Reopen Bhutto’s case, give him justice, urge PPP leaders

Ahead of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s 39th death anniversary, leaders want death sentence to be reexamined

HYDERABAD: Ahead of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's 39th death anniversary, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) reiterated the call for reopening the case of the controversial death sentence passed against him Bhutto in 1979. At a seminar in Larkana on Monday, PPP leaders urged the Supreme Court, which received a reference in April, 2011, by former president Asif Ali Zardari, to fix a hearing of the case. The event was held at the Nusrat Bhutto Library.

The speakers said the court's verdict of a death penalty against Bhutto should be declared a judicial murder in the interest of rectifying a mistake in history. "The people should be informed who conspired in the murder of Bhutto," said PPP Sindh's president and provincial minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro. "This secret should be revealed."

The former president filed a presidential reference under Article 186 of the Constitution in the apex court, which was pleaded to order revisiting Bhutto’s murder trial. However, the reference has remained undecided since it was filed in 2011.



Khuhro blamed Hafeez Pirzada, Mumtaz Bhutto and Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi for stabbing Bhutto in the back. He said if the court can apologise for lending a legal cover to the martial laws, the same should be done in Bhutto's case.

"Bhutto was hanged because he spoke in the interest of the public," he asserted. MNA Faryal Talpur said Benazir Bhutto's uncles left her in the lurch when the party was facing the state's onslaught. "Bhutto's judicial murder is still awaiting justice," she said.

The PPP's central information secretary, Nafisa Shah, said the people of Pakistan have twice received the bodies of leaders from the Bhutto family. "Now, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will fight the case to correct history."

Senator Aajiz Dhamra said yet another conspiracy to break Pakistan was put into play after Benazir’s martyrdom but Zardari foiled the plot by raising the slogan of 'Pakistan khappay [we want Pakistan]’. Dhamra contended that all the people who support democracy as a system of governance in Pakistan want justice for Bhutto.



Journalist Nazeer Laghari recalled that an appeal was filed in the Shariat Court against the verdict but the lawyer Pirzada withdrew from the case around two weeks before Bhutto’s hanging. "The consent of the then members of PPP's central executive committee including Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, Ghulam Mustafa Khar and Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi was also sought before he was hanged," he claimed.

The 39th anniversary will be commemorated at the mausoleum of the Bhuttos in Garhi Khuda Bux Bhutto in Larkana tomorrow (Wednesday). The PPP and PPP-Shaheed Bhutto will organise separate public meetings on the occasion.

PPP Chairperson Bilawal, PPP-Parliamentarians President Zardari, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah and other leaders will address the event. Some 7,000 policemen will be deployed for security.