them to seize other land for their neighbours and asks for a 100-year lease for the land.
“Today’s war is not between Sindhis and Punjabis or Hindus and Muslims, it is the poor against the rich,” said Ghinwa before leaving the crowd to return to the mausoleum that houses the Bhuttos they honour so much.
Resolutions and more: PTI members join PPP-SB
It was also announced at the event that several people from Bahawal and Sujawal had joined the PPP-SB after leaving the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf. Several resolutions were presented - against US tyranny, the government’s corruption and recent move to increase petroleum product prices.
One focuses on Karachi and calls for implementation of the Supreme Court order of 2011 and for an end to the one-sided operation in Lyari. Another asks for opening talks with Baloch leaders and stopping the spate of extrajudicial killings.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 5th, 2012.
COMMENTS (14)
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extremely bad governess
@sami rao
You are checking the wrong website dear Sami ...Lion dont need to be claim that he is a lion because at the end of the day he is a lion. If Ghinwa and her party belongs to rich class than this jalsa will be live for 5 hours show in all national and local news channels through out the day. She is not feudal , she got land from her inheritance, PPP- SB is the only National Party in Pakistan who has not even a signle Feudal in his Central Exective Committe or any office bearer.... All the CEC and office bearer belongs to poor class and lower middle class. Sitting in home and mudslinging is the very easy. If you have any point regarding the party policy kindy discussed. As far as the railway land concerened kindly read the KATCHI ABADEE ACAT you will get to know the fact.
@jasmine i hope omar clear all your doubts and correct your record kindly update it ....need further clarifications or facts???
same old rhetoric. @agree with jasmine. ghinwa wont b able 2 make any difference b/c she also belongs 2 the same rich , elite class who have usurped the rights of poor..shocked 2 know that she z publicly inciting ppl 2 illegally occupy railway land. but what else can u expect it from these feudals.its the only thing they know. @omar, go and checkout ppp-sb facebook and the banners ghinwa party's carry. their claim 2 b the real heirs of bhutto z written all over it. dynastic politics is what keeping ghinwa bhutto in news.
@Jasmine
One needs to be a political worker to understand the significance of some of the things you have mentioned. I may be wrong, but I think that you may not be actively connected with a political party. Be that as it may, you have all right to your views and comments.
One thing I must clarify though. The only official site that the PPP(SB) has is its Facebook Page - you will find it at www.facebook.com/pppsb. Could you please visit it and point out to me or any of the admins where the slogans you mention in your comment are written?
Yes, Ms. Bhutto was a Lebanese national till her marriage but gave up the Lebanese nationality and retains only the Pakistani one. At least she followed our traditions unlike some families who change their surnames in order to retain power. Unlike many other of our rulers - our president and interior minister included - she also does not have a dual nationality.
Would you be also kind enough to point out to me where you have read the manifesto of the PPP(SB) - as it is not on the internet. If you have a copy, can you please tell me which year's copy do you have and can you please be specific about what policies proposed you are differing with? I am surprised that you say that there is nothing new in the party vision. For one, do you find any party talking about land reforms, a limit on wealth and devolution of power right down to the union council level? Not only are these issues spoken about at length at all forums but the party has a clear agenda of how they will be implemented - unlike some parties that use appealing cliches but do not have a road map.
Your anger is justified. All young people should be angry at the way we have been ruled. You will agree that at the end of the day it is a fight between the rich and the poor. One great problem nowadays is that the people have been deceived so often by the main stream parties that in anger the same label is put on all parties. The level of trust in politics is rock bottom. We must all play our part in changing the status quo.
With my kind regards
Omar Sial
@nauman, r u kidding me. do u know what dynastic politics means. i have gone thru her party website.nothing new in it. isnt ghinwa using the name of bhutto as her party slogans and pursue her carrier. isnt it her party slogan written on her party website, facebooks,'' bhutto ka waris bhutto hai''.,claiming herself as real bhutto. as if ppp z the property that needs 2 b inherited. . she wasnt even a pakistani national until murtaza's death. even her husband didnt bother 2 apply 4 her pakistani nationality. ur argument z too flawed like ur party chaiperson. benazir bhutto was also the daughter of ZABhutto. why fatima bhutto cry foul over bibi entrance into politics and not that of her father or mother. PLZ GHINWA,PRACTICE WHAT U PREACH. otherwise,u and ur party shuldnt be bothered if .mr.zardari or bilawal uses bhutto name in politics. its people's voice that counts and they have never voted 4 ms.ghinwa. one more thing, RISE ABOVE HATE, by tearing down other posters wont make u win next elctions.
@JASMINE: it is very easy to critize any one .... have you ever gone through their policies/party manifesto?? answer NO..... and if she belongs to bhutto family it doesnt mean that they are strong beliver of daynastic politics ..... just read the policies carefully!!
she z no different than anyother politician in our country. ghinwa bhutto too z pursuing dynastic politics.the only difference z ppl donot vote 4 her in the elections. she z desperate to b elected especially since new generaion z aspiring 2 take a plunge in the pool of politics. how naive of ghinwa 2 say that there z no issue b/w punjabis, sindhis or muslim,non-muslims. recent case of forcible conversiopn of hindu girls z a case in point. hegemony of punjabi politicians,and military over resources of pakistan z another dark truth of our tortured history..instead of asking ppl 2 usurp state resources (i.e huge railway land which ppl have illegally occupied & action against enrochment z underway),why dont she distribute some of her land 2 the landless poor peasants.
Well considering the Hindus have been nearly eliminated in Pakistan how can they be a party to the war? I don't see anything happening for the poor in Pakistan. Pakistan hasn't even had a land re-distribution since Independence. The poor in Pakistan are more concerned with obeying the Mullahs and eliminating minorities then fighting their feudal overlords.
Stop worshiping personalities for God's sake. Fix the system.
yes its was between poor against the rich
This is a diffrence between the looters politician and in real Leader .... Who says Pakistan has a leader ship crises??? We have a leader Ghinwa Bhutto non of the Political Parties head have a thought like her. She is diffrent thanks God you send her for our rescue you done your job now it is on us to do some thing for our own survial.
So for that reason, people shouldn't vote for PPP.