BENAZIR

BHUTTO

The way out

Interviews, Impressions, Statements and Messages

@ Mahmood
Publications

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'The Way Out,-- A political Analysis

International Edition
Copyright © 1988
1st Edition August 1 988

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COMPILER'S NOTE

Since the dark sun�rise of 5th July 1977. I and perhaps so

many others, have been wondering 'What will be the way
out?'

Federation of Pakistan witnessed the worst possible op­

pression, violence and tyranny meted out to her brave
sons and daughters during these horrible years.

Days dawned and passed. Experiments were made. Pakis­

tanis were whipped, summarily tried by military officers
while constitution was claimed still to be supreme. There
was Majlis-e-Shoora, the house of greed. and the rest of
Pakistan was house of violence. The question was still
there what is The Way Out.

February 1985. blessed us with non-party elections and

gave birth to a party-less parliament which shamelessly
baptised all illegitimate acts of Martial Law and then con­
verted itself into
a party-obviously Muslim League
(Which is now bisected into Fida and Junejo Leagues}.

Pakistan was still looking for 'The Way Out'.

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 4

Last year in early months, I had an appointment with

Miss Benazir Bhutto Co-chairperson of the premier polit�­
cal party of the country and asked the same question in
so many words. It was my suggestion that the answer be
compiled in a book fonn. She very kindly agreed.

The question did relate to the crisis engulfing the country

since Mid 1977, the way out of it, how PPP shall steer
the country out of the mess created by the long military
rule.

She very graciously granted her precious time to answer

these penetrating questions. First six chapters consist on
these sessions of interviews. As she keeps a busy
schedule, it would have been injustice with the people of
Pakistan to unsurp her time for more questions. The
answer of other questions were searched through her state­
ments and messages released on different occasions. The
compilers went through the records between January
1984 till August 1988 and luckily came across many com­
prehensive replies. All these chosen statements and mes­
sages constitute the later part of the book. It is to be
noted that her statements are prepared with utmost con­
sideration and apprehension and are comprehensive and
compact as an article.

The whole book contains the words of Ms. Benazir Bhut­

to yet she is not the author.

We are proudly presenting this compilation of ineter­

views. impressions, statements and messages which will
be certainly a document of our times.

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 s

My daughter,
Should anything happen to me,
promise me.
you will continue my mission.

Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto

KotLakhpatJail

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 ,

We do not impose our views on others because we

believe in free expression and in dissent. Despite
having faced the most persecution, we have not talked
of revenge but sought to heal wounds and divisions -
we dont live in the past or believe in Vendettas. We
are political people who derive lessons from the past
and look to the future as we build in the present.

Benazir Bhutto
May 1987

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 9

MILESTONES

CONTENTS

FOREWORD 11
PREFACE 13
BEGINING AND THE END 20
THE SCENE TODAY 28
ISLAMIC LAW AND THE SOCIETY 31
SURVIVAL- THE MOST GRAVE PROBLEM 34
nA�RULE �
PROFESSIONAL ROLE OF THE ARMY 44
DEATH SENTENCE 57
STRUGGLE WILL CONTINUE 64
FEDERALISM - SOCIALISM - DEMOCRACY 67
WE ARE PROUD OF YOU 72
AWAMI BUDGET 75
A LIFE IN THE DAY OF BENAZIR 97
INDEPENDENCE DETAINED 109
REIGN OF TERROR 113

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OPPRESSORS DONOT LIVE FOREVER 125

PUPPET PARLIAMENT 129
A SUFFERING SOCIETY 136
DIVIDE- DESTROY AND RULE 145
NO TO OPRESSION NO TO MILITRIZATION 162
MAGNITUDE OF CRISIS 177
FINGER ON THE TRIGGER 198
SIND AND THE NATIONAL MAINSTREAM 217
A FOREIGN POLICY WITHOUT DIMENSION 229
SOVIET WITHDRAWAL AND
THEREAFTER 248
DEPENDENCE- THE OTHER
NAME OF WOMEN 256
CHILDREN - VICfiM OF AGGRISSION 265
BROKEN PROMISES 268
�A�END VI

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 II

FOREWORD

"Life and death are in the hands of God"

For the past eleven years the Pakistani nation has been
subjected to systematic terror and repression. The sense·
less persecution and inhuman treatment meted out to
Chairman Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the former Prime­
minister of Pakistan knows no parallel in modern sub·
continental history. A leader of the people he proudly
walked to the gallows. His blood and that of thousands
of his supporters win> chose death over compromise with
the Military Junta not go in vain. The followers of Bhutto

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Shaheed will go on struggling relentlessly, as they have

in the past, to find a "Way Out" and defeat the dark for­
ces of tyranny, dictatorship and non representative rule.

In opposing General Zia's tyranny the brave people of

Pakistan endured severe imprisonments and humilitations.
He was leading the country to chaos and anarchy-Zia was
responsible for abrogating the unanimous constitution of
1973; suspension of fundamental liberties judicial murder
of the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan; jailing and
tonure of thousands of political activists; lashing of not
only PPP workers but also set a record of lashing jour­
nalists, members of parliament. labourers, peasants, stu­
dents and lawyers; he discredited the institution of the
anned forces; and misused religion.

His rule deprived this poor nation of a democratic and

egalitarian society. Therefore, the brutality of Zia's
regime and the heroic presistance of the people must be
analysed, authenticized and recorded so that our future
generations can understand the true facts.

At this moment when Pakistan is passing through an ex­

tremely critical stage we must demonstrate patience,
courage and fonitutde to steer the people towards fulfill­
ing Quaid's dream of a democratic Pakistan. As Bhutto
Shaheed said "The shouts of democracy are far safer than
the silence sought by guns".

Benazir Bhutto
1st September, 1988.

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 13

P REFACE

At a time when the clouds of conflict hover upon our

borders and the fear of civil strife stalks our cities; at
a time when adventurist elements, anned with ex­
tremist slogans and diabolical weaponry chum out the
jargon of hate and disintegration; and at a time when a
military leader, a self proclaimed custodian of the in­
terests of the state, relinquishes claim of vast tracts of
this country's sacred land; at such a time, more than
ever. it is the duty of every citizen to come out and to
be counted upon as an uncompromising believer in in­
tegrity and solidarity of this great country.

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Let there be no doubt, the tension on our borders, the

condition of civil strife, the slogans of extremism and
the conscious neglect, nay the surrender of integral
territories of Pakistan are all the logical and direct
results of the policies; pursued over the past 11 years
by the Military regime and its civilian off-spring. Let
there also be no doubt that if they are permitted to pur­
sue funher their narrow and self seeking policies I
fear a grievious and irrepairable demage will be done
to the Federation.

I and my party are concerned ftrSt. and above all, with

the solidarity of the Federation and the welfare and
progress of its people. Members of Pakistan Peoples
Party have displayed an un-wavering committment to
this noble cause. Believing that a democratic consen­
sus between the people of various provinces can
provide a viable bases for a strong Federation, the
PPP resolutely struggled along with other democratic
forces for the restoration of democracy in the country.
Neither chains, nor the sharp bite of the whip, nor in­
deed the rope of the executioner has deterred us from
struggle. This is a unique record in the history of Sub­
continent And I am truly proud of them.

But pride alone, however will not suffice. We have to

address ourselves to the problems of our country. We
have to dedicate all our efforts and energies to their
solution. It is a tragic irony that the very persons who
pretend to be invested with the authority to solve the
crisis that we face today, are themselves the authors
of all those crisis. There is no crisis within this
country except that of the regime's own making. Even
the extremist and unacceptable demand for a con­
federal system is the direct reaction to the prolonged

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 15

unitary strangle-hold of Martial Law. The birth of

centrifugal tendencies is implicit in the centripetal
·iron clasp of Military authoritarianism. Reactiort, says
the Newtonian law, has to be both equal and opposite.

The unmistakable alienation that is, today, writ large

on the faces of our youth, is the direct product of
mlitary punishments and martial injustice. These have
turned them, in frustration, to hard drugs. They have
also initiated them in the language of weapons. Heroin
and Kl ashinkovs are the two insidious gifts of the
clamitous era.

The solidari ty of a country depends upon the well­

being of its people. Consider the dismal record of the
regime. Any government that takes over from the
present rulers is going to inherit economic anarchy
and chaos. It will indeed be Herculean task to clean
the economic health of the country after General Zia.

'Adhocism' has been perfected to such an art that

long-term planning has been abondoned altogether.

The regime has not, in almost an entire decade,in­

itiated a single project or programme vital to the infra­
structure of the economy. The nation has been con­
verted into a vast assembly-plant, tightening mere nuts
and bolts upon manufacturers of foreign origin .. It has
been hooked to the import of spare
.
parts and bottling
plants.

It takes men with a vision, men with dreams, to plan

and implement projects with a long period of gesta­
tion. Narrow-minded military rulers have smothered
the vision and dreams which were given physical

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shape by the Government of the Pakistan People's

Party. The dreams of a strong and stable Pakistan. A
vision of prosperous and progressing nation. Dreams
which embodied in the Steel Mill, the Heavy Mechani­
cal Complex, the KANNUP and Chashma and the Ter­
bela Dam. How can we allow anyone to rob our
youth of the dreams in their soft eyes'!

Debiliatating loap-shedding is a tragic testimony to

the regime's energy policy. It has crippled industrial
and other economic activity of the country. The
country has also acquired a burden of foreign debt.
Today it stands at the asuonomical figure of 20 billion
dollars.

To compound the debt the regime has, in the last 5

years alone, permitted the value of the Pakistani rupee
to faJI by 75% against the US dollar, by almost
hundred percent against the Deutsche Mark, and by as
much as 137% against the Japanese Yen. This is a dis­
tressing performance for a country with a very high
impon bill.

The high cost of the establishment is an undisguised

expropriation of the wealth of this nation by the State
apparatus. Typified by expensive limosines and
luxurious offices, this expenditure has eaten into the
vitals of our economy. Even the hard-earned remittan­
ces of our immigrant manpower toiling in far and dis­
tant lands, has been friuered away. Government
policies and examples have made suicidal con­
sumerism the order of the day. The minimum amounts
allocated for roads, transpon, housing. health and
education are sapped and consumed by official com.lp­
tion. In agriculture our primary crops remain vul-

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nerabte either to international price fluctuations or to

such domestic imponderables as governmental control
and uneconomic pricing.

With a myopic lack of foresight, the regime has con­

sistantly treated evey essential economic and political
issue as a "law and order concem11• This has finally,
and necessarily, brought about a total break-down
both of law and order.

In this undertaking the regime has not even spared the

mainstay of its own support: The' Armed Forces of
Pakistan. First, it has undertaken to equip splinter
groups with the most modern and deadly weapons.
The only single criterion for this supply of arms, the
sole qualification, is the recipient's opposition to the
Pakistan People's Party. On this single criterion arms
have been supplied to the Jamat-e-Islami, The Islami
Jamiat-e-Talaba, the Hurs, Jiey Sind and others. Will
these very arms not one day be used to confront the
state itself?

Gen. Zia has been using the Army as a political party.

He has tried to make them the policemen of the state.
This is neither the duty of the army nor is it beneficial
to the institution, or the country.

Zia has a habit of going from one Cantonment to

another making speeches against me, either he should
drop this habit or I too should be permitted to go from
Cantonment to Cantonment.

An impression is also being created amongst officers

of the Armed Forces that when in power the PPP will
take repressive action against them. I must declare

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 JIJ

that this is a baseless and mischievous propaganda

against the PPP. It will still be fresh in minds of the
people that it was the Quaid-e-Awam who after 1971
debacle rebuilt the Anny restored confidence in them
and it was the PPP government which was responsible
for the honourable ·repatriation of ninty thousand
prisoners of war. We want a strong and disciplined
Army to defend the Frontiers of Pakistan. We are not
against the Army but we are against the wrong and il­
legal use of Armed Forces which General Zia has in­
dulged.

S imilarly an impression is being created against civil

srevants that when in power. we will carry out a large
scale screening as a repressive measure, I must say
that this is baseless, on the contrary we will give a
c lean administration where there will be rule of law
for every body and justice i ncluding the public ser­
vants. We will create an atmosphere where a public
servant will be able to serve the people with zeal and
devotion. Our Anned Forces are truly c:spable of
gaurding our Frontiers against external threats, but un­

fortunately General Zia in order to perpetuate his rule

has been misusing the Army. he is retaining the office
of the Chief of the Army S taff illegally, he must quit
the use of anny for political purposes and against the
civilian must stop. At a time when 1400 km of Pakis­
tani soil have been surrendered by Gen. Zia without
firing a single shot, i t is pertinent to ask why he is so
keen to fire and kil l the children of Pakistan?

I know I risk ma ny things by exposing Gen.Zia 's

nefarious anti stare policy. But for me the life of Pakis­
tan is more important than my own life.

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At any rate, I preferred death to dishonour and it is

dishonour to remain silent in these days when our
dear country is faced with so many dangers.

The challenge is complex and demanding. But it is not

insunnountable we are resolved to confront it boldly
and with detem1ination. In struggle we will not relent.
We will, of course, never be vindicative, but we will
consede no quarter. The solidarity of this country is at
stake. That is the paramount obj ective. That is our
primary goal.

15 June 1988 Benazir Bhutto

70 Clifton.

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 20

Chapter I

BEGINING
ANDTHEEND

Where do we begin and where do we end? In some

ways the beginning and the end is the same. For every
generation of party activists, there is a clarion call, a
conscience that does not rest, that seeks to perfect the
self through devotion to society and thus seeks to per­
fect society. For us, yesterday, today, tomorrow there
will always be:

Promises to keep
And miles to go before we sleep
Every beginning has an end. Every end has a begin-

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ning. That is why we muslims say " there is a Karbala

in every generation.•• We must face the oppressor, the
Tyrant, the Usurper, the unjust in whatever fashion or
manner he manifests himself. The martyr is the life of
history and history is woven of the threads of revolu­
tion.

What is revolution? It is change. It is total change

from a corrupt, decadent, dying, degenerate order to
one shaped, built, created by man, reflecting his ideals
and purest self. Revolution is life, it throbs with
vitality and dynamism, it gives hope to individuals,
motivates and inspires them to reach beyond themsel­
ves to test the limits of endurance. Revolution means
creation, in every sphere and every walk. It is the
breath of life that tantalises, it is the beauty of a dew
drop in the dawn light on the soft velvet of a flower
petal.

But how fragile it is? How easily it is crushed. How

easily the crystal that dazzled the rc�.inbow colour in
the morning light vanishes.

It has to be nurtured. Not with fanaticism, narrow min­

dedness, individualism. greed, pettiness, jealousy,
quarrels, enviousness, black mail, pressure sulks, fac­
tionalism, infighting. provocativeness. bravado, indis­
cretion, boasting. It needs nourishment in the fonn of
tolerance, forbearance, patience, perseverence,
generosity, kindness, brotherhood, hannony, con­
fidence, courage, cornmittment, forgiveness.

And that is why in the darkness of tyranny, there can

be a revolution. A revolution of the self, a revelation
in it self.

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 Sometimes a person on the path of inner revolution
passes on milestone to falter at another. There are so
many illustrations.

The elderly man who spent one year in rigorous im­

prisonment who today sits in a sham parliament.
The religious scholar who's self braved a cold
January morning only to give way to unwonhy state­
ments.

The ladies who ferociously fought like lionesses for

their principles but could not forbear their sisters.

And then there are those who crossed the milestones;

the prisoners with shackles on their lxxlies and smile
on their face. The perseverance to face the dreary days
of prison like a life in a grave. It is not where you are
but what you are which matters.

The revolution of the self is the revolution of society.

Man moves forward, not backward. There have been

bloody revolutions. Now there must be peaceful ones.
An end to injustice, an end to inequality an end to
p oveny, an end to illiteracy, backwardness, slums, dis­
eases, indignity. Security and stability to replace fear
and discontent. A sense of direction, a sense of leader­
ship to give shape to an inenia which crambles in the
face of a crises.

We lose Siachen and we say all is well. Foreign

troops are massed on our borders and we say there is
nothing for concern. Ethnic riots have claimed a
hundred precious lives and we say there is a foreign
hand behind it.

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In 1972, we climbed the highest mountains and built

the biggest bridges because of our leadership. We had
a brilliant leader, a popular leader • a strong leader, a
man who for his principles and his mother land would
fight and fight and fight. Who did not know the mean­
ing of word 'surrender' and who prefered death to
dishonour.

We took the Nipa Valley

We got back our prisoners of war with honour
We got our lost territory in the western wing
We built the Karakorum Highway
We built cement, armour steel.
We freed man and built the human spirit
We broke the chains of serfdom and made our people
masters of their government and of their destiny.

We did all that beacause we had a leader who gal­

vanised the nation and our people, who motivated
and inspired us and who had our prayers, our bless­
ings, our support and our confidence.

And then the night of the Tyrant was imposed. The

people lost their second term. Our Prime Minister was
sent to the gallows and with him our national interest
assassinated to fulfil the vindictive blood lust of an ig­
norant, tin pot dictator, unprincipled, unscrupulous,
unintelligent for whom power, prestige, money, was
more important than the jewels which we dreamed
would adorn the history of the second term. Who are
we to know what was thrown into the dustbin of his­
tory, what precious events and achievements, what
goals and objectives were sabotaged. Where did the
recognition of the Durand Line the solution to Kash­
mir, the peaceful energy programme go? Had our

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Prime Minister any plans in these specific categories?

In what context was Daud's visit to Pakistan to take
place? In what context was the strike called in oc­
cupied Kashmir in 1976 given? In what context did
the Martyred Prime Minister speak of his greatest
achievement in the summer of 1976.

There are questions for which we have no answers.

The gallows stole these answers. But we want to
know what National Interest we lost on that fateful
April night when we lost him who gave us life,
honour, dignity, consciousness. progress. Who gave us
Pakistan Peoples Party.

This party is the pa."1y of the down trodden and op­

pressed, the party of the discriminated and the ex­
ploited, the pany of the human spirit, the pany of
those who wish to transform society and in the
process transfonn themselves, a party of builders, a
pany of men and women who wish to see their nation
progress, who wish to shape civilization, who believe
the security of the federation lies in the security of its
people, in their protection, in their salvation, in their
liberation from tyranny and dictatorship.

Twenty years ago: a great journey was begun, great

contributions made� great achievements obtained.
Nineteen years later: a great journey lies before us.

Twenty years ago, Sarwar Shaheed was seven years

old - he was inspired by a man called Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto.

Twenty years ago, Abdul Razak was eight years old.

He slept on footpaths but he dreamed of a better Pakis-

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 2S

tan, a progressive Pakistan. He was inspired by a man

called Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Twenty years ago, Iqbal Hisbani was a five years old

who insisted on Jeay Bhutto. He was inspired by a
man called Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Today the little children run in joy when they see the
tri- coloured flag. In excited voices, they shout" Jeay
Bhutto.

Look into the faces. Look into the eyes. Such little
children. Such happiness.

Jeay Bhutto. Its a lovely word. Its warm �d wonder­

ful. It lifts the heart. It elevates the spirit. It gives
strength under the whip lash. It gives courage walking
defiantly to the gallows. It reflects our committments
and our dedication. It means so much to us it drives
us on. It makes us reach for the stars and the moon.

And yet there are those, albeit a minority who fear the
resonance of the word. Who shrink back with fear for
a word which gives us all so much joy.

Why ? We must ask ourselves why? They speak of

our mistakes which makes us angry. Our mistakes?
Was giving the country a Constitution, Steel Mill,
hope, progress a mistake? Or did "they" make the mis­
takes?

"They" say we rigged the elections. We know we did

not. Why should we when we had popular support.
And Zia found no case of rigging except one. "They"
say we were undemocratic while we gave our lives,

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our liberty, our youth, our peace of mind for freedom

and democracy while "they" sat as Ministers, took
plots, made houses, ordered reconditioned cars. So
why?

Shorn of the exaggerated, politically motivated accusa­

tions made by our envious opponents, we still come
up with a group of people who were not satisfied with
the way things were. We know that mishandling of
the legitimate issue of the Language Bill by one gover­
nor led to alienation of the Urdu speaking population
in one province. We know that the repeated accounts
of brutal behaviour by another governor led to the
alienation of the Urban Areas in yet another province.
We know ,that the Press Laws of another Minister
were not appreciated by journalists.

But why should the party carry the burden of the er­
rors or excesses of certain indviduals. Or seek to jus­
tify it?

If there was any act which was nagation of freedom,

democracy, dignity, justice, we reject it and affirm our
adherence t'l our ideals.

The wise learn from the past to make a promising mor­

row. Let us learn to make more friends by checking
any amongst us who may deviate as representatives of
the people from the course we have charted for oursel­
ves as political activities. Let us ask those who oppose
Bhuttoism on political grounds, not to do so on
grounds of fear to take it in the meaning we put for­
ward, and not the meaning in which they see it. Let
us make clear that we stand for all that was great in
the past and for none that was a disappointment.

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We are men and women of reason. We have our

ideals and ou r emotions. we know how to live and to
die.

And we know how to fight and fight and fight again :

for our people, for our federation, for our principles.

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Chapter II

THESCENE TODAY

The scene today is a dismal one, it is a disappointing

one for all those who love our country. for all those
who believe in dignity, who believe that Pakistan was
created so that the Muslims of sub-continent could
live with honour and peace, could go forward, sudden­
ly we are confronted with the harsh reality, created by
the forces of Martial Law. Wherever we look. we see
discontent and disappointment. There is a sense of
despair in the country. Oh where we are going? What
is the direction? What is the future? Sometimes
people say that we are taking our property out, our in-

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dustry out, because there is no future here. Sometimes

in the sense of being desperate people say we had got
our industries from India and if Pakistan breaks up we
can take our industries back there.

Now this is really a frightening question that people

should be planning what to do in the event of the col­
lapse of the state, what has brought this despair about
? Why is this despair here ? And what is the way out
of this despair ?

If we look at the situation on the frontiers it is not

also encouraging. We see on one side the presence of
Soviet troops in Afghanistan and three million
refugees on other side in Pakistan. We see on the
other borders the manning of Indian troops. Some­
times we hear a red alert has been announced. The
Iran/Iraq war continues in a sensitive part of the
world. It continues in the Gulf which carries the life
line of Oil. We have in the recent parts the horrors of
the Israeli strike on the Iraqi nuclear reactor thereby
conjuring up apprehensions and suspicions regarding
Pakistan's nuclear potentiaL If we look inside, the
situation is no better. We see the Sind has been
pitched against Punjab. We see that Shias has been
pitched against Sunnis. We see that Mohajirs has been
pitched against Pathans and we see Pakistanis are kill­
ing Pakistanis and Muslims are killing Muslims. So
when we see all this. it is but natural there should be
despair writ large on so many faces.

The city of Karachi where I was born and which has

always been a city of hope, city of promise. turned
into a city of despair, city of terror. People are unsure
about their future. They are unsure even of their daily

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lives. They do not know when there will be a bank

robbery and their valuables will be stolen from the
vaults. They do not know when there will be a dacoity
or a kidnapping and they will return dead or mur­
dered. They do not know whether there will be a cur­
few or whether they will be pennitted to go to their
jobs to get their daily wages earnings. They do not
even know whether their daughters can go safely to
school and return or whether they will be harmed.
They don't even know who to get to because the
police. as any other institution in Pakistan, does not
function according to rules. It functions according to
the contactS.

I was recently in Islamabad, I

was horrified to Jearn
that a seventeen years old boy, without a license, had
been driving a car and killed in an accident three
people. Now, the boy would have been bailed out be­
cause he had Navy contacts but for the fact that the
victims also had superior Navy contacts. So it was not
a question that the boy was wrong, that he was driv­
ing when he did not have a license. Il was nm even a
question that three people had been murdered. TI1ree
lives had been lost. A whole family had been devas­
tated but it was simply a question of whose contact
was more. In such a situation if people do not feel
despair, what else can they feel ? So we have to recog­
nise the cause of this despair. However side by side
with this despair there is also a hope an encourage­
ment and the vision of a Govt. led by Pakistan
Peoples Party which can help secure the external
boundries and which can help heal the internal
wounds and make Pakistan the kind of place to live
in, which our founding fathers dreamt of.

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 31

Chapter III

ISLAMIC LAW
AND OUR SOCIETY

Pakistan is not a geographical state in the sense that it

did not exist on the map as a state until 1947. Pakistan
came into being as a matter of free choice. There was
a manifesto for Pakistan. Often we have a quarrel on
what this manifesto was? The fundamentalists like to
say that we created Pakistan so that we could have Is­
lamic Law. Now they are clearly fudging over history.
History can not be changed nor facts distored.

The historical truth is that the fundamentalists op­

posed the creation of Pakistan. The historical truth is

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that Islamic Law was obtained in pre-partition India

and Islamic Law operated in post- partition India, and
if it was a matter of Muslims wanting to amputt'.te
their hands, rm sure the Indians could have evolved
a legal method in which the Muslims could continue
to do this. But the genesis of Pakistan lay in the sense
of deprivation which the Muslims of the sub-continent
had. They felt that they were a minority who would
not be treated with equality, who could not prosper un­
less they had a homeland of their own.

The local Govt. Act of 1935, the Indian Act of 1935

which culiminated in the elections of 1937 fed the in­
security of the Muslims because the Hindus. the Con­
gress took majorities in particular, in most parts of
India and where the Muslims were in minority in par­
ticular, there was a discrimination of a nature which
fuelled the fears of the Muslims and therefore gave
greater thrust and impetus for their desire for a
separate homeland. This desire expressed itself in
1940 Resolution of the Muslim League which original­
ly envisaged independent states and was subsequently
amended in 1947 to one state.

If Islamic Law already existed and when the fun­

damentalists had opposed it then it is clear that Pakis­
tan was created so that the Muslims of the sub-con­
tinent could persue their political, social and economic
life without fear of persecution. Now as the state came
into being because of free choice, for a particular kind
of life. When that kind of life is denied, than those
people who opposed the creation of Pakistan get a
upper hand. They say we told you ; you would not
have freedom in Pakistan, we told you ; you would
not get jobs in Pakistan, we told you ; you would not

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have honour and dignity in Pakistan-see the choice

was wrong.

I would say the choice was right but it is the wrong

people who have taken over, to try and subvert the
Quaid's dream into a nightmare. Islam has never been
in question. The sacred name of Islam has always
been exploited by the rulers to usurp the rights of
people. The exploitation of this holy religion has been
to its extreme during Zia's dark period. Every step of
exploitation has been taken in the garb of Islam. But
the sincerety can be well assessed by the fact that
Shariat has always been subservient before the higher
couns while the Martial Law regulations and orders
could not be challanged before any highest coun of
law.

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 Chapter IV

SURVIVAL-
THE MOST GRAVE PROBLEM

People ask what is the major problem that confronts

Pakistan today. It is the problem of survival. If one
had asked me this question a few years back, I would
have told that the major problem was the problem of
integration but with the passage of time I would say
that it is a problem of the survival of Pakistan because
we have seen that Gen. Zia does not have the will to
defend the territorial integrity of Pakistan and in the
past we could say that the people of Pakistan had been
dznied their rights, judiciary had been curtailed, parlia­
ment had been silenced, political parties had been

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 3S

banned.

Now. unfortunately, if you look at the one institution

that was permitted to work unchallanged, it was the in­
stitution of Army. We see even that institution has
been so mishandled by Gen. Zia that it casts doubts
on our ability to stave out external dangers which it­
self is a tremendous danger. In early 1984, reports had
been received that territory in the Siachin, a glacier,
had been lost, but nothing was done to tell the Pakis­
tan's people about it. No issue was created out of it.
In fact Gen. Zia conspired to acquiese to the Indian
take·over through silence. He did not make an issue or
galvanise political power so it would have been more
difficult, What was the message he was sending to
India ? The message he was sending was clearly that I
am not perpared to defend the territorial integrity of
Pakistan.

As a consequence, we saw in the November of the

same year, there was a greater build up by India, and
it was only averted because Mrs. Gandhi was as­
sasinated. Again in 1986, two years later, we saw
another build up and this build up has been averted by
going to Moscow and by asking Moscow to restrain
India. So these are ad·hoc policies they have clearly
demonstrated that we don't have the will to defend
our integrity. It is common military sense that when
there is one frontier you do not open up a second
front. Zia has not only opened the Afghan front and
the Indian front but he also opened the Internal Front.
In this situation we must ask that in view of all the
aid, the Anny was receiving. military aid. What had
happened to that military aid? Where is it gone ? Be­
cause if all this military aid had been received by us

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 36

to face a super power like the Soviet Union then sure­

ly India is not a super power like Soviet Union that
we should become helpless before it.

Let me make it clear that I don't believe that matters

should be allowed to deteriorate to the point of con­
flict but I do believe that in the world, there are big
states and small states. In the world, there are certain
states that have more military power and other states
that have less military power. It does not mean that
one country has to be subjugated or subservient simp­
ly because the other country has greater military
power. If we look at the balance of the power in 1971
India had greater power in the military sense because
it had broken Pakistan. Our Army was defeated and
they were prisoners of war. Our treasure was empty
but yet we got an honourable settlement which some
called a victory of Pakistan at the negotiating table,
we did this through diplomacy. through statesmanship,
through understanding. To run the foriegn policy of
the country one needs to have a knowledge of history,
one needs to have a knowledge of politics, and one
needs to have an ability to predict the consequences of
particular action. If one does not have such knowledge
then one is unable to run the foriegn policy in a man­
ner which can advance the interests of a nation and
this is what we have found in Pakistan today. It is not
an irony that on one hand we see that so much aid is
being given to us and on the other hand we see that
our soldiers in the Siachean glacier are without the
warm clothing to keep them protected from the cold.
It is not an irony that we hear that the Indian troops
are aboard the Rajhistan border and Thatta and Badin
and at the same time we hear that the Army is being
sent to take action against innocent villagers in the in-

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terior of Sind. These actions cannot be conducted by

any friend of Pakistan or by any patriot. Such actions
can only be conducted by an enemy of Pakistan or
one who does not have the interest of Pakistan at
stake and from his actions since 5 July 1977, it is
clear that Zia does not have the interest of Pakistan at
stake.

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 Chapter V

ZIA'S RULE

The constitution of 1973 was unanimous,

democratic, Islamic and representative. It settled all
the issues which had played with the unity and in­
tegrity in the past. It closed the chapter of provincial
autonomy for once and for all. It provided for fun­
damental human rights and an independent judiciary.
It provided for the progressive socioeconomic order
and it provided for the protection of weak and the dis­
possessed, and the protection of minorities, of women
and of religious, of racial groups. This constitution
was a living instrument, and was a contract between

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 39

four seperate units as how they would live together.

Zia-ul-Haq vioalted this contract and reopened certain

issues. Gen. Zia, to harm Pakistan, unleashed a cam­
paign of venom. of vilification and of revenge and of
character assassination against the elected Prime Mini­
St<?r of the country and against the Premier Political
party of the country. Pakistan's only National party
of the times as to this day is the Pakistan People
Party. Pakistan's only national leader of stature who
could bring the different parts of the country today
was Prime Minister Bhutto. It is national leader and
national panies that pull a country together. When that
country is a federation, with different cultural back­
ground, with different ethnic make-up. with dialects
and languages, with different cultures and traditions, it
is all the important, that there should be someone of
national stature and an institution which is national in
structure, which could pull the entire country together.

When you want to break a nation then you make the

national pany and the national leader a target because
when you take out the national leader and the national
political party you have provincial leaders and you
have the growth of provincialism that means you have
the growth of secessionism. So Zia-ul-Haq took a con­
cious decision to persecute Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, be­
cause in my opinion he is not a friend of Pakistan, he
wants to destabilize, destroy and disintegrate Pakistan
and this is the very reason why he wanted to clear the
country from having a national leader. He did not real­
izeat that time that the spirit of Shaheed Bhutto
would reinvigorate the Pakistan Peoples Party, the
courage of its workers and their dedication to Shaheed
Bhuuo and the principles of PPP would make the PPP

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a formidable force, and he did not realize that the

political conciousness in this country was at such a
level that all his intrigues for the seizure of the Pakis­
tan Peoples Pany would fail.

But this was his task to destroy national institution, to

destroy a national political leader, so that the forces of
regionalism and secessationists would get an upper
hand. He did this only by destroying a national leader,
a national institution but he did this by seeking to
pattonize all such elements who had been opposed to
Pakistan. Now one can have respect for Ghaffar Khan
in this sense that he was an old man and he had
remained committed to his principles but at the
sametime it is no secret that he opposed the creation
of Pakistan. Yet Zia-ul-Haq gave him an open certifi­
cate of patriotism. He said he is a patriot In Zia's
scheme he was a patriot, because Ghaffar Khan was a
patriot to any body who did not believe in Pakistan,
and Zia also did not believe in Pakistan. Mr. G.M.
Syed has never made a secret of the fact that Sind
should be an independent nation. Zia-ul-l-laq
patrionized him, visited him, praised him. G.M. Syed
is the same to him, Zia said G.M. is doing my work
and G.M. said Zia is doing my work. Both were doing
each other's work and destroying Pakistan as taking it
to the point of disintegration.

Third or rather fourth Zia-ui-Haq bartered the vital

interests of Pakistan. Prime Minister Bhutto himself
had integrated and there are other reports that the
P akistan- Peoples Party govt had reached a draft agree­
ment with Afghanistan and the recognition of the
Durand Line. According to this draft agreement Af­
ghanistan would recognise the Durand Line and Pakis-

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 41

tan would release the detained NAP leaders. But Zia­

ul-Haq instead sabotaged this vital interest by releas­
ing the NAP leaders before Afghanistan recognized
the Durand Line.. The result is that to this day the
Durand Line has not been recognized by Afghanistan.

Next is the nuclear program. Zia-ul-Haq not only

dropped the Nuclear Reprocessing Plant Agreement,
cancelled and thereby sabotaged a vital interest of
Pakistan but simultaneously disclosed after the assas­
sination that Pakistan had an alternative nuclear
program. It is evident now, that the Nuclear Reprocess­
ing Plant was the cover, the destraction or the decoy
for the real nuclear program. but the success of ·the
nuclear program depends upon its secrecy, it
depended on the ability of Pakistani Scientists to
procure elements vital for the development of the
project from overseas without overseas intelligence
being alened. Now we hear talk of the intelligence of
the Soviet Union, the United States. India and that of
Israel. Nobody is interested in Pakistan having ac­
quired any capability in this field but soon after the as­
sassination of the Prime Minister, a distorted letter
was released as for instance we did not have any
knowledge of any alternative programe but they tried
to give an hint on this by putting three different let­
ters. innocent letters I had written to my brmher, I
challenge them to print the letters and once they
printed the leuers it was obvious to the entire world
that they were telling a lie. But why did they do this.
They did this because they wanted to sabotage the
nuclear program, they could only sabotage it by
making it open. If it was a secret nobody could have
stopped us. nobody was alerted, no pressures could be
made, no markets could be absorbed. Pakistani Scien-

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 42

lists could continue going on. Now he had made us

vulnerable to an attack from overseas at any time on
that installation without or having a deterrant. If we
had a deterrant nobody would m ake an attack on us,
but without a deterrant we are vul nerable. We can ' t
even g o for shopping for the completion of the
project. So for all practical purpose Zia-ul-Haq has
finished, the nuclear program , both the reprocessing
and the alternative program to great harm of Pakistan.

Now in addition to that the crimes against humanity

unleashed by Zia-u l-Haq the number of people he has
tortured. These are the sons and daughters of Pakistan.
He has considered the sons and daughters of Pakistan
as his enemies. Perhaps only the Sikhs or the Hindus
butchered the people who were coming to their
homeland as ruthlessly as Zia-ul-Haq has tourtured
them. This makes one wonder about it all as to what
hatred he has against Pakistan, what hatred he has
against Muslims that he should treat us so cal lously,
that he should take our sons and daughters to the
hangman 's noose, to torture camp, to unhappiness,
throw them out of jobs, raid their homes, break the
teeth of old mothers, kick open doors while little
·

children die in the pursuit. What is the source of his

enemity, because the way he has be haved, he has be­
h aved as though he has a hatred for the people of
Pakistan and this hatred itself is an obsession. Some­
times he has even said that I will say who is a M usal­
m an. Who is he to say who is a Musalman ? Is he a
Musalman himself ? Who says he is a Musalman. He
comes from Jallandhar and he thinks because he wears
an arm y uniform we are going to accept him and say
that he is a Musalman. He has acted as an enemy of
Muslims and he has acted as an enemy of Pakistanis.

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 ·43

If we look at the Palestinians, he has criticized them

at every stage and at every step. If we look at the
Iran/Iraq war, he got himself put in a position where
he could solve it and he did not solve it. So Muslims
have been shedding the blood of Mu sl i m s Look at Af­
.

ghanistan, situation in Afghan istan would not have

arisen if Peoples Party Government would have been
there, but this whole situation has arisen because he
likes the idea of Muslims killing Muslims and
whereve,r we look, whether it is Afghanistan, whether
it is Iran/Iraq, or whether it is in Pakistan, muslims
are killing muslims. One can understand the con­
spiracy that is unleashed because both Shah Faisal and
Shaheed Bhutto who were the leaders of the Islamic
Conference were assassinated, world witnessed that
M uslim ' s glory reached the peak in those times, Mus­
lims power was expanding. Muslims economic power
was being shared amongst muslim nation and we.
could look forward with real hope to a sense of mus­
lim identity emerging on the world arena, but with the
assassination of Shah Faisal and with the assassination
of Shaheed Bhutto the entire muslim cause has taken
a backward plunge.

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 44

Chapter VI

Professional Role
of the Army

Zia has damaged the professional nature of Pakistan

Anny which is essential for the territorial defence of the
country. He has tried to conupt certain officials in it and
he has tried to promote others on the basis of profes­
sionalism. So he has damaged the army, in its ability, in
its professionalism and thereby in its ability to defend the
territorial integrity of Pakistan. Secondly, in side the
country he has unleashed a program of dividing the
country. It is during his dictatorship that people has
started saying we are Mohajirs, we are Sindhis, we are
Punjabis, we are Pukhtoon, we are Baluch. We don't see

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 4S

people having a sense of Pakistanis because a country

must mean something to them, it must be the umbrella, it
must be the security and when it means something people
take a pride, but when they are deprived than they don't,
they feel that it is the source of their deprivation that Is­
lamabad is the source of their deprivation and therefore
Pakistan is the source of their deprivation. Thus there is
an extreme frustration as far as the relation between in­
dividual and country is concerned which is destroying. To
remove this frustration we have to give each and every
one their rights. We have to make them feel pan of this
country. We have to make them feel that they are sons
and daughters of this sacred land. And the day we do that
we will see them want to have the spirit of pride in their
own nation and their own identity. So for the external
defence of a country, it is the army that is needed and
that should be a professional army. For the internal
strenght of the country what is needed, is the security and
the progress of its people, to be united to be revitalized,
to have a sense of protection to have a sense of security.
How can sense of security go further when people are
hungry. There can be no sense of security, if they are
facing malnutrition, if they are ill, if they arc un­
employed. To make the country secure, we have to make
the citizens secure, to make the citizens secure we have
to put an end to poverty, backwardness, superstition, il­
litracy. Until we build factories, roads, institutions of
learning, of culture we cannot secure for us an internal
consolidation that is essential to us. For 1 1 years, the
spirit of the people of this country has bee n crushed
under military boots, it has been crushed by bullets, by
teargassing, by lathi charging and by whipping. When
people are crushed and supressed,_ how can they arise to
heights of glory ? We need to let the human beings
develop, progress so that the entire country can develop

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and progress. So far Pakistan, the No:- one issue today is
the issue of nationalsurvival.National survival depends on
extricating the anny from the civilian life, on running the
army on completely professional lines and by u ndertaking
socio economic measures to improve the quality life for
our people and ending the deprivation and discrimination
that citizens of the different federating units feel and
thereby giving them a state in Pakistan.

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 47

A1 u 'hief .� ues1 n1 young Mt!IIIOil 'ocial Croup dinner in 1 988.

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 48

Gcn ration by Generation

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 49

A rar photograph of the elected !'rime Minister of

Pakistan addressing a Press conference on thcfau:­
ful night few hours before the coup-dctat.

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 50
Chai rman Slwh eed comi �
ng out oftcr ad ressing the
supre me court escorted by polt ce

Begum Nusrat Bhutto being escorted by Police to

Sihala-sub-lail

Benazir receiving warrants, lady inspectors standing

behind.
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 52

Addressing a mammoth public me ti11g in

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 53

A iew of the mammoth reception at whore

on 10-4-86

after leading a If hour long procession

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 54

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 55

Bena ..ir B lrwro receiving dctemion orders rfore

being escorted to I..Andhi Joil

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 56

Addressing a gaJhering in mid ofLyari despile

teargasing on 14 August 1986

Arrest on the independence day being escorted by

ladies police

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 51

DEATH SENTENCE
(A rare manuscript written on a historic tragedy)

Two Hours before the death sentence was flashed across

the nation, his daughter Benazir was put under arrest at
70, Clifton. She was all alone in the house when the
telepone rang with the news. Her mother, Begum Nusrat
Bhutto, the Acting Chainnan of the Pakistan Peoples
Party had already been detained in Lahore. The operator
was crying, the staff was crying. Benazir did not cry. A
mujahid's daughter does not cry.

When the television announcer had read out the news of

the ban on political activities on February 28th. Miss

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Benazir had remarked, " this means the death sentence...

The news carried daily in the press of the countrywide ar­
rests had only confirmed her views. But nobody wou ld
believe her. "How is it possible ? " Mujeeb Pirzada,
brother of the detained PPP leader Hafiz Pirzada asked. "
They would have to re-write the entire Criminal
Procedure Code."

Miss Benazir did not reply. Perhaps she thought of the

new oathe that the Judiciary had sworn within twenty­
four hours. Perhaps she thought of all the cases that had
been filed in the Lahore High Court against the various
PNA leaders who had committed contempt of Court. The
cases had not still come up. Perhaps her mind went back
to the times she had spent warching the ttial proceedings
in Lahore. When she used to leave the Court Room, Miss
Benazir Bhuno would refuse to comment on the proceed­
ings. She said she was saving her comments for the time
when parliament met and the voice of the people was
heard. It is said that she once remarked, "sitting through
those proceedings. I know how crim�s of passion are com­
mitted".

On March 1 2th, Miss Benazir visited the PPP' s Acting

President of Sind, Mr.Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Mr. Kamal
Azfar. PPP President of Karachi was also present. Miss
Benazir told them that she had reliable news from Rawal­
pindi that the Lahore High Court would pronounce the
death sentence. Mr.Jatoi was shocked into silence.
Mr.Kamal Azfar said, "No. No. it cannot be true." Both
had heard it would be fourteen years. Benazir said her
news was absolutely reliable. S he did not disclose the
source. She did say that the Chairman would not appeal
to the S upreme Court. " Mr.Kamal Azfar a�eed.

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 S9

It is said that Miss Benazir had said, "They regret not

finishing us all off on the night of July 4th when the en­
tire family was in PM 's House. They will not spare Chair­
man now. Chairman has said he does not expect a fair
aial from the bench presided over by Molvi Mushtaq.
Twice Molvi Mushtaq was not promoted by Chainnan .
Now he sits in judgement of the Chairman. Only the
people of Pakistan can ensure justice for the Chairman. It
is in the people 's hand".

Her father had served Pakistan for more than 20 years.

He has faced the bullets of the Congress Militant Mah­
rastrian students on the steps of Elphinstone College in
Bombay for the cause of a seperate Muslim Nation. He
has been the Minister of Commerce, the Minister of Fuel
and Natural Resources, the Minister of Infonnatfon, the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Chief Manial Law Ad­
ministrator. the frrst elected President and Prime Minister
of Pakistan, he has held the portfolio of Defence. he is
the father the modem Anned Forces of Pakistan, he is the
supreme National Leader, the most popular and premier
leader of the nation whose foot prints can be seen in the
remote pans of the country, whose services are carved in
every brick and monar of this land. And yet, after
pronouncing the death sentence on him, they keep his
daughter away from him for seven days. She is not as­
king for any favours. According to their own jail rules,
she is allowed to visit her father every two weeks. But 3
weeks pass before she is allowed to see the man who
built this land from the ashes of defeat, who made the
deserts bloom and foresaken gardens flower. And in the
week that she waits, under heavy guard with no contact
with her mother the saviour of exploited people , the voice
of the Third World against imperialism, the exponent of a
just peace in the Middle East. the Chairman of the Is-

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Iamie Summit Conference has been put in a condemned

cell. When Maulana Maudoodi was sentenced to death,
he was not put in a condemned cell. When Akber B ugti
was sentenced to death, he was not put in a condemned
cell. But this is Zulfl.khar Ali Bhutto the son of Sir Shah·
nawaz Bhutto and he is feared by the vested interests and
the i mperialists. So feared is ZulfJ.khar Ali Bhutto that
every effon is made to humiliate him. But you cannot
humiliate a man who is at peace with his conscience and
Zulfikhar Ali Bhutto is such a man. A lion is still a lion
whether he is free or in a condemned cell.

On the 7th day as the morning sun rises, the SHO clifton
accompanied by an Jnspectoratte arrives at the house
where momentous policy decisions have been taken,
where the struggle against dictatorships have emanated.
Miss Benazir is taken to a car. The Inspectoraue sits on
one side of Miss Benazir and the SP Nazimabad sits on
the other side. The car is driven by a police man and
another police man sits in the front seat. As the gates of
the house opens a police jeep with armed policemen takes
the lead. It is followed by an intelligence car. There is
another intelligence car behind Miss Benazir. The car
goes straight through the Airpon gates following the tar­
mac to where a DC- 10 stands. Miss Benazir thinks, " It
was during the PPP government that this DC was bought.
It was during the PPP Government that PIA soared into
the sky of success. " No word is spoken. There are police
around the plane. Miss Benazir never handles her ticket.
The SP Nazimabad has the boarding pass. They climbed
the stairs and the SP stands gaurd so that po one can com­
municate with her

As the plane · lands, the Lahore skyline comes into view.

Lahore which cried in the summer of 1966 to a youthful

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 61

Foreign Minister, " Humain Choor Kar Na Jana " Lahore

which scintillated with the Islamic Summit Council.
Lahore, where Henry Kissinger said, " We will make a
horrible example out of you ...... " .

Miss Benazir is taken off the plane fust. A curtained car

waits at the bottom. Under the heavy gaurd through the
Army Area Miss Benazir is whisked off to Kotlakhpat
Jail. Outside the Airpon gates the British and American
television crew� the foreign and domestic press corps wait
in vain.

The iron gates of Kotlakhpat Jail open and the car goes
in. Miss Benazir gets out and walks.lt is a long walk to
the condemned prisoner cell. One steel gate is unlocked.
More policemen inside. Another steel gate is unlocked
and she steps into a small 2 foot by 2 foot counyard.
The sun isShining brightly in counyard. There is a door
with iron bars and it is pitch dark beyond that. She dose
not uderstand. She turns towards the policeman to ask
what is happening when she hears a voice from the dark­
ness, i t is her·father' s voice. She cannot see him because
his cell is pitch dark but she hears him say, •• B aitty
please go away. How can I see you when my people are
not allowed to see me. How can I see you when this Jail
is filled with my sons who have been lashed and my
daughters who are mistreated and kept in C class. If they
cannot see me then you should not see me either. "
Benazir pleads with him she says, "I must see you be­
cause our people ask about you, they want to know how
you are . Our people get sakoon when I meet you because
when I speak to them they feel that they have met you
through me." With the mention of the poor people of this
country, the shinless exploited ones for whom he has
dedicated his life, the Chainnan relents. Benazir goes for-

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 62

ward and grips the bars of the cell door. Her eyes grow
use to the darkness and she sees the Chainnan. His face
is covered with mosquito bites, the same face that bent
and kissed the stone in the Kaaba.

Chairman puts out his hand and Benazir is appalled to see

that it is covered with lumps. She feels lumps and lumps
because the cell is full of mosquitos and flies and a hor­
rible stink reaches her nostril because a hole in the
ground serves as the toilet There is no flush and the
toilet has not been cleaned for 7 days. There is only a bed
in the room and it is tied with a heavy chain to the floor.
The cell is 8 foot by 1 1 foot. It is small, it stinks, it is
dark, the mosquitos bite, the flies buz, the birds come
through a slat high i n the wall, ants climb all over and in
this stinking, ghastly cell is the first elected President and
Prime Minister of the Country. His face is serene and his
eyes mirror a man who is at peace with himself. The
Chairman 's courage and confidence and calmness are
mirrored in his face and in his voice. He touches
Benazir' s head with his out streched bands and says, "
Pakistan is a very complex country. Now listen ...... .. and
he explains to her the crisis the country is in. He teaches
her about the poli tical dynamics at work. They talk breif­
Jy Court and the chairman says that he never expected
any justice from Moulvi Musbtaq's bench and that is why
he had boycotted the proceedings. Now the sentence has
proved that his assumption was right. The twenty min u tes
pass soon. It is time for her to go . . The Chairman grips
Benazir's hand and says, " My daughter, should anything
happen to me, promise me, you will continue my mis­
sion." Benazir promises. As she walks away she dosent
look back at the dark and f'tlthy cell where the leader of
the people is in solitary confmement. She thinks: "If the
people of Pakistan ever saw their leader kept in s uch a

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disgusting and disrepectful manner their blood would boil

and from Khyber to Karachi a fierce fire would rage
which no guns could wipe out.

·The curtained car and the heavy guard await her.

( A very
rare document revealing the impression on hearing the
death sentence by Lahore High Court. Miss Benazir BhUl­
to managed to convey these lines to the publisher in
March 1978. Hither to these historic lines have
remained unpublished.)

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STRUGGLE
WILL CONTINUE
(Message released on departure for abroad on 9. 1. 1984)

Brave Pany Workers and dear Countrymen,

Before embarking on this journey in connection
with ill health. I seek your leave, your prayers and
your blessings. The journey is being u ndertaken in
connection with an ear problem which has fail ed to
respond to diagnosis and care since 1978. The situa­
tion has become complicated and complex.

a. Total loss of hearing on left side;

b. Total loss of balance in left ear;
c. Facial Paralysis.

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In fact, it is only due to your prayers and good wishes

that these side effects have been escaped so far.

During my imprisonment, the Senior Vice Chairman

has been presiding over Party Affairs. Now that im·
prisonment will no longer be an impediment to com­
munication with Party leaders and workers and to con­
sultation with Begum Sahiba, your Sister hopes to
play redemption of the lost rights of the people.

At the moment, the Senior Vice Chairman is abroad

and members of Steering Committee behind bars
alongwith the mujahids of democracy, autonomy and
economic equality. The Senior V ice Chairman will be
contacted and consulted, his plans ascertained and
steps taken accordingly with regard to party affairs
which will be made known.
The nation pays tribute to the mothers who gave fear­
less sons who laid down their lives for the Nation. We
are proud of such mothers and such brothers. They
have passed into history and history has passed into
them. They have become a part of civilization, its
process, purification and perfection.

The continued incarceration of political leaders and

workers is a matter of concern for the Federation as in­
deed are military trials and sentences. As members of
political parties they represent the views of the
people in the cities and the villages, in the fields and
the factories, in colleges and the courtroom s. Their
continued detention can only deepen the wounds
which fester and heighten the process of hori zontal
and vertical polarisation.

Our case is noble, our struggle pristine. The struggle

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for constitutional rule. provincial autonomy,

democracy and economic equality continues. It will
continue until its attainment.

Miss Benazir B hutto

(Message to people of Pakistan
and PPP workers on eve of my
departure for medical reasons in 1984
after the longest period of detention under
Martial Law.)

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TIME WILL
OVERTAKE REGIME
(Message released on departure for abroad on 3. 1 1 . /985)

Tonight I begin a difficult journey, a sad journey. a

journey which will take me into the courtroom!l. of a
foreign land to enquire into the death of my beloved
brother Shabnawaz Khan, a political activist in his
own right and an avowed opponent of Martial Law.
The courtroom will carry echoes of an earlier
courtroom nnd the trauma of the assassination of my
Prime Minister and political leader. Shaheed Zulftqar
Ali Bhutto.

No doubt if we bad not committed ourselves to a

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polit ical struggle for the e manc i pation of our people

from bonda ge and poverty, no doubt if we had not
raised high the banner of the oppressed and exploited
people of Pakistan, no doubt if we had not fought for
-

the principles of Federalism, Socialism, and

Democracy, we would not have had to face such
traumas.

But if this i s the price one has to pay i n the service of

mankind, i f this i s the price history demands of those
who wish to bring transfonnation and c hange then I
welcome it.

In his death cell Shaheed Bhutto never regreted h is

life. He said i f th i s was the price for breaking bastion
of feudalism and exploitation, he was prepared to pay
it.

Shahnawaz K ha n could have led a life of luxury and

e ase But he chose to live one of hardship and difficul­
.

ty His path may have been different from m ine and

.

Peoples Party but h is goal was also to become part of

the historical process of transformation and change.
Had he not made such a choice, today he would have
been alive. He would not have had to die i n a foreign
land. far from his people and his home at the young
age of twenty six.

Attempts are being made to show that S hahnawaz

Khan ' s death was because of personal difficulties just
as yesterday an atte mpt was made to show that
S haheed ' s assassination was part of a j udicial process.
Whether personal di fficulties ex i ste d or not are ir­
re le va nt for those who can face political d i fficulties
with nerves of steel. We, th e fam ily are convinced

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that Shahnawaz Khan ' s death took place in a wider

political context We have done everything to assist
the investigating team. We are awaiting its findings.

In the meantime, I am determined to return as soon as

possible. God willing, I hope to be back in three
months. I know very well what fate awaits me here. A
regime which could so cruelly detain me for no rhyme
or reason while I was in deep greif will not hesitate to
detain me tomorrow, i f not do worse. But I have
every confidence in my Party and in our Countrymen
and am prepared to return no matter what the conse­
quences.
lt is said that I was arrested because I was going to
visit " sensitive areas" . It is strange that these areas do
not become sensitive when other political leaders visit
them but become sensitive when Benazir Bhutto
wants to visit them. If it was the aim of the military
regime to prevent me from visiting Lyari and Malir,
then what was the need to arre s t me and keep me in
isolation so much so that even my grieving sister
Sanam was only permitted to visit once a week for an
hour. Surely a restrictive order banning me from e nter­
ing Lyari and Malir was sufficient.

But such an order was not entered i nto. In fact, when

I wrote to the Home Secretary in connection with the
French summons and asked to be freed ten days
before my departure, even these ten days were not
entertained by an administration which had publicly
baosted that I was free to go anywhere I liked.
This is what happens when selections are held from
which Peoples Party and other politicai parties are ex­
cluded. If my detention proves anything, it proves the
impotency of the new structures the m ilitary regime is

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trying to create. If m y detention proves anything, it

proves that the .. entire assembly put together cannot
face me. Which means that the entire Assembly put
together cannot face the hopes and aspirations of the
people and provinces of Pakistan for an egalitarian
order based on justice for I am no one as an in­
dividual. My detention has not demonstrated my
strength. It has demonstrated the strength of the
people of the Country. Then what sort of "democracy"
is this which does not encompass the hopes and aspira­
tions of the peopl� of the Country?

It is not democracy. The Assemblies are a cover up, a

mask for the usurpation of the rights of the people and
provinces of Pakistan. The Pakistan Peoples Party is
vehemently opposed by the ruling conglomerate of
Generals, Industrialists, Jagirdars and Mullahs. This is
because PPP is an instrument of change in the hands
of the discriminated people of Pakistan who seek
through democracy to build a modern state proud of
its heritage and eager to harness technology and
science for economic development, eager to build
structure governed by laws gauranteeing dignity and
freedom and welfare of every individual, a Federation
free from hunger, ignorance, illetracy, unemployment
and poverty. A Country whose integrity is safe
gaurded by securing the rights of the federating
units. A state at peace with itself and with its neigh- ·

bours.

There i s a crisis and a deadlock in the Country. A

regime obsessed with B hutto-phobia is only concerned
with keeping the PPP out of the political process.
Neither the refrendum nor the new Assemblies can
break this deadlock. It is time the regime gave up its

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myopic pre-occupations an d allowed the full play of

popular will.

Otherwise time will overtake the regime.

Yours sister*
Benazir Bhutto

Message to the people of Pakistan and PPP

workers on eve of my departure to France after the
last detention under Martial Law
first during Junejo's premiership.

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WE ARE PROUD OF YOU

(Statement 011 the> dt-ath smtence passed on Four
polilictll workt•n in l'ukisum)

I have bee n deeply disturbed by the news that a spe­

cial military coun in Karachi has passed death senten­
ces on four supponers of Pakistan Peoples Party. Com­
ing only two months after the execution of three
young Peoples Party workers, this draconian sentence
has shown that, contrary to impressions in some
western countries, General Zia's regime is becoming
more and more ruthless as the time of the socalled
elections approaches.

The four Nasir Baloch, Isa Baloch, Malik Ayoob and

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Saifullah Khalid have been sentenced for their alleged

involvemen t in the 198 1 hijacking of a PIA plane. The
sole evidence produced was " confessional statements
11
extracted under savage torture. We challenge the
Military regime to try them i n a civil court in the light
of which the false accusations would dissolve.
Nasi r Baloch, PPP Labour Representative in Pakis­
tan Steel Mills was at work according to official
records and Isa Baloch, his nephew was off duty and
away when they were alleged to have helped the
hijackers. There was no evidence of involvement of
Saifullah Khalid or Malik Ayub, whose father had
been threatened with dire consequences when he
refused to collaborate with military regime in cases
against PPP ministers, i n the whole affair. That was
the reason why they were tried i n secret by a military
court where the accused had no chance of getting a
fair trial. This sentence is intended to ..punish.. them
for their political sympathies and as an example for
others who dare to defy military rule.

This sentence and recent incidents show that the

regime is carrying on a scheme to terrify Pakistani
people before implementing their plan for a sham elec­
tion intended to legitimize military rule.

The four lives lie in balance. In their death cells these

brave and innocent young men await the response of
the world conscience. The condemned Karach i four
have seven days to appeal The time is running out -
unless quick and effective international pressure is ex­
erted to save their lives by all those who espouse the
cause of human rights, freedom and j ustice.

To my brave brothers in the death cells I would say "

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your sister is proud of you, your party is proud of

you. of your defiance and your courage. Your struggle
is my struggle, it is our peopJe 's struggle; your pain is
my pain, it is the pain of a nation. Godforbid, if any
action is taken against you, it will be interpreted as an
action against our party. Therefore, if a semblance of
sanity is to return to the body politic of our Country
that way is to spare your lives".

Miss Benazir Bhutto

Released by:
Mr. Bashir Riaz
(Press Spokesman)

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A WAMI BUDG ET
(Policy statement on Ec·onomy presented before nation in 1986)

The Pakistan Peoples Party believes the role of the

Government is in creating a society free from social
and economic inequalities - a society where there is
respect for the individual dignity and opportunity for
development and m obility.

We want to see that our people are free from hunger

and disease, free from oppression and exploitation,
free from unemployment and injustice.

According to our ph ilos phy , we believe that we can

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provide our people with happiness, security and

prosperity. Our philosphy has the following cardinal
principles, namely:

Islam is our faith

Democracy is our polity
Socialism is our economy - All power to the
people
Shahdat for our cause

We believe there is nothing nobler than devoting

oneself to our people, society and country. From the
founder of our Party, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhuuo to
the latest m artyr of our Party Shaheed Faqir Iqbal His­
bani, we have demonstrated courage in the face of ad­
versity, determination and dedication in the defence of
our principles and unwavering committment to the es­
tablishment of a Pakistan based on federalism,
democracy, egal itarianism a.nd social justice.

We do not impose our views on others because we

believe in free expression and in dissent. Despite
having faced the most persecution, we have not
talked of revenge but sought to heal wounds and
divisions. We dont l ive in the past or bel ieve i n ven­
dettas. We are political people who derive lessons
from the past and look to the future as we build in the
present.

We take pride in our party having been honoured by

the m asses in giving the cou ntry the first democratical­
ly elected Prime Minister of the country; the first u ­
nanimous democratic Islamic representative and egal­
tarian constitution of 1973. of bringing back 90,000
prisoners of war with honour and dignity and in secur-

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ing 5,000 sq miles of Pakistan territory lost in 1 97 1

war. We take pride in having laid the foundation of ·
our economic structure with S teel Mills, Hospitals,
Schools, tubewells, highways, water connections
throughout the length and breadth of the nation. We
have solved the energy problem too but unfortunately
for the nation this programme was scuttled by the
usurper for which the nation is paying the price . We
are proud that we gave dignity to the peasant, maz­
door, teacher, student, lawyer and shopkeeper
alongwith opening the doors of police, bureaucracy,
foreign service judiciary to women and in promot­
ing people irrespective of background and on merit.
We rebuilt the Armed Forces and made it a force
capable of defendi ng the Country from external agres­
sion. We brought labour laws in line with the interna­
tional labour organ ization. Increased pay scales of
Government servants, gave land to landless peasants,
introduced fu ndamental human rights, opened the
doors of education to the u ndeprivileged and extended
health services and low cost housing.

Ofcourse we are proudest of our role . in being the

foremost defenders of democracy . From 1 977 to the
present, our Party has given u nparalled sacrifices and
our martyred workers, our lashed workers, our tor­
tured and imprisoned workers have brought honour to
the party, to the people and to the federation. There is
no coun try in history where it took 8 years to lift Mar­
tial Law and when it was lifted it was minifest that
the purpose of Martial Law -- to destroy PPP and
thereby the hopes and aspirations of the people -- had
m iserably failed. We are proud of people who had
pol itical consciousness to defeat the machinations of
the usurper. We are proud of our people who, despite

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their poverty and hardship, have a spirit that cannot be

crushed. Our people cannot be bought or bribed,
beaten or denied their rights. The masses of Pakistan
have integrity, comm ittment, political perception and
determination to build a federation where there is
hope for those who have been denied hope, justice for
those who have been denied justice, a society free
from exploitationn for those who have known exploita­
tion, a federation where there is justice, honour and
spirit of egalitarianism, where there is security of the
law for every citizen of Pakistan irrespec tive of their
sex, race, or religion.

Now I have the privilege of presenting to the people

the ' Annual Budget ' . The Budget is being placed in
view of the Party • s programme to use peoples power
peacefully for the restoration of full democracy in the
Autumn through elections under the 1 973 constilulion.
After the dark days of the Martial Law regime and its
present Civilian Facade lasting over 9 years, this
would be the first budget which will attempt to c ater
to the real needs of the deprived sections of the
society i.e. the peasants, workers, small fixed income
groups. small businessmen, entrepreneurs and house
wives.

The budgetary proposals encompass various facets of

the economy i.e. agriculture, industry, infrastructure
service, health, education and employment.

The economic thrust of our policies will be aimed at

bringing about . fundamental rcstructing of the
economy of the country to serve the downtrodden m as­
ses by . providi ng them the basic necessities of life i n

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accordance with our party's manifesto. We shall have

the following order of priorities:

1 Economic development in the country will be

maintained through determined effons by m aximum
utilization of our national potential and human
resource thus making the economy self-reliant.

2 Social justice will be acheived through the

principles of the party and creation of just and respect­
able society.

3 Funher equitable distribution of wealth will

be acheived by directing the economic policies
towards minimising the disparity of incomes.

National Chaner for Rapid Rural Development

l . In keeping with the national charter for peasants of

Pakistan signed by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (Shaheed) in
December 1 976. im mediate steps will be taken to en­
sure that at least one crore acres of land will be dis­
tributed in addition to the grant of kutcha lands to
peasants including landless persons who own no land
or own less than a subsistance holding i.e. in the
Provinces of Punjab and N.W.F.P. 1 2.5 acres and in
S ind and B aluchistan 1 6 and 32 acres respectively.
All culturable state land will be distributed with full
ownership rights amongst the peasants. Culturable
lands are those which are available for cultivation, but
have not been taken up or were abandoned. The pay­
ment for the land will be based on defered and con­
cess ional terms.

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2.Benamdar Baris and Muzairas and other peasants all

over Pakistan will be able to set up legal claims of
their full ownership rights on the agricultural lands
which although are de-jure and ostensibly standing in
their names but are under the control of the Jagirdars
and Zamindars etc. No cognizance will be taken
regarding the proprietry claims of the feudals on such
lands. if these were transfered as a subterfuge to sub­
vert the land reforms announced by Shaheed Zul­
fiqar Ali Bhutto on 5th January, 1 977.

3. Small fanners having land upto 25 acres will be

given interest free loans for crop production upto max­
imum limit of Rs.25,000/- which will be adjusted
against the sale proceeds realised by them on the sale
of their produce to Cotton Export Corporation, Rice
Export Corporation. Provincial Government for Wheat
and Sugar Mills in their respective zones.

4. Liberal concessions and loan facilities will be

provided to the Voluntary farmers Cooperatives to en­
courage farm ing on a cooperative basis. Loans on
easy terms will also be provided to Cooperatives and
Small Farmers to set up labour i ntensive business,
agro-services and small units in the fei ld of repair
workshop for Tractors, Trai lers and agricultural imple­
ments, small scale industries etc. will be m ade avail­
able by the Financial Institutions. Our aim is to
provide loans for sons of subsistance fanners and m az­
doors so that they may become economically self­
reliant. We want to create a rural m id1e-class. Thus
loans will be provided for tractors, dairy fanni ng,
fisheries with training. feed and support structure. We
want to spread modem agricultural technology to the
small and m iddle-class fanners in a package aided by

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 Sl

liberal credit facilities.

S. The scope of the integrated Rural Development

Programme would be widened and a new programme
called .. Rural Land- less Employment Gauranteed
Programme " will be introduced. This would involve
close cooperation of the representatives of local
bodies and development efforts will be undertaken at
the grass roots le vel to acce l erate the pace of develop­
ment of the rural sector of the economy. Government
will provide contribution in kind, in the shape of con­
struction m aterials implements etc. and funds will also
be allocated to pay for the services of the local
labourers for the construction of Roads, School Build­
in gs , Community Centres and Storage Godowns. Dig­
ging of wells and provision of drinking water will also
be encouraged to be undertaken on a sel f-help basis at
the village level .

6. Non- inflat ionary programmes such as the World

Food Programme would be utilised on a much larger
scale to build rural infrastructure such as road s , water
reservoirs, small irrigation schemes and at the sam e
time to usefuly employ the large under and un­
employed rural labour force.

7. The l arge force of unemployed engineers will be

inducted into an Engineers Corps which will help
build rural in frastruc ture .

8.Crop Insurance Scheme will be introduced to initial­

ly cover the major crops.

It has been dec ided to contribute 50% of the

premium to be paid to th e I nsurance Corpora t ion on

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behalf of small fanners owning less than 25 acres.

9.We have also decided to increase the present alloca­

tion in the budget of 1 986-87 for providing clean
dri nking water and fann to market roads by atleast
SO%. ·

New Deal for Middle and Low income Residents of

Urban Areas

Loan Scheme for self-employed

= = = ==========================

The scheme for providing loans to self-employed per­

sons such as, rickshaw drivers, taxi drivers, hawkers,
washennen, cobblers etc. will be introduced so as to
enable them to purchase equipment and al�o working
capital. The loans will be advanced against the
security of the purchased equipment and will be at
concessional rates. The small business corporation is
now being re-named as •Peoples Finance Corporation·
whic h will be directed to implement the scheme in J et­
ter and spiri t Enhanced Credi t Allocation amounting
to Rs.50 Crores will be made by instructing the Na­
tional Credit Council for the successful implementa­
tion of the scheme during the remainder of 1 986-87.

Labourers and Workers

= ·=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-�

In view of the rampant inflation i t has become ex­

tremely difficult for workers to meet even their bare
m i nimum needs. The consumer price i ndex according
to the Federal Bureau of Statistics, had doubled si nce
1 976-77. It has gone up from 1 1 1 . 17 in 1 976-77 to

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223.76 in 1 985-86. It is, therefore, imperative that min­

imum wages are fixed at a reasonable level so as to
provide relief and sccour to the poor wage-earners. It
has, therefore, been decided that m inimum wage of all
adult workers will be fixed at Rs.7/- per hour or
Rs.50/- per 8 hours working day, excluding one hour's
rest, for daily workers and for workers and salaried
employees being paid on monthly basis, minimum
wage/salary will be Rs. lOOO/- per month subject to fur­
ther tri- partile talks. The industrial worker will also
be provided either living accomodation by the
employer or will be paid a minimum House Rent Al­
lowance of not less than 30% of their monthly basic
pay. For Government employees the salaries and al­
lowances will be merged and the minimum salary of
the employees in the exsisting National Pay Scale
no. l wi ll be fixed at par with the minimum monthly
wage/salary announced for the permanent employees
in the private and public sector enterprises. The
salaries of the other employees in the various National
Pay Scale would be suitably adjusted, for categories
of Government servants earning upto Rs. l ,500/- per
month.

Urban Transport
-= -=- = - =- = - =- =-

One of the serious problems being faced by the resi­

dents of the big cities is of transport. Lack of cheap
and effecient transport to the common man in Urban
Areas is not only waste of productive time but also
reduces the earning power of the poor workers. The
PPP will bring a radical improvement in the quality of
public transportation services particularly in major
cities with an additional 1 0 thousand buses. A high
Powered Commision having representatives of all the
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 84

four Provinces will be fonned to look into the

transportation and utility services problems which are
being faced by the city dwellers and come up with
concrete recommendations wilhin a period of three
months. The Committee wil examine the viability of
an underground train service which PPP had begun
in Karachi but which was abandoned by the present
regime.
National Housing Policy

National Housing Policy has been evolved which shall

aim at the construction of specified number of houses
every year in the Urban and Rural Areas. province, dis­
trict by district and municipality by municipality. Five
Marla Plots, house facilities and regularisation of Kutchi
Abadies Schemes which were originally introduced by
the Peoples Party Government shall be expeditiously im­
plemented. The schemes will be funher srrengthened by
adding infrastructural facilities.

Municipal Housing for low Rent Houses will be en­

couraged by the Federal and Provincial Governments.
Finance will be made available by Municipalities own
funds and the rest from the Financing Agencies. The inter­
est costs shall be borne by grants from the Federal and
Provincial Government.

Urban authorities like K.D.A. • C.D.A. & L.D.A., etc. will

be asked to build houses for hire-purchase-sale, in the
cities. This provision will be for the lower Income
Groups who will be afforded the facility of buying the
three rooms Housing Units by investing 25% of the cost
from their own resources and the balance of 75% will
be financed by the House building Finance Corporation

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whose affairs will be re-vamped. Labour Housing shall be

encouraged and incentive for the provision of such hous­
ing to the workmen by Public & Private Sector Industries
is being provided under the Income Tax Ordinance.

Health
- =- =·=-

In order to provide health facilities to rural as well as

Urban population, the following measures will prove
helpful in acheiving a much larger health programme :­
The unemployed Doctors will also be galvanised in im­
plementation of the sc hemes outlined:

1. The imbalance between health services in the Urban

and Rural Areas will be reduced by introducing a
crash programme for extending health cover to
Rural Areas. This will be achieved through laying
greater emphasis of enlisting para-medical staff and
doctors in at least a 5 : 1 ratio, so that there is one
doctor to every five paramedical staff.

2. The Government will also set up a special corps of

Physicians to be recruited from amongst the
Hakims and Homeopaths. This special corps of
physicians shall be given an intensive half-year
training and assigned to the rural areas for looking
after the common ailments like Malaria, Gas­
toentritis, Typhoid, Cholera, Flu, etc.
3. A People's health Packet containing safe proprietory
medic ines for common ailments like Malaria, Gas­
toentritis, Flu, Typhoid etc. with instructions for
simple local language shall be distributed all over the
country-side at a subsidised price.

4. The emphasis shall be on preventive services by such

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physicians in the field of such common ailments.

Preventive medication shall be distributed free to
rural and poor urban sector.

S. Provision of drinking water through a programme for

installing hand pumps in villages, shall be given spe­
cial priority.

6. Rural broadcasting programme shall be specially

drawn up in the language of the villages advising
them on prevention from and cure for common and
seasonal ailments.

7. The corps of physicians will be required to coor­

dinate their effons. providing the health services and
setting up of dispensaries. with local Governments.
so that an integerated approach is evolved for provid­
ing the health services within the ambit of the
programme of rural development and social welfare
schemes.

8. Unemployed doctors will be provided with loans for

setting up small clinics alongwith back-up support
of medicines etc. in the rural areas.

Education
-=-=-=-=-=

The education problems and achievements shall be

thoroughly examined in a son of parliamentary review
through a committee and a conunission in which elected
representatives shall be associated. Such a committee and
commission shall evaluate the achievements and the dif­
ficulties in the implementation of the education policy•
. and take note of all reconunendations that have been

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made during the past many years. The review shall not
take more than three months.

The need for linking education to the labour market in

the country and demands for skills and talent from abroad
shall be given full consideration. The curricula shall ac­
cordingly be adjusted and amended. What is in demand
shall be produced by the labour force management
authorities in consultation with the educational plan ners.
In addition to the. continuous efforts of the Government to
achieve the goals set out in the education policy and ad­
hering to the priorities in achieving these objectives, it
will also be necessary to mobilise the a special task
force to eradicate adult illiteracy in the shortest pos­
sible time. In order to over-come the problem of shortage
of teachers, a Special Education Youth Corps of edu­
cated youth shall be establ i shed. All students who are
studying i n college should be required to devote six months
of thei r education career by becoming members of theYouth
Corps. The students shaH, during this six months period
be assigned to specific vallages or community centres to
teach the adults residing i n such places. These centres
shall be equipped with audio-visual aids provided by the
Government During the period, the Government stipends
to the college students alongwith providing the arrange­
ments for their accomodation. The University Degree to
the students would be awarded only after they have com­
pleted the six months secondment with the Special
Education Youth Corps for eradicating illiteracy.

Experience of other countries has shown that education

can be imparted with systematic and wid� use of
television. The effons to impart adult literacy combined
with social and vocational education shall be intensified
through regular programme by the T.V. corporation. The

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lessons will provide adult education aimed towards acquir­

ing agricultural and industrial know-how and also to
promote the programme in the field of community
development, health and population planning. The T.V.
media will be required to work i n close Cvllahorat iun with
local Governments in the provinces which will be inter­
ested with the work of Rural Development Programme
and Social Welfare.

Pakistan is the only country where during the last 9 years

the percentage of literacy has gone down. In order to
enable the T.V. media to play an effective role in ex­
peditiously eradicating illiteracy and to make a positive
contribution in the fields of adult education. agricultural
and agro-industrial development, community develop­
ment, health and population planning, sectors outlined
above, and to give an impetus to artists, play writers and
other associated with cultural, intellec tual and journalistic
creativeness. We have decided to set up a second T.V.
channel in each province. The first channel will be broad­
cast from the centre in Urdu and the second channel will
be in the local languages. However, news from the centre
will be broadcast on both channels and any special
programme not taking more than 25% viewing time total­
ly in a year. The second channel will provide means of
expression for local culture and give depth to the richness
and diversion within Pakistan.

The profits of the T.V. corporation will be examined with

a view to increasing pay scales of T.V. artists, play
writers and other associated with media.

Industrial Sector
- =- =- =- =- =-= - =- =-

We are committed to the concept of mixed economy and

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will, therefore. not only improve the running of the public

sector enterprises but will also, as a policy, encourage the
private sector. Despite the rhetoric used by the Martial
Law regime with regard to the encouragement of the
private sector hardly 20 to 30 percent �f the target set for
the private industrial sector during the planned periods of
1 978-83 and 1983-88 have been achieved The poor
response of the private sector appears to be due to the
lack of appropriate policy packages and insufficient in­
frastructure facilities made available to the private sector
in the industrial field. Furthermore, due to bureaucratic
red-tape and bottle necks, not many major large scale
private sector projects have been set up during the last 9
long years. In order to accelerate the pace of private sec­
tor industrial development, we have decided to initiate the
following reforms:

1. Price of P.O.L.

The price of P.O.L. will be reduced substantially thus

providing considerable relief to Taxis, rickshaws,
transporters , car motor cycle and scooter drivers and the
general public and in particular the agricultural com­
munity in the use of tractors and diesel tubewells. The
reduced P.O.L. prices will also enable fanners to install
more diesel power driven tubewells thus relieving pres­
sure on electrical energy available.

2. Impending sale of Sui gas fields

We will stop the sale of Sui Gas Fields pending examina­

tion by a high powered commission and views of the

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elected provincial Government in the Province of

Baluchistan.

3. Abolition of Investment Promotion B ureau

Since industry is a provincial subject the work of the In­

vestment Promotion Bureau (I.B.P.), which has rightly
been termed as "Investment Prevention Bureau", in
respect of sanctioning of industrial projects, will be trans­
Cered to the provinces. Henceforth, all sanctions and ap­
provals for the industries, wherever necessary will be
given by the Industries Departments of the respective
provincial Governments. In any case to deregulate the
economy the Provincial Industries Departments will
strengthen their Industrial Facilities Boards and the
enterpreneurs will be fully assisted in obtaining all the
necessary facilities i.e. Water, Power, Gas and telephone
etc., through such boards with the minimum delay.
Generally the enterprenuers will be free to set up any
kind of industry at any place in a province without any
prior approval if such an industry does not fall within the
negative list prescribed by the respective Provincial
Government

4. Provincial Financial Institutions for Industrial

developments

Jn order to provide industrial credit to the Units to be set

up in each province it has been decided to establish
provincial financial institutions which shall have their
Headquarters in the respective provincial capitals. These
institutions will initially obtain their foreign exchange
and local rupee funds through the exsisting financial in-

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stitutions such as PICIC, IDBP, ICP and B ankers Equity

etc. The present financial development institutions will
henceforth stop disbursing direct credit to future in­
dustrial projects and will pass on the funds allocated to
them by the Federal Government to the respective Provin­
cial Financial Institutions. The other details regarding the
future operations of the financial institutions will be
separately announced.

S. Provincial Autonomous Boards Of B anks

It has also been decided to set up autonomous boards for

each of the Nationalized commercial banks in the four
provinces. These boards will be vested with full power to
supervise the banking operations in each province and
will have full authority to disburse the allocated credit
facilities. The Banking Council shall ensure that annual
credit allocation is made by each bank to its respective
Provincial Autonomous Board.

With the above proposed improvements in the Investment

Procedures setting up of the Provincial Financial Institu­
tions and the establishement of Provincial Autonomous
Boards for each bank in each province, we are confident
that the enterpreneurs will not have to run from pillar to
post for their credit needs and will also be able to set up
their industrial projects expeditiously. Further more, the
decentralisation of the Nationalised Banks, will greatly as­
sist in disbursing the credits to the priority areas of
agriculture industry small businessman and self employed
professional etc. in each province.

6. Restructuring of Taxation System

We will carefully examine the recommendations of the

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National Taxation Reform Commission. We will ensure

that each recommendation will cater to the feh needs of
the common man and acieve our committed objectives of
bringing about equitable distribution wealth in the
shortest possible time. We will also ensure that only such
recommendations are accepted which do
not impose
he�vy burden on the common man in the form of increase
in direct or indirect taxation . . We shall appoint a high
powered committee of the elected representatives of the
people in which all the four provinces will participate ex­
peditiously examine the recommendations and submit
those which are found to be appropriate, keeping in view
the committments of the Peoples Party for the welfare of
the broad masses for the consideration of the Parliament.

7. Income Tax

In this budget however, the following specific measures

are being introduced in the Income Tax Law :

i)ln 1 977 the Peoples Party had introduced the

provision for levying income tax on the Agricultural in­
come from land. Unfortu nately, the Martial Law regime,
in order to appease the feudal lords decided to delete the
provision of taxing. the agricultural income from the new
Ordinance of Income Tax introduced in 1979. Thus a
major reform was very conveniantly deleted from the
statute relating to income tax. We have not decided to
reimpose tax on agricultural income. However, every 50
Acres of irrigated land or 10 Acres of unirrigated land,
or an area equalent to 4(X)() produce index units of land
calculated on the basis of classification of soil as entered
in the revenue records for rabi 1 985-86 whichever shall
be greater, shall be exempted from the levy of income
tax. Those paying Usher will deduct the Usher rate from

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payable tax.

ii)ln order to simplify the tax laws, exemption limit

from income tax w ill be raised to Rs.48000/- . However,
all other exemptions in respect of perquisites etc. will be
withdrawn.

iii)The maximum rate of income tax on individuals

and association of persons. will be brought down from
45% to 40%.

iv) The tax on Private Limited Companies wiD be

reduced from 55% to 45%.

v)Tax on dividends from private limited companies

will be exempted upto a limit of Rs.48000/-.

vi)lnvestment allowances being increased from 33%

to 40% subject to a maximum level of rupees one lac.

vii)The industrial undertakings employing more than

SO workers will be given special incentive to provide
housing facilities for their workers by allowing the cost
of construction of house for industrial workers as a direct
deduction against the income as an admissible expendi­
ture in the year in which such costs are incurred.

viii)ln order to encourage industries eligible for tax

holiday. it had been decided that the depreciation to the
tax holiday units will be calculated at ordinary rates in­
stead of accelerated rates. This will enable the tax holiday
units to effectively enjoy the tax holiday exemption.
8.Tax Reliefs on Savings and Investments

i)ln order to encourage savings and investments atleast

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50% of the investment allowance (which has been raised

from 33% to 40%. subject to a monetary limit of rupees
one lac), must exclusively be invested in Defence Savings
Certificates/N.D.Cs. which will have to be retained for a
minimum period of 5 years.

ii)lt also has been decided to provide legal cover in

the Ordinance for not only exempting the remittances of
overseas Pakistanis but also the remittance of commission
fees. The commission I fees will however, be only ex­
empted if these are invested in "Khas Development
Deposit Receipts" to be issued for the purpose which will
carry a 5% rate of return.

These Khas Development Deposit Reciepts shall not be

encashable for a period of 3 years from the date of issue
but will however. be eligible for obtaining loans from
Commercial Banks upto 75% of the value of such Khas
Development Deposit Receipts.

iii)We have also decided to increase the limits of in­

vestments in Defence Saving Certificates and National
Deposit Certificates from rupees 3 lac to rupees 5 lac per
individual, and in joint names from Rs. 5 lac to Rs. 10
lac. The rates of return on these certificates will also be
increased..

9. Za.lcat and Ushr

We have decided to set up a Special Committee to go

into the working of organization responsible for the col­
lection and disbursement of Zakat and Ushr and to ascer­
tain the charges levelled regarding mal-adminisuation and
mis-appropriation of funds. On the basis of the report ap­
propriate action will be taken to improve the efficiency of

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the concerned departments. We have also decided that

only 50% of the rate of Z.akat and Ushr now being
deducted I collected will be done by the state. The
balance of Zakat and Ushr will be left to the Sahib-e­
Nisab who will deduct and disburse according to his own
likes and choice.

10. Wealth Tax

We have carefully examined the impact of wealth tax and

find that although the receipts on this account are negli­
gible yet it is a source of great annoyance to the middle
income group particularly to retired people and widows
etc. The affluant and i nfluential individuals somehow any
way manage to escape from the appropriate levy of
wealth tax yet retired people and widow& owning houses
which are their only source of income or middle income
groups are put through great difficulties by the tax collec­
tors. The collectors of wealth tax is barely 10.8 crores
against a total collection of Rs.850 crores of income tax a
year but substantial cost are incured in the recovery of
the same. We have therefore, decided to abolish the
wealth tax with immediate effect.

1 1 . Customs Baggage Scheme

An aim is to take the heavy hand of the state off the

shoulders of the people. One of the areas where this is
most evident is when Pakistanis return from abroad. The
big shots get their baggage clear through contacts and the
ordinary passengers suffer. To provide relief, every Pakis­
tani returning from abroad once a year is entitled to bring
luggage in accordance with International Baggage Rules
which will not be searched unless customs suspect arms
ammunition or other such items. This luggage will be

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free of custom duty. In addition no custom duty will be

charged on the items brought by Overseas Pakistanis
packed in their accompanying suit-cases provided they
can establish at the customs that they have been working
abroad for a minimum period of six months. A cenificate
from the respective Pakistan Embassy will be sufficient
proof and the Custom Authorities at the airpon shall be
duty bond to clear the suitcases of such Overseas Pakis­
tanis without any let or hinderance. Ofcourse the duty
will be payable on other accompanying packages and un­
accompanied goods. The details of the scheme will be
separately announced.

12. Energy Crisis

Pakistan has been facing an acute energy cnsts since

1983, primarily on account of the neglect of this sector
since 1 977-78. This gross failure of Zia•s system has
caused a severe set back to the growth potential of Pakis­
tan 's economy especially in the agricultural and industrial
sectors. The energy crisis can and must be overcome
within two years .

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 A LIFE IN THE
D AY OF B ENAZIR
(An article 011 the activities of co-chairperson itr a day)

The story of my life i s that either I'm in jail and have all
the time in the world, but can't see anyone- or, like now.
I'm free and have endless demands on my time. When I
returned from exile I was expecting a big welcome. but
what happened was beyond my wildest imaginings.
There was a sea of people. Nobody had anticipated such
crowd, and arrangements were totally inadequate. I used
to have nightmares when I was young about climbing lad­
ders. Suddenly in front of me I saw the ladder of my
dreams. There were thousands of people around me and
I had to climb it to get on top of the truck. By some

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miracle I got to the platfonn, and my bean was singing

with joy.

I was thinking; what better vindication for my father

than that he died for his country, and that after an the ter­
ror, the oppression. the darkness , hete are people who ac­
knowledge and respect him? Everyone says people•s
me mories are short, butit isn 't true. The crowd was shout·
ing. "Bhutto,Bhuto ! "

I had prepared a speech. I wrote it i n England with the

help of Tariq Al i whose political beliefs are different
,

from m ine, but we were both believers in democracy. I

always get butterflies before speaking. Even when I was
president of the Oxford Union I used to wolT)' that I "d for­
get myself in mid-sentence. This time so much depended
on it. But the larger the crowd, the more I fell the mag­
netism and the crowd was with me all the way.

I like to think I'm carrying on my father's vision of a

federal democratic Pakistan. He set the way for a society
in which there should be no discrimination on the basis
of sex, race or religion, and I too am fighting for this.

My day varies depending on whether rm on tour or at

home in Karachi. When rm at home, I'm woken at 8am,
and one of my staff wheels my breakfast trolley in. It ar­
rives with tea. fru it and bran flakes from Sefeway - I
brought quite a few canons back from England with me -
but I get so involved reading and marking the newspapers
that I only have time for the tea I take all international
papers that carry news on Pakistan and that are not
banned. Then I force myself to get up and. still in my
pyjamas. I do 20 minutes of keep-fit exercises.

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By 9am rm washed and dressed. I wear shalwar kameez

[tradi tonal dress and trousers] and a duppatta [matching
shawl] because for this climate I need loose comfortable
clothes. In England I found shalwar material too chilly
so I often changed over to jeans and Western clothes.
For an hour I deal with bills and paper, and then at 1 0
a.m. I start seei ng people at half-hourly intervals. I have
advisers on every subject but no one person whose advice
I take on everything. I don ' t like to be caught up with
details so people come to me with well-prepared options.
A typical morning's discussion revolve around constitu­
tional and parliamentry m atters, intelligence reports and
the state of the party.

At about l pm I have a working lunch: something light

like lentils and yoghurt. I don 't cook or do any
housework - an old family retainer manages the
household. In the afternoon the pace hots up. I see
people 1 5-minute intervals until 5mp, and then at5-
minute intervals until 8pm. I always ask for my schedule
to end at 8pm, knowing that if I do this I may finish at .
midnight. In Pakistan you say one thing, and it always
ends up something else.

When I'm on tour, my day is equally relentless. The

programme is arra nged by local organisers and approved
by me. I l ike to have the morning to assimilate informa­
tion and write speeches so I request a m idday start, but it
rt�rely goes according to plan. Like tomorrow - the tour
starts at Sam. I usually squeeze in 1 0 to 1 4 places a day,
stopping to address roadside gatherings and public meet­
ings. Everywhere I go, people press food and drink on
me. It' s a matter of honour that I eat with them, so I end
up having several snacks too many.

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 100

It"s not an issue that I'm a woman politician in a Muslim

country. Although in general women h ave fewer rights
than in the West, Asia has a history of politically
prominent women I'm not a militant feminist. but I
strongly oppose cruel inhuman laws that degrade women
and make us second-class citizens. There are personal dif­
ficulties that I experience as a female politician. I can ' t
embrace people or ruffle their h air like m y father and
brother used to do. Such actions often say more than
words, but this camaraderie can only exist man to man.

I haven' t always wanted to be a politician. When I was a

kid I wanted to be a lawyer or a journalist. I read PPE at
Oxford and then decided I wanted to join the foreign ser·
vice. My fat Itiidn ' t want people to think I had got in
just because he was prime minister, so on his advice I
took courses in contemporary government and internation­
al relations.

when he was arrested it was an agonising time. I had to

warch how he was kept in a death cell. They didn't real­
iy let him live before they killed him. They even
refused permission for me to go to Mecca on his behalf,
but I managed to make the pilgrimage in his name before
·I returned from exile. There were repons that the regime
would assassinate me, so I went while I had the chance.

I carne to tenns with life during the years I was in prison.

The first month was the worst. I was fed infonnation that
other pany supponers had compromised, and was urged
not to waste my youth and health. I felt so alone that if
any body had bee n sweet or kind to me, perhaps I would
have broken down. But I was treated harshly, which
brought out my individual defiance. Most of the time I
was in solitary confinement without book s or newspapers.

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 101

�f I wanted to write a letter. I was given one piece of

paper at a time. I learned patience. I had to deal with
the options in front of me, and not dream of the options
that I. might have.

When I was freed it was a moment of pure joy. As the

plane landed at Zurich I felt burdens falling from me, liKe
rocks off my shoulders. People who've had a lot of grief
and pain know when a magic moment occurs. Just being
able to see the world again, realising that Zia wasn't be­
hind me and that I wasn't going to be arrested was such a
moment.

I went to England and lived in a flat in the Barbican. It

took me a while to relate to people again. I was fearful
of being on the street and seeing so many new faces I ..

kept trying to take the tube, but my heart beat so fast, I

ended up in taxis. My days were spent dealing with pany
matters and forging international links. I hardly
socialised at all.

Now I'm home I work 16 hours a day. Most evenings I

spends four hours on the phone talking to people all over
the country to keep abreast of the situa tion The sooner
we can force an election and free Pakistan from dictator­
ship the better. When I was in London a distinguished
politic i an warned me that wherever I went, in my house,
my car, my garden, others would be listening. On his ad­
vice I bought a little anti-bugging d evice and I keep it in
my bag at all times. He was right. When I don' t have it
on, I can overhear the security forces trying to listen to
me on my short-wave radio.

At about lam I go m y room, and while I ' m washing and

creaming my face, a couple of girl friends from school

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 J(Yl

come to see me. One of them always spends the night in

my sister's old room. We have a chit-chat about who's
doing what, who's wearing what I really need an hour
or so to unwind like this. I have no time for hobbies, nor
for romance. I don't know how I'd fit it into my
schedule, but one never knows. No I'm not lonely. I
meet so many people who pray for me and who suppon
me because of what rm doing that it gives me strength.
In jail I had trouble getting to sleep. But now I just close
my eyes and that's it.
(prlnkd In Sunday Times Ill early 1987 u she aarraled to Micheal
Jaffe.)

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 1 03

@c
..

�
:; o
.::: _

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 1 04

Slwhced Chairman laying the foundation of Steel

Mills at Karachi
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 1 05

( ftoim 1 , 1r t . lzaheed pe1j'o rming

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 1 06

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 1 07

Waivin g to the crowds in Karachi Old Golimar area

in 1 988
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 1 08

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 109

IND EPENDENCE D ETAINED

(Message released on the independence day on 14.8. 1986)

Today we celebrate the 39th anniversary of the In­

dependence of Pakistan. For us Independence meant
not just struggling against and ovenhrowing our
Colonial Masters, but, at the same time, striving for
Quaid-e-Azam 's conviction that only partition of the
sub-continent could give the Mussalmans what they
wanted, that is, political and economic rights and
responsibilities, which were totally denied to us.

Therefore, living in Pakistan would mean being

protected from unreasonable searches, harrasments

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 uo

and seizures, guaranteed free movement within its

boundaries, freedom of worship, speech and assembly.
We would have the right to vote and to hold public of­
fice. And all communities would enjoy equal rights,
privileges and immunities.

Unfortunately, the ghastly tragedy of this nation has

been that it has borne more suffering and hardship
under its own dictatorial Masters within a short span
of 39 years. For most of its existence Pakistan has
been ruled not according to the principles and values
enunciated by the Father of the nation, Mohammad
Ali Jinnah but by a crude and cruel form of Colonial
Law, called Martial Law.

Under the rule of our ambitious Generals we have wit­

nessed one catastrophe after another. General Ayub's
10 years rule eventually gave binh to Bangladesh,
under Gen. Yahya Khan.

Zia-ul-Haq went a step further. He coldbloodedly con­

spired to m urder a popurarly elected Prime Minister,
Zulfiqar Ali Bhuuo Shaheed, thereby, setting a bloody
precedent of violence. As expected this violent act has
penneated to the lowest level of our society. The law
and order situation is well known to every Pakistani.

Zia-ul-Haq's regime has created bitterness and resent­

ment among the four provinces of the Federation Of
Pakistan. Serious m isunderstandings have occured
owing to the misrule of the military-bureaucracy.

From Sarhad to Sindh, from Punjab to Baluchistan

people h ave suffered indignitaries, lashings, imprison­
ments, harrassments, threats and abuses.

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 Ill

A �ystematic propaganda and persecution has been car­

ried out against the Pakistan Peoples Party, its leaders
and ether major political parties.

Women, students and minorities are consciously being

victimized and discriminated against.

The lawyers and the Judiciary have not only bee n in­
flicted with three different kinds of law i.e. S hariat
Law, Martial Law and Civilian Law but they have
seen their powers curbed arbitrarily.

For the first time in the history of Pakistan the jour­

nalists suffered the whip and the lash and found them­
selves in fetters like their fellow Pakistanis.

It is important to stress that today Religion is being

m isused as never before. One m ust emphasize that
though on one hand religion is being exploited, on the
other, all major constitutional and other changes have
come about through Martial Law Ordinances.

Prices have skyrocketed and are rising unchecked.

The m ental, emotional and physical state of the

people, as a result of prolonged Martial Law can be
judged from the severe dependence on Heroin. A na­
tion which was safe from such a serious malady only
a few years ago finds itself in the grip of a heroin ad­
diction epidemic.

The geographical boundaries of the state have been

eroded. Jawans have lost their lives in the S iachin
Glacier area and Pakistan has lost 1 400 kilometers of
territory.
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 1 12

One may continue endlessly about the corruption and

poverty which has increased tenfold under Zia and his
collaboraters.

This has given me as an individual and the Paldstan

Peoples Party the strength to take up the cause of the
people and further it. My countrywide tours, the
speech m aking, the sitting of committees, the fight
against apathy, and the long long discussions with
people from all walks of life is, no doubt, a very ar­
duous and demanding toil but I have had no regrets be­
cause in the end we shall all fight collectively towards
eliminating those obstacles which stand in the way of
literacy, equality and prosperity.

On this day Ms Bhutto managed to reach the public

meeting venue in the centre of Liyari despite heavy
chase by large conting�nts of Police . She addressed a

gathering for quite a long while there was continued

teargassing. She was arrested later on in the evening
while she was addressing a press conference largely
attended by foreign and local journalists.

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 J l3

REIGN OF TERROR
(Address to District Bar Lahore on 27. 1 1 . 1 986)

Mr. President, Learned members of the District Bar

Association. ladies and gentlemen.

As I stand before you today I am conscious of the

privileges bestowed upon me by the Bar Association
in inviting me to address this distinguished gathering.
I am conscious also of the singular committment that
its members have displayed in their unrelenting strug­
gle against an autocratic and repressive regime.

When others in more exalted position have abandoned

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 1 14

their primary duty to preserve the Constitution, you

have come out to protect and uphold it. When the per­
petuators of the long night of Martial Law have traded
in violence and terror, you have carried high the ban­
ner of resistance to military rule. You have. in fact
been the van-guard in the struggle for the restoration
of democracy in Pakistan.

And in the process you have suffered in more ways

than one. Unprecedented curbs have been placed on
the normal and ordinary activities of Bar Association
by amendments in the Legal Practitioners and Bar
Councils Act 1 974.
.

You have encountered detentions and jail tenns. I am

conscious that less than one kilometer from where I
stand today. no less than 80 learned members of this
distinguished profession were arrested in June 1 980
after a merciless lathi charge by the Punjab Police.
During the Peoples· movement in 1 983, when terror
reigned supreme over Sind, the Lawyers of Punjab
again came out on the streets of Lahore in anger, but
with dignity. As many as six thousand ctdvocates of­
fered Fateha for the "Shuhada-e-Sind" on October 6,
1 983 before the Punjab Assembly Building, then the
Headquarters of Mania! Law. Several of the most dis­
tinguished members of your fraternity, Mr. President,
have unconditionally assisted countless political
prisoners. Quite often they have themselves added to
the ranks of these prisoners.

I am proud to say, Mr. President. that member of my

own party who belong to your rr.ucmity have resisted
Martial Law with commendabk courage and convic­
tion. My Party in the Punjab is headed by an advocate

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who has the distinction of having courageously suf­

fered the sharp pain of the whip under the illegal and
immoral orders of a Military Court. Others have been
subjected to prolonged and inhuman torture inside the
infamous Lahore Fort and other lock-ups euphemisti­
cally called "interrogation centres". We Mr. Presi·
dent, are all one in that struggle.

This country has seen its darkest days in the nine

years since July 5, 1 977. You will recall the purported
effect of the Proclamation of that date. In promulgat­
ing Martial Law it suspended the unanimously
adopted Constitution of 1973. It then proclaimed the
superiority of the arbitrary will of the Military Com­
mander over all institutions, executive, judicial and
legislative. It sought to inhibit superior courts in the
exercise by them of their inherent Constitutional Juris­
diction to review the conduct of the execution.

Martial Law Regulations and Orders that accompanied

the Proclamation provided for primitive procedures
and draconian punishments. Military Couns were em­
powered, under Martial Law Order No; 4, to inflict
death, amputation of limbs, imprisonment for life,
stripes (with the victim secured on stocks), unlimited
fine, (recoverable as arrears of land revenue), and for­
feiture of all moveable and immoveable property.

A vast network of military courts dotted the entire

land. A reign of terror was unleashed upon the
citizens of this country. Thousands of Political
workers were arrested and summarily sentenced.
Every sacred profession experienced the tyranny of
the regime. Journalists, factory workers, nurses , doc­
tors, students, teachers, even women were brought

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before Military Courts and hastily sentenced.

Circumstances and widespread popular disaffection,

however, remained beyond Gen. Zia's political con­
trol. He had no option. Like Macbeth he could only
move in one direction: more and more repression, and
the promulgation of ever more repressive laws.

As the regime continued to fail in establishing even a

marginally popular base , it was forced to tighten its
martial grip. In due course of time it created hither­
tofore unheard of offences. MLR 54, for instance,
made the illrdefined action of "spreading desponden­
cy", punishable with death. This is not all. As if you
compond shame with more shame, it further provided
that Military Courts would, unless the contrary was
proved by the accused himself, presume that he was
guilty of the charge.

Another contemporaneous, and equally immoral law,

called the President's Order No: 4 of 1 982, went still
further. Enabling military courts to hold their proceed­
ings 'in camera', it prescribed an oath upon all the par­
ticipants in the trial, including advocates, to keep
secret the entire proceedings. Violation of this under­
taking was made punishable under the Official Secrets
Act. The Order also allowed military courts unlimited
discretion to curtail cross-examination. And, like
MLR 54, it also repealed the age-old presumption of
innocence.

These laws establish, conclusi.vely, the unprecedented

unpopularity of Gen. Zia's military regime. They were
promulgated as defences and bastions to protect and
s hield an isolated and repressive junta.

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One other Martial Law Order deserves special men­

tion. It empowered army commanders to bypass even
their own military courts while decreeing imprison·
ments of the political opponents of the regime.
Thousands of the political workers, and hunderds of
political leaders, were repeatedly, and for indefinite
durations, detained under the provisions of MLO No:
1 2. The detaining authority was expressly absolved of
the duty of supplying the grounds of detention to the
detenu. It thus made the already unfettered discretion
of the authority at once subjective and arbitrary.

While ceaselessly arrogating to itself these arbitrary

and unfettered powers. the Junta continued, at the
same time, to strike at the very foundations of the es­
tablished judicial system . Having executed the elected
Prime Minister of Pakistan in April, 1 979, General
Zia-ul-Haq, embarked upon a consistant policy of
denuding superior courts of their j urisdiction.

On October 1 6, 1 979 the day on which General Zia-ui­

Haq renaged from his committment to hold general
elections scheduled for November 17, he enforced the
so called Constitution (Second Amendment) Order
1 979. The order inserted Article 2 1 2-A in the Constitu­
tion. Such was the audacity of this measure that it pur­
ported to implant military courts into the text of the
Constitution of 1973. And this, despite the fact that a
full bench of five judges in the case Darvesh
Muhammed Arbey had held, in July, 1 977, that such
couns were ' abhorrenC to the Constitution.

This insertion, however, did not suffice. Within a few

months Gen. Zia was compelled to promulgate the so

called Constitution (Amendment) Order 1 980. This

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order purported to amend Article 199 o f the Constitu­

tion. The order divested the High Courts of their
powers. Your colleagues were protesting against this
amendment, Mr. President, when no less than 80 of
them were arrested in Lahore in June 1 980. That, if
you recall, was on the occasion of the " FIRST ALL
PAKISTAN LAWYERS ' CONVENTION ". It was
the beginning of the Lawyers ' struggle. It was the
dawn of a new era. This fraternity displayed such
unity in its s tnJggle that the Political Parties took the
cue, and in February 1 98 1 , the Movement of the Res­
toration of the Democracy was born.

As the struggle of the people, now under the joint ban­

ners of the MRD and the Pakistan People 's Party in­
tensified, Gen. Zia was again forced to resort to his
only and final option: the application of the m ilitary
grip. On March-24, 1 98 1 , he promulgated the
Provisional Constitution Order. This order will long
be remembered for the manner in which it attempted
to demean judges of the superior courts of Pakistan.
They, who were bound to oath to " preserve, protect
and defend the Constitution ", of 1 973, were required
to take an oath to " abide by the Provisional Constitu­
tion Order 1 98 1 ". Failure to take the oath entailed the
loss of the judicial office. Several judges lost their
jobs.

This was ironical, Mr. President, since Gen. Zia's Mar­

tial Law had been validated by a Court. But he had ob­
tained a limited and transient mandate from the
S upreme Court of Pakistan.

In its judgement i n the BEGUM NUSRAT BHUTTO

CASE of 1 977, th(! S upreme Court had clearly found

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that Gen. Zia's action of July 5 was beyond the ambit

of the Constitution of 1 973. There is no ambiguity in
this finding.

The court had chosen, however, to validate the imposi­

tion of Martial Law on the SOLE GROUND of State
Necessity. And this validity was expressly confined
within certain very definite and limited parameters.

The conditions were explicit. General Zia was not per­

mitted to introduce a new legal order. He would re­
store the Constitution, in its original form, and to the
fullest extent, within the shortest period of time. Final­
ly the judgement gave no authority to the Chief Mar­
tial Law Administrator to assume the office of Presi­
dent of Pakistan.

By the promulgation of the P.C.O., however, Gen. Zia

violated every single condition and restraint placed
upon him.

You as men learned in law, are well aware of the prin­

ciple that when the very c onditions on which valida­
tion rests are thwarted, the claimant becomes a
trespasser ' abinitio ' . Even if, therefore, the promulga­
tion of Martial Law ever valid, Gen. Zia, by his own
conduct, became a usurper retrospectively with effect
from July 5, 1 977, when he first entered the office of
Chief Martial Law Administrator. Conscious of the il­
legitimate foundations of his power Gen. Zia-ul-Haq
resorted to another fraudulent exercise . On 1 st Decem­
ber 1 984, he promulgated the REFRENDUM ORDER.

The Provisions of this order make interesting reading.

By the terms of Para 4 of the order the people of
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Pakistan were asked whether they would l ike the laws

of Pakistan to be brought in con fumity with the in·
junctions of Islam as laid down in the Holy Quran and
the Sunna of the Holy Prophet. The CONSEQUENCE
of a majority of the answers to the question being in
the affirmative was, IN THE WORDS OF 11-IE
ORDER the " General Zia-ul-1-Iaq shall be deemed to
have been DULY ELECfED PRESIDENT of Pakis­
tan for a tenn of five years from the date of the fll'st
meeting of the Houses of Parliament i n joint sitting.
Courts were prohibited from entertaining any proceed­
ings relating to the Refrendum.

You are all aware of the result of the refrendum. The

world has taken notice of it. HABIB JALIB has cap­
tured the scene in a shon pithy couplet.

Gen. Zia-ul-Haq brazenly chose to accept the con­

trived verdict of the refl-endum without hesitation !
And, he accepted the office of President i n conse­
quence of that verdict.

Assuming the validity of refrendum, Gen. Zia em­

barked upon another male-fide exercise. He decided to
rig Parliamentary elections by means of legal con­
trivances.

On January 1 2, 1 985, he announced general elections.

By purposefully designed legislation, political parties
and their mem bers exch.:ded from the election. But
Zia was not con fident even of the turf of his own
m anufacture. Between the announcement and the con­
ven i ng of Parliament the REPRESENTATION OF

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THE PEOPLE ACT was amended no less than eight

times. Thrice he found it necessary to amend the
POLmCAL PARTIES ACT. Thirteen amendments
were introduced in the House of Parliament and
Provincial Assemblies Order ! Even the Constitution
could not escape m utilation. The so called " Restora­
tion of the Constitution of 1 973, Order 1 985 "
demolished the Federal, Parliamentary, and
democratic foundations of that constitution. It pur­
ported to civilianize Martial Law. It is in this atmos­
phere of rapid and incessant variation of rules, elec­
toral procedures, qualifications and disqualifications,
that the Pakistan Peoples Party, alongwith the com­
ponent parties of the MRD, decided toooycott the elec­
tions. We have been vindicated in that decision.

The Parliament that came into being in these elections

proceeded to validate each and every decision, action
and sentence of Martial Law authorities and military
courts. Draconian punishments, executions, solitary
confinements, torture, confiscation of property. even
lashes were validated. The prepetuators of these in­
human punishments were indemnified by the passage
of the Eighth Amendment Act.

During Martial Law I had twice been compelled to

leave the country. Both times I chose to return. I did
so for good reasons. This is the land of m y people.
Here my fore-fathers . lie burried. It is here that my late
father, the popurarly elected Prime Minister of Pakis­
tan, lies in eternal sleep having been awarded the sen­
tence of death despite the fact that at least three
judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan had found
him not guilty of the charge on which he was tried.
When my younger brother was murdered in exile last

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year I myself brought his dead body back to this

country to be hurried by the side of my father in the
home of our ancestors. This land and its people h ave
�lways pulled me towards them. Their love have sus­
tained me, as it sustained my father, in the most chal­
lenging times.

I cannot leave this land and its people. I know that

they will not leave me.

The second time that I returned home was also to test

the claims made by the regime that it had restored
democracy. Curbs on political activities had been
lifted they said.

The warmth affection, the support and love that the

people of my country bestowed upon me on my return
was over-whelming. You have all seen it with your
own eyes. This was the truly national refrendum.

But the claims of the regime were hollow. For the

first time in the history of this country people were
fired at as they were assembling to celebrate the day
on which this Nation was created. Lahore' s streets
were painted in blood on August 14, 1 986 a day
meant for rejoicing. Thousands of political workers
and leaders had already been arrested on the eve of In­
dependence Day. Deputy Commissioners were re­
quired to issue blank detention orders to the police.
The extent and sweep of arrests was u nprecedented.
The mask of democracy was ripped assunder.

Although political workers in Punjab assumed the van­

guard role, the repression of the State apparatus in the
Province of Sind, was unsurpassed in its severity.

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The conditions in Sind, Mr. President, need special

mention. Continued denial of democratic rights and
Constitutional privileges is fanning despondency and
hatred. Political adventurists. articulating extreme
slogans, have entered the arena.

We, on our part, will resist all moves intended to

weaken the Federation. So long as the Pakistan
Peoples Party exist, and that it shall forever. we shall
preserve defend and protect the Federation. The party
enjoys overwhelming support in all provinces of the
country. Its own primary interests are therefore de­
pendent upon the continuing prosperity and solidarity
of the Federation of Pakistan.

Yet it i s my duty to remind you, Mr. President, that

the continued denial of democratic rights and political
freedom will breed irreversible alienation. This aliena­
tion, in time, can become a great threat to this country.

The Federation cannot be held together by a military

grip. Only impercentible bonds of love, brotherhood,
equality, human dignity. and shared aspirations of
progress and prosperity can bind the people of dif­
ferent regions in one State.

We, on our part, believe in the prosperity and progress

of all regions of the country. We believe in the restora­
tion of democratic rights and liberties to all the people
of Pakistan. We believe in a progressive just and equi­
table economic, and social order. We believe in the
rights of the minorities to practice their beliefs with
freedom and security. We believe in the right of the
writers, journalistr., and intellectuals to express them­
selves freely and each in accordance with his con-

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science. We believe that the peasant is entitled to a

proper share of the produce of the land that he tills.
We believe in the right of the student and academic to
pursue his discipline and research without fear of any
interference by the State.

We have suffered long the tyranny of a repressive

regime. We know the agony of the oppressed. We aim
to put an end to this agony. We aim to heal the
wounds, not to bleed and aggravate them. We strive to
bring hannony, not discord. We will never allow our
own personal grievances to tip the golden scales of
justice. The value of the Independent and unbiased
judicial· process is known to those who have repeated­
ly encountered a brutal denial of due process. Endless
and unending tenns in jail have taught us the value of
liberty. From life in exile we have acquired a pas­
sionate and consuming love for our home land.

We will make this country strong. We will bind the

people of all the four provinces in bounds of love and
fraternity. We will repair the damage done to the
Federation by prolonged military rule. We will strive
for the pro!,tress, prosperity and well being of the
people of this great country. This i s our convenant, Mr.
President, God willing • we will keep it.

I thank you, Mr. President.

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OPPRESSORS D ONOT
LIVE FOREVER
(Message released on I. 1 . /987)

On this f'trst day of 1 987� a day when the past meets an

ominous presen� how should I address my countrymen ?

Our wounds are still fresh, the atmosphere still heavy

with the smoke of gunpowder, charred bodies and bwnt
property. The orphans and widows of Karachi, Quetta.
Lahore and Peshawar, of Brihamani, Machi, Hisbani,
Goth Thaheem, Mirpur Mathelo and Jam Goth, all bear
silent witness to the depradations and ravages of a regime
striving to extend its immoral rule over a people who are
determined to free themselves.

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Must I recount the wrongs that this illegal and unrepresen·

tative regime have perpetrated on the people of our
country ? They have pitted brother against brother, tribe
against tribe, sect against sect and province against
province. They ha ve sought to prolong their loot, their
plunder, their immoral ity -- but above all they have
sought to avoid the inevi table day of accountability
before the people of Pakistan for the ovenhrow of a legal
leader •• for the black warrants signed; for the innocents
killed, for the torture cells and dungeons, and for filling
the coffers of their personal profit with the ill gotten
gains of political corruption.

The rulers have forgotten the lessons of history -· even

our own history -- and behave as if the end will never
come. Can oppressors live on forever? Was mankind des­
tined to subjugation? Was Pakistan created so that te rror
should hold sway ? Did the Muslims of India strive to be
free so that one master can be changed for another ? Did
we seek a home for a prison cell 'I Did the poor perish in
1947 so that the bounty of this land be ·delivered to a
few?

I need hardly state, my countrymen ! the answer to all

these questions surely lie in the negative.

Countrymen: the unholy order that rules this country

today must go before it can further damage Pakistan, this
land of last refuge. There is still time to salvage and save
the Federation,

We in the Pakistan Peoples ' Party resolve that we shall

keep the flame of struggle burning, we shall not be found
wanting in effort or sacrifice to save Pakistan; to restore
your stolen rights; to give each federating unit ge nui ne

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autonomy, we further reiterate that our goal is to lay the

foundations finnly for an enlightened society from which
obscurantist darkness will be expelled and the basic needs
of every citizen fulf'llled.

Let us pledge ourselves to building a Pakistan that is free

of terror and of oppression - where poverty and hunger i s
banished, where the youth can look towards a bright fu­
ture and where there is progress and prosperity for the
peasant and worker for the lawyer and teacher, and for
the student and journalist. Indeed, for every Pakistan, ir­
respective of race, religion or creed.

1987 will not be our easy year - but it will be a year of

reckoning; Today we can look forward to all the positive
values which nine years of dictatorship have attempted to
suppress - to fraternity, to equality to sacrifice and indeed
to motivation. we must use these values to strengthen our­
selves, to walk forwani.

We must shun apathy, and reject indifference. Let us all

work together to restore Pakistan to her formal health.
Let us work to build a democratic society where the
rights of the individual are respected, and the rule of law
prevails. Together we can stand before an ille gal regime,
that has lost its sense of sanity and all respect for such
values.

Released by;

Press Spokesman
December 3 1 , 1986.

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 1 28

Shaheed Prime Minister ZA .Bhwto with Qaddaft,

Mujeed and A rafat

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PUPPET PARLIAMENT
(Stiltemelll on wlripping of P. P. P. activist 011 13. 1 . 1987)

M i ss. Benazir Bhutto, Co-Chairperson of the Pakistan

Peoples Party has condemned the whipping of young
PPP activist Hanif Patel in Karachi Central J ail on
January 1 3 . 1 . 1 987 by the cruel and inhuman Zia­
Junejo administration.

That a military court ruling was carried out two years

a fter the so-called elections of 1 985 reveal the true na­
ture of Gen. Zia's deception.

On paper fundamental human ri gh t s are said to have

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been restored with an eye to pleasing the American

Congress. But ahe harsh reality is that fundamental
human rights continue to be violated by Gen. Zia 's un­
representative and cruel -rule.

No sooner had the " elections " taken place in January

1 985, than Nasir B�lloch was hanged in March despite
his innocence having been proved at the bar of publ ic
opinion. In June 1 985, Aya7. Samoo was hanged
despite his blood group not matching that of the as­
sai lant required by the a uthorities.

These brave sons who believe in freedom were put to

a croci death on the hangman 's noose to demonstrate
to the people· of Pakista n that a l though a " Parliament
" had been elected to please foreign aid doners, ngth­
ing had changed in Pakistan. Their deaths left a stain
on the name of the puppet Prime Minister a nd the pup­
pet Parliament which has been further compounded by
the subsequent a trocities of the Zia-Jun ejo administra­
tion.

Periodically PPP workers have been arrested and in­

humanly tortured at Police Stations on the i nstructions
of Gen. Zia •s regime. False cases have been filed
a gainst them to make ii impossible for them to earn a
l ivelihood as they have to appear in court daily. At the
end of the day they are told to come tomorrow accord­
i ng to Pakistan 's a ntiquated legal system. Of course
tomorrow never comes -- but if one fails to tum up, it
is contempt of court and i nstantly punishable. This is
the new face of persecution by Zia the dictator, hated
by our people who rules through force, torture, death.
A n yone who associates with Zia is at once condemned
by the people of Pakistan because feelings against Zia

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and his cronies' corruption and terror run high.

Press freedom remains curtailed. MUSAWAAT con­

tinues to be banned, HILAL, illegaly takenover.
JAVAID receives notices to cripple it economically
and force it shut for reprinting articles picked from
other magazines that did not receive such a notice. An
example is " Sind the untold story " which HERALD
printed without receiving a notice. As soon as it was
picked up by JAV AID. JAV AID received a notice.
Again, when JAVAID printed a First Information
Report which is a public document, it received a
notice. One can go on citing examples.

Freedom of Association remains c urtailed. In theory,

for the benefit of the Aid negotiations, public meet­
ings are perm itted. In fact t Section 1 44 is imposed as
soon as a decision to hold a public meeting is taken.
On January 8, 1 987 the public meeting of the PPP
was prevented by imposing Section 144 restricting the
association of people. Similarly Section 1 44 was im­
posed in Larkana and in other places when PPP
wanted to hold a public meeting. And everywhere the
Co-Chairperson goes, Section 1 44 is imposed to
restrict access to her and intimidate the population.

The only public meetings permitted so far have been

those held by national MRD Leaders as a show-piece
and sop to international opinion.

Freedom of Association does not exist in Pakistan. A

few persons have such ..freedom " carefully stage -­

managed by the regime and operating on their caprice

rather than in law.

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 132

A new form of preventive detention has been intro­

duced. A person is charged with a false criminal and
civil case with malefide inten ti on to deprive him/her
of his liberty. After a lenghty and expensive proce ­

dure, he is freed on bail. As soon as the bail is placed,

another case is slapped on and the process is repeated
again and again against political activists thus placing
them behind bars.

The "Subah Badar" [ Provincial Entry Ban ) intro­

duced by Martial Law i s very muc h a part of the
Civilian Martial Law. On January 10, 1987, Mr. Wali
Khan, President of Awami National Party was ex­
terned from the Province of Sind as well as other
leaders of political parties Even intra-Pakistan move­
.

ment of political leaders is curtailed and, as far as in­

tern ational travel , an Exit Control List illegaly exists
to prevent travel by political acti vis ts. The name of
Co-Chairperson of PPP heads this list.

The atrocities perpetuated in August to crush the

peaceful and political acti vi ties of the people of Pakis­
tan showed the real face of Zia-Junejo regime. Doc­
tors were shelled to prevent them from treati ng the in­
jured. Pellets were fired at eyes and have permanently
�linded many young men simply for t aki ng part in a
rally. S hots were fired to kill and people slaugh te red
ruthlessl y in the streets of Karachi, Lahore and other
places. In Thana, blood transfusion bags were
removed from a patie nt and chai ns clamped on him
which resulted in his death. These are just a few
samples to illustrate the depth of terror and i nhuman
activities of the Zia regime.

Selective terror continues in that intel lige nt men of

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 1 33

convtcuon with leadership qualities are selected for

elimination from the political field. This takes place
by kiUing [case of Fakir Iqbal Hisbani ] by paralysing
[ case of Jahangir Pathan and Ghulam Abbas ) or by
imprisoning [Ghulam Hussain and others ].

People are taken to prison on charge of being "

dacoits [ when, in fact, the dacoits and drug smug­
"

glers thrive on the backing of the administration to

which they reportedly give heavy pay offs]. Then Mus­
lim League forms [Prime Minister's Party] are sent.
The "dac'>it " is asked to sign a Muslim League form.
When he refuses, be continues to be incarcerated [the
case of Shabbir Chandio is just one example of this].

In Nazi propaganda style, attempts were made to sell

the "elections" of 1 985 as a success. The PPP declared
that the elections were a farce which had been
boycotted by 75% of the people .. The puppet "Parlia­
ment" being unrepresentative, would be unable to
cope. A democracy cannot function in the void
created by lack of popular support. The result is
before us today. The Army has been sent into villages
of Sind to burn villages, crops, kill people and cattle
[Thaheem, Machi, Birhamani, to name three] and vic­
timise innocent villagers in the vain hope that general
terror will subjugate the people and permit the "Parlia­
ment" to survive on the terror unleashed.

In Karachi, the Army has been sent to quell the

civilian strife. The Army was used in the sectarian
strife in Lahore. Never was the Army so used in the
past in Pakistan, Zia is misusing a n ational institution
as a political party.

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 134

Is this good for Army ? Most certainly not. With the

situation in Afghanistan and on the Indian border, the
Army needs to be free of civilian and police jobs to
do its own job. It needs a professional Chief of Army
Staff to bring it to its peak professional level.

B u t Gen. Zia having no support amongst the people is

c li ngi ng to the post of Chief of Staff thus damaging
the Army and the country simultaneously.

In December 1 986, Gen. Zia tried to enter Civil Hospi­

tal Karachi . He was refused entry. All his security
could not gain him entry into Civil Hospital. S uch i s
the state of the so - cal led . .President" and Chief of
Staff. He even invoked the name of the "Azaan" in his
favourite trick of exploiting religion for political pur­
poses. B ut even this did not work for people have
seen through his hypocrisy.

The religious parties are hard pushed to support a man

under whose administration, Mosques have been
burned or desecrated, where the Holy Book has been
burnt or treated in a sacrilegeous m anner, where the
A lam of Hazrat Abbas has been treated in a
sacriligeous manner.

The whipping of Hanif Patel is an act of vindictive­

ness by Gen. Zia against the Pakistan Peoples Party.
During the recent troubles in Karachi, the Party has
tried to do whatever it can no matter how small to
provide relief. The people of Karachi have been kind
to Co-Chairperson and so Gen. Zia, to get his revenge,
has odered the whipping of Karachi 's son Hanif Patel.

Nothing can deter the PPP from path of the people.

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 1 3S

We are above and beyond the reach of General Zia.

He can whip us, kill us. torture us but he cannot touch
our soul for our soul is the soul of Pakistan and the
aspiration of its people.

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 136

A SUFFERING SOCIETY

(Speech ar the occassion of the announceme�tt of people's health

scheme on 3.04. 1987)

Doctors, Members of the Press, Ladies and Gentlemen

I am pleased to preside at the policy presentation of

the Peoples' Health Scheme of the Pakistan Peoples
Party. I am speaking to you today on a subject of
great importance to every citizen . It concerns not only
the people suffering, not only the people who are
responsible for the m aintenance of health and health
services, but is also very important for every citizen
who has an interest in the welfare of the society. A

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society that is not healthy is working at a much lower

level of efficiency than its potential. A society that
has i n its midst a large number of illnesses that are
preventable that i s not fair society. It is, therefore , of
great interest to every person to become conscious of
the problems of health and to contribute to its im­
provement in whatever way he can. The Nation needs
the enlightened and the articulate intelligentia to
mobi lise itself and to contribute to a discussion of the
problems that a society faces. A society that is sick, is
a society that is depriving itself of all the benefits of
modem science a �d technology. An u nhealthy society
reflects stagnation that has come about as part of a
process of decadence. The Pakistan Peoples Party is
deeply concerned at the deterioration that has taken
place in the health sector due to the present regime's
failure and neglect of the health needs of the country.

In Pakistan the Health Delivery System is mostly run

by the General Cadre doctors and para-medical staff
including nurses. The Cadre has been totally neglected
in the way of salaries, promotions and other facilities
such as housing and transport. Our attempt in thi s
scheme i s to give incentive to the general cadre doc­
tors and para-medical staff so that they feel dignified
and willingly render service to the sick. At presen t we
have a broad base of 17 Grade doctors but apex of
this pyramid is narrow and consists of a few Grade 20
posts. What we are proposi ng is a proportional in­
c re ase i n 1 8 Grade and above, as and when 17 is ex­
panded. This will facilitate upward mobility i n to
higher grades. It was S haheed Bhutto who gave recog­
n ition to the teachers of Medical College and other
teaching i nstitutions by giving them Grade 20 for the
first time whereas previously this Grade was reserved

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for CSP Officers.

Friends. in a short term of 5 years, the last PPP

Government not only staned new medical colleges but
initiated the construction of various new hospitals in
different pans of the country e.g. Teaching hospitals
of new medical colleges, Liyari Gene ral Hospital,
Shaikh Zayd Bin S u ltan Hospitals at Larkana and
. Lahore, Liaquatabad Hospi tal in Karachi etc. We also
started the Bolan Medical College and Hospi tal
proj ect in Baluchistan. After 10 years this project has
still not been completed. So much for this regime's
concern for development.

The PPP is concerned that. 300 adhoc appoi ntees in

Sind, who served in hospitals as doctors for 8 years,
were terminated recently. It was said that lhey failed
to pass the Public Service Commission exam ination . It
is fair to re-examine a person after 8 years and then
sack him ? If they are not competent, why were they
appoin ted
? And if they were competent for 8 y ears ,

why were they sacked ? It is strange that they were ap­

pointed by Provincial Selection Comm ittee of doctors
headed by Secretary Health, yet re-examined by a non­
technical member of the Provincial Public Service
Comm ission.

Ali the expansion plans and schemes of the PPP were

dropped or slashed by the mi litary regime. No serious
attempts were ever m ade by the military rulers to ex­
pand the healch facilities in the public sector. For ex­
ample, it was our Government's decision that· tO
upgrade Taluka District Hospitals with the bed
strength of 200 and 500 respectively. Simi larly , we
have plan to have m ore general hospitals in big cities

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on the pattern of Liaquatabad Hospital , Liyari General

Hospital and Abbasi Shaheed Hospi tal . If those
schemes had been carried out by the m ili tary regime,
then this crisis of un-employment would not have
been occ ured.

The stu dents have become doctors but the health

fac ilit ies in which they are to work remain only in the
files and are not av ailable. Whenever doctors have ap­
proached the authorities, the Ministers at federal and
provinc ial levels always blamed the People' s Govern­
ment for produc i ng such large number of doctors .

The number of registered doctors in 1973 was 1 5789,

which today has risen to 4 1 ,000. In order to achieve
the recommended ratio of 1 : 800� the desired number
should be more than 100,000.

It is a matter of regret that the model for development ·

planning that has been adopted in this country has as­

sumed th at many of the social problems related to
poverty will be eliminated simply by increasing
.econom ic productivity. This concept disregards the
many facts of social developme nt and the complicated
matrix of society.

I need hardly add that the present regime has given up

all attempts at achieving any modicum of social well
being of the people of Pakistan. It has chosen to hide
its failing behind obscurantic slogans and medevial
concepts.

It is the right of the brave people of Pakistan -- the

hard working but unrewarded workers, the toiling
peasants , the middle classes and the l on g su ffering stu-

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dents -- to enter the 21st century with hope and con­

fidence. This they can do by abandoning ignorance
and myth and adopting sciences and technology.

We in the third world, live in the midst of famine,

droug�ts, floods and earthquakes as major destroyers.
Illness and suffering seem to be built into the very pat­
tern of our life. Our countrymen live in extremely
poor and inhospitable circumstances. There is no rapid
water supply. The childhood years are not the happiest
years of life but the most dangerous. The official
figures record an average of 1 50 chidren in every one
thousand who die before their birth day. true figures
may be much higher, specially in the rural area where
the child often leaves, before his arrival has been
registered. For those who survives one complaint fol­
lows another without respite. They include diaorrhoea,
lung infection, bronchitis, disease of eye, nose, bums,
round worms and tonsilitis. As the child grows older,
the risk diminish but they do not disappear. Chronic
disease causes poverty. and poverty provides the ideal
breeding ground for disease in a recurrent cycle of re­
infection. Disease also reduces a man's productivi ty
as surely as hunger does. It raises the cost of living
for the victim, as he must pay for treatment. At the
same time it reduces his income as he takes time off
work.

Good health is less the work of doctors and hospitals

than of advances in public health. We need improve­
ment in clean water and sanitation ; improvement in
housing and nutrition. There are historical reasons for
present neglect : In the pre-colonial times the health
of this part of the world was no worse than that of
what is now in advanced society. During the colonial

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times, a sysrem of health care was developed which

was confined to the area of the country which were of
concern to the rulers. They had developed a pattern of
health care which catered for the army and the senior
civil servants while the rest of the country was left to
fend for itself. This it did by using the traditional
methods of treatment. These traditional methods have
been left behind because not enough research has been
devoted i n their development. The pattern of medical
education and the pattern of health care which is con­
tinuing has remained unchanged since colonial times.
The changes which have occured in the advanced
societies have not taken place in our country. This has
been due to the fact that most of the administrative
measures that have taken place in the field of health
have been based on alien concept of extremely central­
i zed bureaucratic approach. It is essential to decentral­
ize social services, as creativity and innovation always
grows better at the periphery.

On� important measure that we intend to m ake is in

the area of medicine. In Pakistan, it is reported that
there are nearly 1 0,000 registered medical products
and their cost to the country is Rs. 3,000 million,
when they do not cover the whole country. At this
rate this would be virtually impossible for us to
provide medicines for the whole country. Therefore,
we intend to take the very important step of ensuring
the supply of a minimum number of essential
medicines to the public through government hospitals.
The World Health Organization has prepared a list of
250 medicines which it believes are sufficient to cover
most of the medical conditions that are present in
third world countries and these medicines will be
made available at low prices, if necessary by

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m anufacturing in the public sector.

Early on I had alluded to the historic process in the

context of our societies in the third world. The strug­
gle raging in the societies of the Third World have a
truly global character. One can only hope that the
struggles do not turn into conflicts which produces
either prolonged psycho-social disturbances or short
term intense abberation capable of overshadowing the
normal course of evolution of human societies. It is
contended that the "Dilemma" arises only when the
compulsion of the inexorable process of change are
not recognised and the present is viewed in the
framework of unchangeable or slowly changing past.
In other words when the narrow and parochial inter­
ests of today blurr the vision of a better tomorrow. I
believe that the only Dilemma can change to Hope is
by our adopting over a short period of time a new
direction in science and technology. This is the only
path that can help in modernising our society to
enable us to · achieve a level of economic prosperity
and a modem out look on society, it seems when flrst
stated to be an almost impossible task. But I have
every confidence that the great people of Pakistan can
achieve this, there are many examples in recent years
where this has been possible. I am thinking of Japan
and South Korea who, following the meiji revolution,
succeeded in adopting modem technology almost with
the persistence of a cult. Islam in its sublime manifes­
tations and shorn of archaic trapping demonstrates
rationalism, which can be blended with the aspirations
of a modem state. Pakistan, like any other third world
c ountry needs to develops an independent national
scientific and technological capacity. In our effort to
achieve industrial development, we had to import ad-

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vanced technology. These projects have sometimes

turned out to be alien bodies in the new environment.
They have not much added to employment because
they have no link with local knowledge. This has a
technical and economic aspect. But the proble m s are

basically, social and political. We need to cover a

period that other countries have taken two hundred
years to cover i n a short time. But, for us, there i s no
choice. we will adopt technology to succeed. The
reason that I am mentioning technology in the context
of health is because I realize that health services can­
not be conti nued in the absence of a technological and
scientific mind. Also modem equipment requires con­
stant development and that requires an ever incre asing
level of technology . Therefore, I believe that technol­
ogy is an absolute m ust for our development efforts.

I would now like to talk a little about women in the

context of heal th and development. The stat us of
women in a society i s a significant reflection of the
level of soc ial justice in that society. The biological
and social realities of their maternal m orality are close­
ly linked to their health status and are major factors in
the problems they face in health, employment. educa­
tion and many other areas. The health of vvomen has
some particular aspects. M aternal morality is a very
high cause of death i n our country. Like many other
avoidable deaths th is can be reduced by adequate an ­
tenatal care and better maternity practices . Their level
of nutrition is also a serious health problem specially
in women who have too many pregnancies closely
space d. Anaemia is wide spread in women of child
bearing age and added to both are occupational
hazards which engage women in heavy labour during
pregnancy. Women's contribution to the economy is

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grossly under estimated and is not reflected i n labour

statistics. In our country women are responsible for at
least a large pan of food production by fully sharing
the burdens of sowing transplanting and harvesting.

At the same time there is at present a great potential

of drastic improvement in health and well being of
children. Immunization against six major diseases of
childhood -- measles, Tetanus, Whooping Cough, Dip­
theriat Poliomyelitis and tuberculosis cost very little.
But the reward for this one time simple activity i s
great and it produces dramatic results. Th e efforts
directed towards preventing these diseases by the com­
bined use of ammunit ion and oral dehyderation
therapy will be spread to cover the entire population.

At the end, I would like to emphasize that the

people's health scheme must remain a dynamic and
vibrant policy, must keep changing according to needs
of the time. This policy document must be seen as a
m inimal programme on which larger projects can be
built. Further details may be obtained from the Policy
Planning Group or Dr.Abbasi ; Coordinator Health
Committee. Any suggestions for improvement i n our
scheme. specially from 1he medical profession will be
welcomed and appreciate d

Thankyou,

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 14S

DIVIDE - D ESTROY
AND R U LE
(Address to Journalists at Lahore Pearl Continental 011 19.5. 1987)

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Press has faced the worst victimization in the history

during the last decade shadowed by the darkness of Mar­
tial Law - first as political prisoners have faced the worst
victimization known in the history of the sub-continent.

Victimization is one word. Sometimes people when asked

in its true meaning, can hardly cover what we have been
through. Let us today recall what we mean when we say
the press was victimized by the brutal Martial Law im-

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posed by the Usurper Zia-ul-Haq. Recall, ladies and

gentlemen, that within one month of the imposition of
M anial Law eminent journalists including the chairman
of NPT Khwaja Asif were sacked in 1 977. A few months
later the entire staff of the Islamabad Bureau of the Pakis­
tan Times, such as H.K. Burki Aslam Shaikh, and S alamat
Ali were sacked without reasons. In Karachi the editor of
the Morning News S ultan Ahmad and edi tor of Hilal-e­
Pakistan, Sirajul Haq Memon were dismissed. Noted
writer and journalist Ibrahim Jalees was terrorised to such
an extent that he died of a hean attack.

ln 1 978 when journalists staned a movement against the

closure of Musawat scores of journalists and press
workers of NPT papers were sacked.

During the .Manial Law years over 200 journalists and

press workers were given harsh sentenced of rigorious im­
prisonment and fines by Martial Law Couns for launch­
ing peaceful movements against c losures of Musawat in
Lahore and later in Karachi against termination of ser­
vice.

In 1 978, in a most shameful act four journalists were sen­

tences to lashes. Three were actually flogged: Salamat Ali
of the Far Eastern Economic Review was jailed for one
year, Badar-ud-din, Jamil-ur-Rehman, Zahir Kashmiri of
Musawat were also jailed. Musawat was closed down in
1 978 and later in 1 979. On October 1 6th 1 979 when Zia
reneged on his election promises he closed down eigh t
newspapers and journals including Musawat, Sadaqat,
Mayar and AI Fatah.. New Times an english daily of
P.awalpindi were also closed down when its declaration
was cancelled.

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Todate no opposition paper has been given a declaration.

The press remai nsunder strict control through censorship
and press advice. For three years uptil 1982, all
newspapers and journals remained under strict precensor­
ship for the longest period ever in Pakistan. During the
following 1 6 months weeklies and journals continued to
be under precensorship. Later when censorship was lifted
independent papers and journals like Aman, View Point
etc. were put under selective censorship. During censor­
ship even Quranic verses in Musawat and other papers
were censored and so also were the saying of the founder
of the Nation Quaid-e-Azam. Opposition newspapers
were not even allowed to publish editorials and repons
which appeared in other newspapers in �e country.

In 1 983 (when 10 prominent journalists of Pakistan

Times, Mashriq and Imroze signed a memorandum call­
ing for restoration of democratic rights and an end to the
suppression in Sindh their services were tenninated.

Minhaj Barna, President of PRJJ was transferred to Kalat

and later dismissed from service. During the referrendum
and so called elections all newspapers were prohibited
from giving any news about the opposition boycott and
all news regarding the opposition was censored. Indepen­
dent newspapers and journals have been and still continue
sto be denied government and public corporations' adver­
tisements. There is a complete ban on the ads for Frontier
Post, Peshawar and Aman Karachi. The ads for Daily
Muslim and Dawn are also periodically cunailed. For
'
eight years the PFUJ continued to face the wrath of Mar­
tial Law regime which raised a puppet organisation of its
own to cause division amongst the journalist community.
This organisation was extended all kinds of patronage
while members of the genuine PFUJ were victimized and

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denied NOCs to go abroad and were harassed in the offi­

cial newspapers and agencies. Even while this suppres­
sion was going on Zia himself and successive infonnation
ministers of the government frequently claimed in public
that the press had never been so free. This government
had the dubious distinction of introducing the law (PPC
499) which prohibited publication of any news againsdt
government functionaries or others even if it was in the
public interest and based on fact.

News week in a commen t on this law said ' where truth is

a crime.

I am pround to say that Pakistan Peoples Party is com­

mitted to a free and responsible press. The PPP Press
Policy has already been elaborated at the Karachi and
Rawalpin. di Press Clubs. We stand to repeal the Press
and Publications Ordinance, withdraw the ban on travel
by journalists, reinstate the journalists fired by the
Military regime and permit the reopening of banned press
with compensation.

Now, let us addre ss ourselves to some aspects of the com­

prehensive mess in which the .Martial Law regime and its
civilian off-spring have landed us. From the subversion of
the Constitution to the invasion of the citizen' s domestic
peace, from attempts to convert the Pakistan Anny into a
private "lashkar" to the legalised robbery of the Pakistani
banks called "written-off loans". from the ravaging of
Pakistan's economy to the fragmentation of its polity, the
crisis has become a Hydra- headed monster. And neither
General Zia nor Mr. Junejo is a Hercules capable of com­
bating this demon. If anything, the crisis i s of lheir own
creation. They spend much effort underplaying it. They
have u nleashed a compaign of clisinfonnation upon the na-

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tion. Even the Parliament of General Zia's own creation

is not spared.

Take for instance the subversion of the Constitution. Who

does not know what he has done to it. Yet he recently in­
formed a joint session of his Parliament that the civilian
government had supremacy over the Armed Forces. Par­
liamentarians must be a particularly credulous lot to have
stomached such an obvious false-hood.

How can it be believed that the Pakistan Anny has subor­

dinated itself to the civilian government when Parliament,
by adopting Martial Law Order No: 1 07 and Article 270-
A, itself chose to extend the effect of Martial Law
beyond the date of its apparent withdrawal? How can the
supremacy of the civilian government be accepted when
it has itself piloted legislation amending the Constitution
to allow the Chief of Army Staff to continue to occupy
the office of President of Pakistan which he had usurped
under cover of Martial Law? How can the civilian ad­
ministration be credited with any authority when it has no
power to determine or enforce statutory tenures fixed by
law for the offices of the Senior Army Commanders?

Was any member of the Cabinet ever consulted when, in

March. some Senior Anny Commanders were retired and
new ones appointed in their place? Has a willing endorse­
ment been taken from the c ivilian rulers on the continued
and indefinite holding of the office of COAS by Gen. Zia­
ul-Haq? Was the civilian government ever taken into con­
fidence when, in January last, the country was taken to
the very brink of War with India? Was it ever taken into
confidence before the crucial movement of the sixth Ar-:
moured Division? Was this movement not a ' suo moto'
action of a handful of top generals?

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 1 50

It goes without saying that each one of the above ques­

tions has but one answer. and that too in the negative.
Nor is this all. We know, for instance, that the Prime Min­
ister was not even aware Navy 's ••Enterprise" until after
General Zia had been reported having visited that Ship. It
is also known that Mr. Junejo was not consulted about
the major, and unilateral, foreign pQlicy initiative taken
by his Chief of Anny Staff towards making peace with
India in February this year. Ostensibly on his way to
watch the cricket match at Jaipur. General Zia took time
to stop in Delhi and to bow in abject surrender before the
Indian government.

It is quite obvious that the civilian regime has no option

but to permit the Armed Forces of Pakistan to retain an
autonomy that is neither sanctioned by the Constitution,
nor is it in the larger interests of the State. Despite the
fact that Article 243 of the Constitution provides that the
Federal Government shall have the "control and com­
mand on the Armed Forces". they remain an autonomous
and independent corporate entity.

To use them solely as a vehicle for his own personal

power General Zia has effectively delinked the Armed
Forces and insulated them from the body politic. The of­
ficers and soldiers are employed as mere automatons.
Only the top generals continue to partricipate in, and to
determine the nature of the political process. Having de­
linked the soldiers from their own civilian bretheren, the
High Command employs them as a mechanical device for
its own power and privilege. De-linked from the people
and insulated from their concerns and woes, it becomes a
mechanical monster capable of causing immense suffer­
ing and terror. De- linked from the people it takes on a
colonial role.

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 151

This, no doubt, suits the militsary commanders. Given

this insularity. soldiers and officers are left with no other
identification and mooring except the High Command of
the Army. They cannot but lean on thier superiors. They
are thus compelled to obey superior orders regardless of
the moral content of these orders.

This de-linking is, however, neither in the interests of the

country not in that of the Armed Forces. An Anny which
insulates itself from the representatives of the people, that
is made immune from s uperior civilian command and is
autonomous of popular will, can neither remain dedicated
to the service of the country, nor can it continue to enjoy
the love and respect of the people. The insulate and dis­
tanced soldier breeds alienation among the populace.
After all it was not for nothing that · the wisdom of the
Constitution-makers dictated that the ''control and com­
mand" of the Armed Forces of Pakistan shall remain, not
with uniformed generals, but with the civilian repre­
sentative administration.

The merger of the offices of President of Pakistan and

Chief of Army Staff i n one person is. in itself, a grievous
enough subversion of the Constitution of Pakistan. It is
also a subversion of the Pakistan Army. It impedes other,
more deserving and thoroughly profesional officers from
taking the ultimate fruit of their dedicated careers: promo­
tion. Is the Pakistan Army so starved of men of calibre
that there is none who can relieve Gen. Zia of the
onerous task of Chief of Army Staffl That surely is not
the case. It is simply General Zia ' s maniacal obsession
with power and the gnawing sense of insecurity that com­
pels him to hang on to that office. To do so, however, he
has to continuously ponder the soldiers . And Mr. Junejo
readily picks u p the tune selected by his benefactor. Both

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 IS2

constantly praise the Armed Forces. ''They have spent

several nights under the open sky" says Zia after the
recent troop withdrawal, and they deserve the respect and
admiration of the entire nation."

No doubt. But has the nation ever let its anned forces
down?

Never. Never has the nation abandoned its duty towards

its defenders. Only the Senior Commanders have
betrayed our brave soldiers and their officers. When,
during the 1965 war, they were locked in battle, civilian
citizens, in thousands, risked their lives to go with gifts
and food-stuffs to the forward defence lines of the Pakis­
tan Anny. Donations. in blood and money, far exceeded
the capacity of the Armed Forces to absorb them while
engaged in combat. Crowds assembled at recruitment
centres volunterring to take up arms alongwith their
brothers in uniform.

When after deft and difficult diplomacy the Chairman of

the Peoples Party and Presidsent of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto Shaheed finally obtained the release of 90,000 of­
ficers and soldiers who had surrendered in East Pakistan,
people received them back with garlands and open anns.
All was forgotten. They came back as sons and brothers.
Civilians continued to shower their Jove and largess upon
them.

Pakistan 's civilian population has, in fact, for decades

been willing to go without bread to feed, clothe and equip
the Armed Forces of Pakistan. Immense and ceaseless
sacrifices has been sought of the Pakistani citizenry. It
has always provided these willingly. Every preceding an­
nual budget of Pakistan bears testimony to this voluntary

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forbearance and sacrifice.

Despite the sacrifices, and despite the continuing

budgetary emphasis on Defence, Pakistani Generals h�ve
used the Armed Forces to inflict unimaginable suffenng
upon her citizens. In the most brutal period of Marti�l
Law young men have been tied to stocks and flogged m
public. To this day contused lines on their backs bear tes­
timony to the sharp bite of the whip and the un- war­
ranted humiliations and pain. Countless others have been
jailed and held in inhuman fetters. Many, alongwith their
women, have seen the insides of interrogation centres
where they have been tortured by officers belonging to
the intelligence services of the Anned Forces of Pakistan.
What has the citizenry done to deserve all this? Will the
Armed Forces also give credit to the people of Pakistan
for all this forbearance and sacrifice?

Neither Zia nor Mr. Junejo can, however, affoni to give

any credit to the people of pakistan. They are, in fact, the
very anti-thesis of the people. It was, after all General Zia
who murdered the elected prime Minister of this country.
He ousted a truly representive government and a fully
sovereign Parliament by means of an illegal 'coup de tat. •
he cannot, therefore, countenance the existence of another
truly sovereign Parliament. The mere existence of any
such sovereign Assembly would, "ipso facto" imply Zia's
abdication or dismissal from that office.

In creating a Parliament subordinated to the office of

President and Chief of Anny Staff, General Zia has again
subverted the Constitution. The wonder is that Parliamen­
tarians are prepared to believe Zia when he tells them
that they are "sovereign and independet." Nothing could
be more removed from the truth. Parliament has never

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 154

been aUowed by Zia to establish its soveriegnty and inde·

pendence. He has taken effective measures to prevent any
such eventuality.

The Constitution of 1973 did. no doubt, envisage a par­

liamentary system. It did provide for a soreriegn and inde·
pendent Parliament. The Chief Executive (the Prime Mini­
ster) was elected by. and responsible to it. The President,
too, was elected by Parliament.

The Constitution of 1 985 does not even countenance any

such parliamentary authority. We are now subject to a
Presidential System of Government. There is, thus, no
question of Parliamentary sovereignty.

A Parliament does not become sovereign by merely being

told that it is sovereign. Sovereignty can only be derived
from the Constitutional provisions and laws that governs
the powers and functioning of Parliament. Did Parliament
elect the President? No Gen. Zia was "deemed" to have
been elected not under and in accordance with the Con­
stitution. His "election" is alleged to have been con­
secrated in the Referendum of December, 1984. we all
know the turn-out on that day. Gen. Zia has thus inflicted
himself upon the new Constitutional Order.

Was Mr.Junejo elected by Parliament? No. He was ap-­

pointed by Gen.Zia

Parliamentary sovereignty is inherent in Parliament's

ability to choose the head of Government. Under the Con­
stitution of 1 973. the National Assembly was empowered
to ell�ct one of its Muslim members to be the Prime Mini­
ster "(Anicle 9 1 (2). Under the Constitution of 1 985 the
Presidenr, "in his discretion", appoints from amongst the

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 I SS

members of the National Assembly, a Prime Minister.

(Article 9 1 (2). Under the 1973 Constitution the Prime
Minister was to "continue to hold office until his succes­
sor entered upon the office of Prime Minister." (Article
93). Under the 1985 Constitution the Prime Minister is to
hold office "during the pleasure of the PresidenL"

The independence of Parliament has been further denuded

by vesting in the President the discretionary power to dis­
solve the National Assembly without. or contrary to the
advice of the leader of the House.

Even in its functioning Parliament has been unable to es­

tablish its independence or sovereighty. Despite the claim
of being the "elected representatives of the people"� mem­
bers of Parliament were constrained to pass and adopt the
immoral Eighth Amendment Act which purported to
legitimize all the draconian, inhuman. immoral and un­
civilized actions of the preceding Martial Law regime in­
cluding sentences of flogging, confiscation of property,
and death possed by Military Courts.

Let me now tum to the pitiable state of the country•s

econo�y.

Never before has the country's wealth been plundered in

the manner in which it has been in the past decade under
General Zia. Never before has it been so callously
ravaged as in the last 1 0 years. Never before has the na­
tion 's wealth been squandered with such impunity and
abandon as during the period that General Zia- ul-Haq
has held power. A mere superficial prosperity has. no
doubt, been generated by remittances. unprecedented aid,
and the dollar inflow caused by regimes' patronage of the
Heroin Mafia an<i of its insidious trade. This prosperity

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 t S6

however, has been out-paced b y the loot and plunder of

the elite.

Look at the profusion of official Mercedes Cars. They are

swarming the roads. Even lowly officials are going about
in expensive brand new Honda Accords. The officials are
allowed to change models as they change their clothes.
Look at the aircraft being imported for VIP transport in
this poor country. These are high priced luxury liners of
the air. Then look at the illegal means for generating
resources.

If only General Zia had read the report of none other than
the State Bank of Pakistan, he would know how the
monsters of corruption, debt, and smuggling are eating
into vitals of the economy.

Corruption has assumed un-heard of proportions. Nothing

happens without the .Palms of the concerned officers
being greased. The entire department takes it share. the
big bosses getting the most. Corruption has been in­
stitutionalised. Scandals of cut- backs. commissions, and
bribery are now conunon-place. They evoke no amaze­
ment and create no shock. Banks have been defrauded of
billions. Many more billoins have been written off. The
greed of the State apparatus is unlimited. It knows no
bounds. Its appetite cannot be satiated. The scandals of al­
lotment of plots in Jauhar Town and Garden Town in
Lahore are only two minor examples of bureacratic graft
and greed. The mis-appropriation of the Cooperative
Housing Society in which, according to the Press reports
that listed the n ames, "of Senior Officers who were given
plots as gratification to cover the fraud and misdeeds with
the Society ' s land", is only another. All the top bosses of
the administration can be accused of unimaginable mis-ap-

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propriation.

There are other ways in which Pakistan's economy has

been sapped of its vitality. One of the more disastrous
gifts of the Zia regime is that it has made chronic the im­
balance in Pakistan's trade. This is largely due to its im­
port policies and its propensity to acquire un-called for
debts. External debt now exceeds U.S.$ 16 billion. Accord­
ing to the recent report of. the State Bank of Pakistan
more than one billion dollars are being spent, annualy, on
debt servicing alone. As matters stand today, the ratio of
external debt to the GNP of the country is an alarming
30%. Debt-service payments form. today, 40.5% of the
total exports of Pakistan!

The debt servicing figure does not include the cost of ser­
vicing the publicly un-disclosed military debt.

Imports. at the same time, have designedly been made to

spiral almost in goemetric progression. To a large extent
these go directly into the consumption Sector. Con­
sumerism has been deliberately encouraged in efforts to
de-politicise the people. In the process, the economy has
been mortgaged.

Despite paper laws providing for severe punishment for

smuggling, it has been given a free hand.

Can any body in his right mind call this a stable

economy? Even the Minister of Planning is on record
having admitted that the strategy for mobilising resources
visualised under the ill-fated Sixth Five Year Plan has fal­
len flat on its face.

In fact the state of the economy is so fragile, so vul-

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nerable even to such obvious variables as the weather,

that it has been brought to the verge of ruin by the freak
rains in the Punjab. The calamitous effects of the rains
will soon be felt upon the health of the economy. So dis­
asterous is the impending impact that the Pakistan
Peoples Pany call for tlfe immediate declaration of the
Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Lahore and
Faisalabad Divisions as disaster-striken areas with com­
pensation to affected fanners.

Complacent and smug in his ivory tower, Gen. Zia seems

to have other indecii to gauge the health of the economy.
One index, prehaps, is what he and his nominated Prime
Minister can spend out of the depleted coffers of this
poor counuy. If we go by that measure the country is, of
course,rich. After all which Prime Minister can spend and
2 miJlion on one 'private tour' of the United Kingdom. It
can only be called a "private visit" as he was received at
Heathrow by a junior Minister of Mrs. Thatcher's voem­
ment Mr. Junejo's entourage of 1 0 1 members kept a big
PIA jet idle for 1 1 days. The 50limousines hired by the
embassy alone cost 75,000/-. Bills of five-star luxury
hoels have yet to be deared.

Foreign tours are not the only expenditure extravagan­

zeas. A mere five hour Prime Ministerial visit to Jhang
cost Rs.35 lacs ! Out of this total the Jhang municipality
had to foot Rs. l7 lacs. Junejo, in tum, donated Rs.5 lacs
to it. The poor "Jhangis" who had been brought to the
'jalsa' on official transpon were required to cheer at this
magnificient gesture. They did not know what they had
lost in the bargain. This is the kind of bargain he and Zia
want to strike with the nation.

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Finally. let us briefly review the law and order situation.

Again, Gen. Zia and Mr. Junejo have their own exclusive
point of view.
Call ing Pakistan an "island of peace" they have
been reiterating that the "law and order" situation is satis­
factory. Yes. If "Law and Order" implies that the police
have the power to take "law" into their own hands and
impose a brutal "order" on the citizens then, no doubt,
they are right. If the term 'law and order' should conjure
up in one• s mind the picture of the Kamoke youth
stripped naked by helmeted policemen on the main Grand
Truck Road of Pakistan. then too, they are right. If 'law
and order' refers to the torture, amputation of the limbs
or death of prisoners i n Sukkur Jail then, too, there is law
and order. If ' law and order' implies the throtling and
draging of old and bearded citizens by platoons of riot
police then also that must be it.

The police in the Punjab, and the Army in Sind, have

been given the license to kill. The so called "police en­
counters" have so completely eroded the credibility of
that organisation that even when hardened criminals die
at its hands, there is substantial suspicion that the whole
'encounter' was engineered by it.

Sindh, from where the Pakistan Army has affected a par­

tial withdrawal, has now come under several other ar­
mies. The Hur Anny, the Jiey Sindh Army and the Magsi
Army now hold sway in that province. Each enjoys the
patronage of the state. They have been armed by Zia.
Any group that displays the slightest propensity of oppos­
ing the Pakistan Peoples • Party has been equipped with
the latest weaponry. No regard is paid to the social conse­
quences of this militarisation of society and splinter-

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groups. It will repute and destroy society itself.

The colonial policy of 'divide and rule" has been bet­

tered. The now policy is: 'divide, destroy and rule." To
destroy, be brutal Society, today. has effectively been
brutalised. The continuing tension in strife-tom Karachi
speaks volumes about the disasterous policies pursued by
the regime in the last one dsecade. The Magsi attack on
the un-armed citizens at the Gopang village is a logical
by-product. The brutal elimination of Fazil Rahoo and Al­
lama Ehsan Elahi Zaheer goes alongwith the sinister con­
spiracy to eliminate the Chair-person of Pa.k.istan's largest
political party. The citizen 's peace has been ruptured by
the Kalashinkov and the Heroin Mafia. Yet Pakistan is
called an "island of peace."

Never has the citizen of Pakistan bee n so vulnerable so in­

secure. Never has he been so criminally exposed, even
within the confines of the "Chardivari" of his own home,
to the fearsome extortion of the dacoit or the gory u nder­
takings of the Hammer Group. Only the most credulous
can believe Gen. Zia when he calls his country today an
"island of peace." After all, the reverbrations of the
Peshawar, Lahore, and Pindi bomb blasts have yet not
died down. Nor have we as yet swallowed the downing
of Pakistani F- 1 6s on our Nonher Borders. The murders
of Faqir Iqbal Hisbani and Iftikhar are before you. The
conscious display, Beirut-style display, of sophisticated
anns by a youth body patronised by the ruling pany has
been prominently carried by the national press. the sharp
language of trhe Kalashinkov has become the c urrent
Pakistani vernacular.

Who is the citizen to tum to? what is the remedy? How

can we get out of this veritable mess?

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The Pakistan Peoples' Party enjoys overwhelming

popular support in all the four provinces of the country.
We can arrest the process of fragmentation generated by
the Zia regime. We can weld the Federation together. We
promise to heal the wounds inflicted by military rule and
police brutality. Our programme is to build a stable Pakis­
tan on the principles of freedom, justice, and an
egalitarian and self-reliant economy. It is our committ­
ment to strive for the sovereignty of civilian democratic
institutions which truly represent the people of Pakistan
in accordance with the Constitution. It is for these
reasons that the people of Pakistan stand with us. We in
our turn, stand with the people together, and with the help
of the Almighty, we shall win. Together we shall over­
come. together we will restore civil society in Pakistan.
Together we will rebuild Pakistan.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

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NO TO OPPRESSION -
NO TO MILITARIZATION
(Address to Shikarpur Bar o n 7.6. 1987)

Honourable members of Shikarpur Bar and other distin­

guished Guests, assalaamalaikum.

It is privelege to be here with you today and take the op­

portunity of exchanging views on some of the important
issues confronting.

Ever since the legal, elected constitutional and repre­

sentative government of the people was overthrown il­
legally by coup d- etat, we have been facing a crisis of
evergrowing manifestation. The anti-people forces which

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have held sway through force and terror have neither the
vision, the capability, the intelligence nor the perception
to recognise a crisis leave alone deal with it. The result
is a sharpening and worsening of the crisis at every level.

Recently we have had the announcement of the military

budget. I shall shortly be presenting the peoples budget
but until then I would like to make some remarks regard­
ing the political consequences of this blackest of budget
which has been presented. Each budget is worse than the
year before Why ? Because each year the situation i s ag­
grravated by the bad leadership and wrong policies of the
administration headed by the junta chief Mr.Zia ul Haq
who calls himself General long after his term has expired.

The flfSt point relates to the imposition of the Defence

Tax or the Fauji Tax of 1 0 percent, This ten percent is to
be charged on all income tax, wealth tax and super tax.
The lesson is evident: the honest tax payers of our coun­
tory are to be taxed higher, squeezed further and
punished for being honest enough to pay their taxes. All
the dishonest elements, the smugglers, the arms commis­
sion agents. the corrupt and all those who dishonestly
evade tax are going to have big encouragement. The
regime is making the point: Dishonesty pays, honesty
does not. It is not only punishing the honest who are
being crushed by the burden of unfair taxes but it is intro­
ducing and strengthening the culture spawned by Martial
Law, namely observance of law is not beneficial, viola­
tion of law is beneficial. That is the reason that we are
today faced with a society on the brink of total anarchy
and chaos. Everyone is taking the law into his own
hands, from the bandit to the kidnapper to the embezzler
to the smuggler, to the cheat. Every one knows that it
pays to be dishonest. Even the press has been corrupted.

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Recently thete was an item that a political party had set

aside 1 crore rupees to give journalists. p�esumably for
writing fabricated stories and malicious lies against its op­
ponents. In Zis' s culture, dishonesty pays. Look at the
General himself. The Pakistan Peoples Party demands
that he should reveal his income tax returns of June 1 977
and now of 1987. In fact. all the family and cronies of
the General should state to the public what their worth
was before taking office and what their worth now is
after taking office. We would also like General to ex­
plain his relationship with certian people associated with
Canada.Japan and his brother in law in Newyork. We
would also like him to explain how he acquired property
in Taxas. California and allegedly in Germany, England
and other places. We would like to know whether he will
be paying a ten percent tax on these properties in view of
the security needs of Pakistan or whether the new
Defence Tax is really not a defence tax but a commission
tax so that Gen. Zia and his coterie can become richer
still while Pakistan bleeds.

I can proudly state that not only the Prime Minister but
his entire family had more agricultural land and other
property before taking over and far less when we handed
over power in 1 977. I am proud to claim that my family
gave agricultural lands in the land reformes of 1 972 and
of 1 977 not to speak of the land reforms of 1958

For the Pakistan Peoples party, honesty and integrity are

the key characterstics of good government. of a govern­
ment which is dedicated to the progress and prosperitty
of its people rather than the personal advancement by a
power hungry and avaricous clique. Honourable mem­
bers, in a democratic society rulers are accountable to the
people. If they do not serve the people. they will not

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receive their respect, honour and affection. In the

democracy, our politician is judged by his service to the
people. In a dictatorship there is no accountability. People
are treated with contempt. The only premium is aggran­
disement of power and lust for money. We are totally
against such elements. We are struggling against such ele­
ments and have paid a heavy price for opposing them.
But we are determined to eradicate them from the body
politic of Pakistan through the cleanising process of
democracy.

The second point evident from the heavy defence tax is

that the security of Pakistan has been gravely threatened
under the leadership of this regime. This is their own ad­
mission. They are saying, "We have made a mess of
things. Pakistan is in trouble. That is why we are impos­
ing a ten percent defe nce tax H they are not capable of
.

adopting proper policies which can strengthen the in­

tegrity of our Nation, then they have no right to rule. In­
stead of making the Nation pay with a ten percent tax for
their mistakes, they should. reseign. And, if they fail to
reseign, then you, ladies and gentlemen must prepare to
throw them out rather than pennit them to rob and ravage
this sweet land of ours and the hopes and dreams of its
people. Defence tax is not the answer to the security
needs of Pakistan. A reappraisal, revaluation and a
revitalisation of the bankrupt policies of this barren
leadership is necessary to secure the Defence needs. On
behalf of the Pakistan Peoples Party, I would like to
declare that we are capable, competent, and confident of
securing the security needs of Pakistan without this
Defence Tax which we repudiate in the strongest terms.

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Every year Zia has been spending 111011:: on defence. Yet

it has not made us � secure. Every year he has been
buyi ng more sophisticated weaponry. Has it made us
IIlOI'ese3cure? Most certainly not. Every year we have
been spending millions on sohpisticated air crafts like F-
16s and every year we arc reciving more bombs and and
the more we spend, the weaker we get. The more we
spend , the less our defence is protected. The more we
spend , the more we lose. We have lost Siachin Glacier,
we have lost Trawlers in the international waters, we
have come to the brink of war with India, we have had
numerous border incidents at the Ceaseftre line in kash­
mir and numerous violations a t the Afghan border.

So the more Zia spends on military hardware the weaker

we will get. Strength comes from political wi ll, strength
comes from the vitality of the people, strength comes
through internal cohesion. A country which is weak and
divided internally is a country which is going to invite
trouble no matter how much it spends on defence. In fact.
the more it spends on defence, the less it has to spend on
its people. the weaker it becomes. Today Pakistan faces a
worsening solution on i ts borders and a worsening situa­
tion inside i ts borders. Society is being ripped apan.There
are bomb blasts in major cities. kidnappi ng have made
travel unsafe, Magsi force and other para military forces
have been let loose to create a reign of tenor. local offi­
cials arc pressed by the insecure puppets to indu lge in
petty acts of vendetta. Wi tness no less than the SP of
Jacobabad calling the PPP student s and offace bearers and
telling them shortly before Eid " I will make your life
miserable you will be forced to leave poli tics or become
bandits ... I am sorry to say that this terrible creature who
is bring i�g a bad name to the police was recruited during
the PPP government. We would like to see the police as

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guardians of the people, their protection and their

security, not as their oppressors and victimisers and to
that end we shall insist the police laws are followed to
the letter. Anyone violating the rules he is supposed to im­
plement will be suitably taken to task.

The security needs of Pakistan have aggravated during

Zia's rule. They will keep on aggravating while he is
there. No amount of Defence tax will shore up the Na­
tion's. Defence. What we need is a new approach, a new
policy, a new cofidence based on the strength of the
people. And for that we need to throw out Zia and re­
store peoples rule. It is no accident of history that
military rule always leads to devastation and that peoples
rule leads to vitality, growth, progress and strength.

The increase in price of petroleum, oil and lubricants is a

disastrous decision. It is going to lead to widespread in­
flation, from fertilisers to factory products. That the in­
cease in POL has come at a time when their prices have
fallen at an international level is cheating the people of
the relief they so richly deserve, ladies and gentlemen,
when the POL prices went up, it was the people who
were forced to bear the burden by increased prices. Now
that the POL prices have fallen, the PPP demands that the
relilef be passed on to the consumers. We believe that a
substantial drop in POL prices will lead to a drop in over­
all prices plus make more captial available to the investor
to invest in economic growth.

It is a cardinal belief of the PPP that benefits of any

resource s hould be substantially distributed amongst those
associated with the re source rather than the government
parasitically eating it all up in non-productive expendi­
ture. If the Badin oil fields make money, a suibstantial

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portion should be reinvested in Badin. If the Television

company makes profits of crores, it should be subtantially
reinvested in making a greater varie ty on programmes
and giving better bay to the dramaists, if the telephone
company makes profits, its money should be substantial­
ly reinvested in providing better telecommunication ser­
vices and if the POL pr i ces fall internationally. then the
benefit should go substantially to the u sers of POL
products. In that wayour economy wiU become more self
reliant and self sufficient rather than dependent on
vagaries of prices.

One cannot understand the hypocricy of this regime. Its

double standards are every where. When international
pr ices of POL fall then we are charged unfair higher
prices. Yet we are told that subsidies on fertilisers must
be withdrawn and we must pay international price for it.
It is not a just and equitous priniciple which guides the ac­
tions of this regime but simply the profit motive.
Squeeze and squeeze the people. Treat them like the
enemy. Starve them deny them, beat them torture them,
massacre them or imprison them. They treat the people
like enemy because they are not from the people. We
want democracy so that there is people rule and the
peoples of our country are treated like the ·masters of this
country. where they are respected served and given
security by the government rather than being treated like
the enemy. The rulers should b�ware of their anti-people
policies before the rage of the people sweeps them away
in fury. History is replete with such examples.
The PPP believes strongly in freedom, equality and
democracy. Our clarion call given by Shaheed Zulfikar
Ali B hutto awoke generations of Pakistanis motivating
them to seek their rights and to redeem the lives from in­
justice and exploitation. Yes we believe in democracy.

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Those who oppose democracy oppose the people. In so

doing they sin against the land which gave them brith and
which alone can give them respect.

Honourable members, when you want to poison rat, you

do not say come here rat and eat this poison. You dis­
guise the poison in something which is tempting, which
will lure the rat into eating it. So too w ith those who op­
pose democracy.They do not say we support dictatorship
they do not say we are the agents of the Generals. they
do not say we have sold our people for ministries and for
jobs. They try to wrap the betrayal in sweet words. They
talk of nationalisms . They talk of Sindh and they praise
those who have robbed and bled Sindh, who have caused
death and destruction for Sindh. Their betrayl is the
poison which they wrap in tempting forbidden fruite. But
they deceive no one.

Honourable members, these same people opposed

Shaheed Bhutto and now oppose his daughter. These
same people praise the murderers of Shaheed Bhutto and
the oppressors of our people. But they deceive no one.

We talk of democracy and proudly so. To talk of of

democracy is to talk of the redemption of the people of
Sindh and indeed the people of Baluchistan, Sarhad and
Punjab. If we cannot serve Sindh then how will the other
provinces trust us to serve them with integrity and hones­
ty. We serve all with equity and with justice. We do not
believe in exploitation of one province, one area, one race
at the expense of another. We are the ones who put an
end to exploitation yesterday and we are the one who will
put an end to exploitation tomorrow Our opponents are
the one who supported the suppression of Sindh--and in­
deed of the other provinces during every military regime.

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One who does not love his people, cannot love his land.
One who eats with the killers and plunderers of his
people, cannot weep for his land.

The biggest advances for Sind.h came during the

democratic era.. Before chat there were hardly any
Sindhis in school s. in police, in judiciary, in civil service,
in foreign service, in autonomous bodies. People walked
barefoot and shirtless. There were no roads, hospitals.
factories. Sindh was colonized and exploited. It was
democracy which gave Sindh its due place in the federar­
tion, its pride and sense of purpose. And when Sindh ad­
vanced, it was not at the expense of other provinces. The
other provinces also blossomed and bloomed. There was
bee-hive activity of growth everywhere. Who can deny
that before the democratic order Karachi was like an alien
town for Sindhis? the best eductational institutes doors
were dosed for them. Lucrative jobs at Customs and In­
come Tax had invisible No Entrance Doors for them.
Water logging and salinity ate up their lands and the lives
of the people were miserable.

I can proudly say it was through democracy that Sindh ad­

vanced and I can proudly say that all the federatring units
of Pakistan advanced through democracy. Once again,
when PPP heads a democartic government in this countty
with your support, prayers and blessing, you will see
Sindh prospers, its youth prosper, its women have dig­
nity, its intellectuals have stature. And not only S indh,
wherever the exploited and oppressed are, wherever the
discriminated and the deprived are, the PPP will come to
their aid. Our policies will be based for the benefits of
our people and our society and not for ourselves or for
the ru ling classes.

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Sindh today faces pressing problems. Some of these in­

clude unemployment of Doctors and Engineers not to
speak of the others, Cantonments at Pano Aquil and
Hyderabad (where even the dead are not being spared)
and Kalabagh Dam, overdue promotion for Sindhi civil
servants. steps to save over one hundred thousand acres
of land threatened every year with water logging and
salinity, factories and mills to provide employment to
labour. All these problems can be tackeled through
democracy and through representative role. Democracy
is the solution. To oppose democracy is to collaborate
with those pursuing policies to the detriment of Sindh and
through it of Federation.

We do not want to waste our time spouting meaningless

slogans which only provide a pretext for funher exploita­
tion. We have raised the banner of democracy. we have
given the rallying cry for representative rule. we have
shed our blood and given of our liberty, we have
sacrificed our happiness so that the day may dawn when
you can say No to descrimination. No to oppression, No
to Anny operations.No to militarization. No to Kalabagh
Dam. We want the day when Sindh can take its place
with pride of purpose in the Federation of Pakistan
through a democratic order, when all the exploited and
dicriminated of the four provinces can join together in en­
ding the divide and rule policies and building a lasting
relationship on the basis of equity and justice.

1 have no words of condemnation strong enough for those

kill the youth in University campuses. who put an �nd to
the brightest and the best. who not only snuff out a life
but snuff out the candle of the hope of our future. You
will remember that when Ba.ngladesh fell. there was a
plan to herd together the intellectuals and kill them so as

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to maim the future of Bangladesh. This is a common prac­

tice throughout the his tory of conquering armies. To
wipe out dissent, leadership, political activities� creative
ideas, the talented and the intelligent are marked out for
elimination. We have seen the s ame policies in the last
ten years. The political wings of the General in the cam­
puses have been armed with kalishnikove and protection
from the state to eliminate the best and the brighte�t
amongst our youth, to deny our land of their talents and
their abilities. These henchmen of the j unta chief who
have carried out the heinuous crimes will never be for­
given by our people. I condemn them in the strongest
terms while saluting the valour and courage of the brave
youth of our land who have dauntlessly opposed tyranny
with bare hands, who have refused to succumb to threats
and death , who have lived for their ideas their dreams
and their hopes of a free society, of an egalitarian society,
of a democratic society. The youth are the promise of the
country. They are the strength of the party, they are the
power of the people and they are my honour and my
pride. I have lost many young brothers , the Federation
has lost many young warriors, but there have always been
other to boldly step forward to fill the vacuum, to turn
grief into determination to continue the battle of Shaheed
B hutto against the Tyrants, the agents of Fauji rule itself.
We believe countries need armies of commensuarate with
their recquirement but we don 't . believe that armies
should conquer their own countries.

Finally I would like to say something about registration.

No democratic country has such a despotic law. Here the
nominee of the Chief Usurper who excuted the leader of
the Nation' s largest political party has the power to
decide whom to register and w hom not to register. How
can the PPP have confidence in such a law? We know we

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will be· registered now. However, on the eve of the elec­

tions. we will be deregistered, disqualified for twelve
years and imprisoned for seven. What a convenient way
to eliminate the political rivals whom the General is too
cowardly to face in the political field.

The regime is at great pains to stress that there are no ul­

terior motive to the despotic registration law, that the ap­
prehensions of the MRD are unfounded. If this is so, we
would like the Registration to apply equally to all the
political parties, including Zia's party the Muslim
League. A law should apply to all equally. Either the
Registration should favour and punish all equally or it
should be disbanded altogether. It was very strange to
see that we who has complied with the Registration
claused by submitting our accounts were not favoured
with a Presidential ordinance eliminating part of Registra­
tion which is in violation of both the Constitution of 1973
and fundamental human rights. But the Muslims League
which violated by the Registration law by becoming mem­
bers of Muslims League before it was registered were
saved the benvolence of a Presidential Ordinance.

The Registration Law very cleary states that a party must

be deregistered if it indulges in any act which would have
justtified refusal of registration. That means that if a
party has failed merely to hold election of a tehsil office
bearer, it should be deregistered. Honourable members,
the Muslim League was registered in the grounds that it
would hold its elections by March 1 987 which was a year
after its official formation. However, we are into June
and they have still not held elections. They have violated
the Registration law. We demand of the Election Com­
missioner not to pay ducks and darkes but to let the law
take its course. After all it is a law authored by the Mus-

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lims League and they should be fJ.rSt to s ubmit to it. For­

get tehsil level elections. they h ave. failed to hold any
e lections. We demand action under the said Registration
Law. According to the Registration Law, the Chief Elec­
tion Commissioner is compelled to deregister them.
Deregistration means they are not qualified to hold
publ ic office. Therefore, there should be byelection to
all the seats held by Muslims Leagurs. The deregistration
law funher says that the officebarers will have to spend
several years doing rigorous imprisonment. Hence, ac­
cording to their handmade registration law, the Chief
Election Commissioner should send the Prime Minister,
the four Chief Ministers and all office bearers of Muslim
League where they belong under the Registration Law--in
prison doing rigorous imprisonment.

The PPP does not believe in imprisonment of political

workers, no matter what its ideological enmity, Nor does
the PPP believe in the Registration Law. Either the
Registration Law should be repeated or if it is not then its
procedure should aply not only to PPP but also to the
Muslim League. We demand of the EJection Commis­
sioner to de-register Muslim League, hold bye-elections
and send their office holders to prison. This is the law.

This farce of a military democracy has gone far enough.

General Zia pulled all the strings. His nominated Prime
Minister does not even know when foreign ships dock in
our pons as in the case of the US ship "Enterprise".
Zia' s nominated Prime Minister only learnt of it after it
has been visited by Zia himself. He is not even consulted
before Zia goes on major foreign trips as during the
Jaipur Peace initiative. His advice is considered so poor
as is that of the Parliment, that "intellectL·e:.:s are invited
to guide the General. When a speech i.: made at Glas-

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 17S

gow, the PM is suitable rapped on his knuckles and has

to make a contrite admission before Parliament.

People wonder why I do not attack the PM. Why should

the PPP attack a man who has no constituency. We feel
sorry for him. He is out of his depth. He is surrounded
by people giving him contrary advice. Whatever, he talks
about is leaked, from his shopping list to his loneliness
which has prompted him to plead with officials not to
leave Islamabad for home provinces. He is caught i n a
difficult situation. He is caught in nut cracker, with one
side made of military and the other of spiritual. The Mus­
lim League is not a political party, anyhow, it is for him
to determine his own future. We have nothing personal
against him. However, we are politically and ideological­
ly opposed to all that Gen. Zia symbolises. We are deter­
mined to put an end to his tyrannical rule which has ex­
ploited our people and undermined our Federation.

The Pakistan Peoples Party is the voice of the oppressed

and the discriminated. No matter what the price , this
Voice cannot be silenced There is no mountain high
enough, no bridge narrow enough, no obstacle big enough
which we do not have the courage to cross in the battle to
redeem our people from poveny. exploitation, hunger, ter­
ror and i ndignity.

Our support, our strength, our determi nation comes from

you and from aU others who share with us our ideals, our
hopes. our dreams and the truly Federal, Democratic and
Egalitarian Pakistan we are determined to build.

Thank you .

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 1'11

MAGNITUDE
OF CRISIS
(Address to Parliamenrry Opposition Group on 1 1 .6. 1987)

Ladies, Gentlemen and Party Colleagues.

It is my privilege tonight to attend the dinner of the Par­

liamentary Opposition Group i n honour of the PPP's
democratic s truggle .In extending the invitation, the
P.O.G. rose above personal pride. In accepting it, the
PPP reciprocated the sentiment. We have had fierce and
better diffemces in the past. Perhaps we will have dif­
ferences in future too. It i s not the differences which
count. What counts i s that each of us tonight, in our own
way and by our own proce sse s is declaring that the

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present set up is unacceptable to the people and detrimen­

tal to the Federation. Despite the differences in our
programmes or background we are o ne in declaring th at
sovereignity belongs to the masses. Their decision is
final. Let t he voice of Repression be silenced. Let the
voice of the People be heard It i s this voice which can
.

give life to our Country, vitalise it, unite i t and motivate

it to great heights of National Pride, self respect and
progress.

Ahhough t he Pakistan Peoples Party, with the other com­

ponents of the MRD.does not recognise the present Parlia­
ment nonetheless PPP has always conceded that there
was a role which could ·be played and that role was the
role of a bridge or a stepping stone. Why the PPP does
not recognise Parliament:

a. Martial Law Umbrella

b. Disqualification of candidates

c. Arrest warrants 1985

d. Loud Speakers

e. Boycott an offence

f. The 1 979 election and its postponement same for 1 985

g. Malefides of Gen. Zia did not give us confidence to

take part

h. Suspicions conftrmed with :

i. Hanging of Nasir Baloach

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ii. Hanging of Ayaz Samoo

iii. Throwing the Constitution to Rubber Stamp

iv. Refusing to give a date for lifting of Manial Law

until the murder of Shah Nawaz Bhuno

v. Validating all acts of Manial Law, even those

which had not taken place.

vi. Removal of Sindh Speaker. Not Assistant

Speaker.

vii. Passing of the Ordinance.

viii.Blatant violation of Registration by Muslim

League

ix. Calling of Intellectuals

x. Childish war of who was responsible for "peace"

with India while Siachin remains with them while
travJ.ers are being seized.

I do not know what expectations you had of this Parlia­

ment. But the fact that tonight we are here together does
imply that those expectations have not been met and the
scope of consensus on the solution to the crisis we face
has been enlarged.

I remember in 1 98 1 when the PPP and components of the

PNA came together in the MRD. It was a difficult
decision. They had been Ministers in Zia's Cabinet while
we had slept on prison floors and faced the hangman 's
noose. During the debate on the issue, we decided to rise

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above th e past s o w e could build the future. I remember

the Senior Vice-Chairman of the PPP declaring that when
Mao Tse Tung and Sun Yet Sen could work togather
despite their ideological differences on common points
then we too must go ahead with cooperation too. Since
198 1 , we have done so. We have faced the qnslaught of
the military regime and its civilian facade together. And
we have always explored cooperation within the ambit of
our principles and our goals.

Despite that. there may be some. who will ask how the
PPP has accepted the invitation of those who passed the
Eighth Amendment despite your recent statement on its
nullification. I would like to state that the PPP does not
pass judgements. It is for the people of the Counuy and
for history to pass judgement Who are we to see into
the motivation of others? We accept on face value and in
good faith for we believe that Time and its passage is the
best judge. Each one of us makes our own record and
people will judge us on that. Who could have imagined
we would have shared prison cells with fomer P.N.A.
ministers of Zia's cabiet? But we did. This does not
mean I am asking you to prepare for prison although the
legislators from Sindh have already had a dose of police
brutality and lock up. B ut I see the initiation rites have
already begun with the non- availability of hotels, the
opening of income tax cases and the cancelling of farm
leases.

Democracy requires committment; it requires courage; it

requires clarity of thought, perseverance, patience,
tolerance, faith, determination, dedication. These are not
words. These are values. I remember the message of a
simple song, money cdannot buy you a satisfied mind." A
sense of purpose, of rising beyond oneself towards the

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highest ideals and public goals, does give that satisfaction

and pride of exsistence. After all, death must come to
all. It is not death which matters. It is life which matters
and the way we have led it.

It is said that Martial Law has been lifted. And yet the
Chief of Army Staff calls himself President. It is true
that military courts have been disbanded to mitiagte the
discontent of the people. But the victims of military
courts still languish behind prison walls. Special
Tribunal have been fonned to victimise political dissen­
tors. Political activities are targeted as brutally today as
yesteday.

Isqbal Hisbani was murdered in cold blood in a Univer­

sity Campus. He was a young and handsome boy, full of
courage and determi nation . With him Jahangir Pathan
was shot. He is paralysed today because of a police bul­
let. During the PPP govemmen� an FIR could be filed
against the Prime Minister of the country, even if it was a
false claim. Today. an FIR cannot be filed against
junjors even when it is a true claim. Having destroyed
this young boy ' s life. the authorities have not made any
contribution for his health, his livelihood or his depen­
dants. No wonder the Quran repeatedly warns Muslims
to beware of hypocrites.

In Lahore, young Ghulam Abbas went to celebrate In­

dependence day. He was shot and is paralysed neck
down. The authorities have not m ade any contribution
for his recovery, physiotherapy or livelihood.

Amongst the guests tonight is the PPP President from

Nawabshah, Sakrand incident:

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B ullets through Quran Shareef

Tiuown amongst corpses.

Also amongst us is a boy. Dawood :-

PSF incident Multan

From Jacobabad -- Lala Ejaz

22 cases

SP's threat -- dacoit

Rasheeda Panhwar -- Mehar -- Ladies procession

Qamar Abbas -- torture -- given up for dead -- abused

President of Punjab -- jailed by Yahya Khan -- whipped

by Zia

I am proud of all my brothers and sisters. They have

faced trial and tribulations for the sake of freedom . dig­
nity, opportunity. equality, rule of law. They have won
badges of honour in the field.

There are more badges to be won by those who dare.

Dare to stand up and defy an opressive and unjust sys­
tem , dare to stand up for the discriminated and the dispos­
sessed. Dare to stand up for their motherland.

Today we shed tears for the Muslims of Meerut, mus­

lims should always feel for muslims. we share a common
heritage. B ut have we no tears to shed when muslims kill
muslims? When lhe streets of Karachi flow with blood?

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When the fields of Thaheem , Birhamani, Maachi and Jam

bear the blood stains of innocents? When the villages of
Pakhtoons are mercilessly bombed. When the homes of
Afridis are demolished. When born b blasts rip apart
young lives old and in Markets. trains. and other public
places?

We pretend to be great believers. We pretend to be

Momins. Yet we take ourselves our fam ilies and our
friends to Haj at government expense. We make vows in
Kaaba and think nothing of violating its sanctity by break­
ing them. We permit the Alam of Hazrat Abbass to be
desecrated in Khisano Mori, we permit security forces, to
raid Badshahi Mosque and Lyari while the faithful bend
insubmission before God. We mob the Masjid in
Maachi, we shed blood in the mo sq ue of Gopang. we
wound villagers in Naseerabad on Eid Day, we violate
the sanctity of the Quran Sharif in Goth Thaheem. Then
we say we are great Muslims. They deceive no one but
themselves.

I am glad to have the opponunity to give an appraisal of

the PPP' s views on the Martial Law of Zia and its
Civilian offspring.

The PPP cannot accept the subversion of the Constitution,

the fraudulent Referendum or a system where all the bar­
baric acts of persecution, victimization, injustice, murder
and violation of human rights. including the right to liber­
ty have been institutionalised. The PPP is a member of
the most vigorous and popularmovement for the Restora­
tion of Democarcy. The workers and leaders of the MRD
haver also struggled with us since 1 98 1 .

Let us examine the MAGNITUDE OF TilE CRISIS.

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From the subversion of the Constitution, to the rupture of

the citizen's domestic peace; from the uninhibited dis­
semination of heroin, to the legalised robbing of the Pakis­
tani banks called "written-off loans; " from the conver­
sion of the police services of Pakistan into a mechanical
monster, to the inconceivable depreciation of the rupee;
from the ravaging of Pakistan's economy to the pulverisa­
tion of her polity; there is a total mess, total confusion
and near anarchy.

The Constitution of 1 973 which is, in fact, the Con stitu­

tion of Pakistan, was the product of a unique and un­
precedented national consensus. It obtained what had
seemed un-attainable throughout the history of this
country. Consensus continued to elude constitution­
makers from Independence to the constitution of 1973.
Constitutional frame-work of Pakistan were, in fact,
among the important causes of the tragic break up of the
country in 197 1 .

The Pakistan Peoples Party inherited a nation that was

defeated and demoralised. The trauma of the break-up
was in itself sufficient to create a wide-spread feeling of
despair and utter despondency.

Yet within four months of the PPP take-over the Interim

Constitution had unanimously been adopted. It paved the
way, after exhaustive debate deliberatrion and reflection,
for the unanimous adoption of the 1973 Constitution.
This was a � moment in the history of Pakistan. It was
a new beginning. All national political parties repre­
sented in Parliament, and actually embodying the will of
the people of all the four provinces of the Federation,
without dissent, opted for a truly democratic, parliamen­
tary and federal system of government.

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On July 5, 1977 under the cover of a dark night, Zia took

the first major step to suben the Constitution. He went
on to imprison, flog and torture its adherents. He mur­
dered the elected Prime Minister of Pakistan. He
smothered all nation-building institution including the
judiciary and the political parties. He throttled the press
by indiscriminate use of Martial Law Regul ations. In
1985, Zia finally discarded all pretence and abrogated the
Constitution of Pakistan. He replaced the Constitution of
Pakistan with the Constitution of 1985.

The Constitution of Pakistan had provided for a sovereign

and independent Parliament did not elect Zia. His "elec­
tion" is alleged, as per Article 4 1 (7). to have come about
in the FRAUDULENT REFERENDUM of December 19,
1984. We all know the turn-out on that day. Of it even
the prominent Jarnmat-e-Islami leader Chaudhery Ghulam
Jilani whose Party had taken part in the Referendum . was
moved to say.

.:;- J.!t_, if j � _, J.l

:G;)fL�.,J:-..;_,
Habib Jalib's refrain became the popular jingle on the
fraud:

L)2r(L--? If"'-"": .Y'

/t
..
l.<i (AI·�� �. ,; d':
•

.P

Like President, like Prime Minister, Mr. Junejo was also

not elected by Parliament. He was appointed by General
Zia.

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Parliamentary soverignty is inherent in Parliament•s

ability to choose the head of Government. Under the
constitution of Pakistan, the National Assembly was em­
powered to ELECf the Prime Minister. Under the con­
stitution of 1 985 the President. "in his discretion." AP­
POINTS the Prime Minister. Under the Constitution of
Pakistan the Prime Minister was to "continue to hold of­
fice until his successor entered upon the office of Prime
Minister." Under Zia•s Constitution the Prime Minister is
to hold office ..during the pleasure of the PresidenL"

1be independence of Parliament has been funher denuded

by vesting in the President the discretionary power to dis­
solve the National Assembly without, or e ven contrary to,
advice of the leader of the House.
Finally by merging offices of Chief of Anny Staff and
President of Pakistan, Parliament has bee n subordinated
to the arbitrary will of the military commander. This is a
clear violation of article 243 of Constitution of Pakistan
which had provided that "the Federal Government
shall have control and command of the Anned Forces."'
Now we have a Prime Minister appointed by his own
Chief of Anny Staff and a Parliament that can "constitu­
tionally" be dissolved by that same anny commander.
Imagine the discomfiture of a Prime Minister appointed
by his own "subordinate." Imagine, also, the impudence
of the subordinate who is, in another capacity. the supe­
rior of his own superior! or is he the subordinate of his
own subordinate'? Only Hassan nisar truly understand the
�
Zia system and its unbleieveab)e paradoxes hen he says.

�jtJt,�AJU(J, Ji�v;{s;�·0:�;1
The Eighth Amendment Act was an endorsement. m sub­
stantial and meterial particulars, of Zia's Presidential
Order No: 14 of 1 985 deceptively called the "President's
Revival of the Constitution of 1973, Order, 1985." In

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actual fact it was Zia's Abrogation of the Constitution of

Pakistan Order, 1985."

Zia has subverted the Constitution of Pakistan despite the

fact that he had taken oath under it Reflect, for a mo­
ment, upon the oath that Zia took within the terms of Ar­
ticle 244 of the Constitution of Pakistan (1973). The
precise words weR:

"1, Major General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq. do solemnly

swear that I will bear true faith and allegience to Pakistan
AND UPHOLD TilE CONSTITUTION of the Islamic
republic of Pakistan which embodies the will of the
people, THAT I WlLL NOT ENGAGE MY SELF IN
ANY POLITICAL AcriVITIES WHATSOEVER and
that I will honestly and faithfully serve Pakistan -in the
Pakistan Army AS REQUIRED BY AND UNDER TilE
LAW.

The MRD does not concede to Zia 's Parliament any

authority to amend, less so to abrogate, the Constitution
of Pakistan. The mere and mistake claim to a repre­
sentative status is utterly misconceived. This claim can
also be preferred by power to AMEND the Constitution?
Obviously not. This power can be derived only from a
specific mandate from the people. Zia's Parliament has
obtained no such constitutional mandate.

The merger of the offices of President of Pakistan and

Chief of Army Staff in one person is a grievous subver­
sion of the Pakistan ARMY. It impedes other, more
deserving and thoroughly profe ssional officers from
taking the ultimate fruit of their dedicated career: promo­
tion to higher ranks. I am sure that the Pakistan Army is
not so starved of men of calibre that there is none who

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can relieve General Zia of the onerous task of chief of

Army Staff. It is simply General Zia•s maniacal obses·
sion with power, and graving sense of insecurity born out
of the awareness of his own un-popu larity, that compels
him to hang on to that office. Zia, in fact, continues to
hold tight the office of COAS because it empowers hi m
to use Army personnel for the application of his own nar­
row and self-centred policies. He has thus used the
Armed Forces of Pakistan to inflict un- im aginable suffer­
i ng upon her citizens. The sound of the whip lash
revemerate in the ears of Pakistani youth. Mil i tary Court
verdicts have sent countless others to jail to be held in in­
human fetters. Men and women, have been tortured in in­
terrogation centres. The scars of the brutal Army action
in the province of Sindh · remain. Thori Phattak, Tayyab
Thaheem , Ahmed Brahamani , are not just names. They
are the new symbols of death

In every grave natioanl crisis the citizens of Pakistan

have stood fmnly by their bretheren in t he Armed Forces.
They will do so again. But in time when separatist and
centrifugal elements receive patronage and vigo ur from
the regime itseJ f, more than ever, it becomes difficult to
defend the role of any institution drawn mostly from only
one region or provinc e. The task becomes well nigh im­
possi ble when that institution is employed by an un­
popular regime merely citizens to regard the soldier with
less respect than is his due.

The Pakistan Peopte•s Party in fact, take pride in having

rebuilt the defence forces after the humiliation to which
an Army junta had led them in 197 1 . We are, therefore.
in a position to condemn the humiliation that General
Zia' i l l advi sed policies invite upon them every passing
-

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day. Does he not humiliate
them when having himself
contributed to remain friend
with its leaders when he
blithely withdrawn from the entire salient of the
Siachen Glacier? He allowed it to go. he says, for "even
grass does not grow on it." This grotesque reasoning had
cxompelled me to ask: does it grass grow on Pakistan' s
prestigious K-2? Or for that matter i n Cholistan? Does
even grow in the banquet hall of the Presidency in Is­
lamabad? Did grass grow in the 5000 square mil es
of Shakargarh which had been trampled by Indian tanks
in 197 1 ? Did the government of the Pakistan Peoples
party abandon its claim to that sacred soil? Ladies and
gentlemen, it is impossible to accept the absurd and self­
defeating expanse of General Zia's eccentric logic. It
only demeans the forces of Pakistan.

The policies pursued by General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq

have already caused damage not merely to the Anned For­
c-es of Pakistan. but to the FEDERATION itself. Pursued
further they will undo the Federation.

Even those who look at this tragic process as outsiders

will not find any comfort in their distance and detach­
ment. May God make this counuy strong and
prosperous, but a disintegrating Federation will bring in
its wake diabolical instability. This instability is likely to
envelope the entire region. Neither the Sub-Continent,
nor the Gulf region will remain immune from its fall-out.

The state-sponsored profusion on the Kalashinkov has rep­

tured the peace of the domestic-hold. Like heroin, it is a
peculiar exclusively of the Zia regime. Zia-s era will be
known as the DECADE OF DRUGS AND DACOITS.
This will. of course, include the seem ingly legalised
dacoities and plunder of the elite.

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 1 90

The profusion of licensed and unlicensed anns has caused

a complete break-down of law and order. Never has he
been so criminally exoposed to the extortion of the high­
wayman, or the gory under-takings of the "Hammer
Group." The brutal elimination of Fazil Rahoo, and Al­
lama Zaheer; the conspiracy to eliminate the Chair-person
of Pakistan's largest plitical party; the Magsi attack on in­
nocent residents of Gopang village; the bomb blasts in
schools and cinemas of Peshawar and, in the bazaars and
bus-stands of Rawalpindi are all testimonies to this
brutalisation of civil society in Pakistan.

They also testify to one other important fact. The state

apparatus has completely abdicated from its primary func­
tions of maintaining law and order, and providing protec­
tion and justice to Pakistani citizen. To this extent the
state apparatus has become defunct; it does not exist.

The apparatus does, of course, exi st to protect the

V.VJ.Ps from all execpt the television cameras. No less
than Rs: 2 million were spent last year in the Punjab on
the more security of a handful of top government
functionaries. One report has claimed that 90% of Pun­
jabi Policemen are engaged in ensuring the security of
their "popular" Chief Minister and his colleagues. I may
add that the 10% remaining are engaged in taking "law"
into their own hands and inflicting upon the citizens a bru­
tal and inhuman "order." So dependent has the State, in
Zia's time, become upon the police that the latter has
won for itself a praetorian immunity from accountability.
Who has not seen the picture of the Kamoke youth
striped naked by helmeted policemen on the main grand
trunk road? Who has not read reports of torture, death
and amputation of the lim bs of prisoners like Wazir Khan
Laghari, in the Police stations and jails of Pakistan? Who

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can forget the angui sh on the face of the bearded old man
being throttled and dragged by a platoon of riot police?
Who will not remember the images of youth, tied to
stocks and being flogged? Or of dead bodies disfigured
by bullets and allegedly killed in "police encoumters'"l
And what the Nawabpur ladies, stripped and paraded by
policemen in public? Has any of those responsible been
brought to justice? Have these issues been taken up and
resolved either by Zia or his Parliament? The truth,
ladies and gentlemen. is that unrepresentative and emascu­
lated political institutions can guarantee no account­
ability. As Sheikh Sadi once said:

The police in the Punjab and the Anny in Sindh have

been given the licence to kill. The so-called "police en­
counters" have so completely eroded the credibility of
this organisation that even when hardened criminal die at
its hands, there i s substantial suspicion that the whole "en­
counter" was fake. Yet this "law and order" concern will
eat up Rs: 2.24 billion from the State's revenues in 1987-
88, not to talk of the m any more billiona that it will
squeeze out of the i mpoverished citizens.

The narrow self-serving i nterests of the regime also

govern its handling of Pakistan's economy. The
praetorian state pennits its min ions to plunder so long as
they continue to unquestioningly support Ceasar.

Never has this country ' s wealth been plundered in the

manner it has been under Gen. Zia. Never before has the
nation 's wealth been squandered with such impunity and
abandon. After-all which Prime Minister could spend a

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sum of 2 million on one visit to the United Kingdom ?

Whoever took a regiment of 101 companions on this
pleasure trip to Xanadu ? who could keep a wide bodied
PIA jet grounded at Heathrow for 1 1 full days ? Whose
pany could pay a 75,000 bill for the hire of 50 limousines
alone ?

Foreign tours are only one among many expenditure ex­

travaganzas. A mere five-hour Prime Ministerial trip to
Jhang cost Rs: 3.5 million. The Gilgit escapada has cost
many times more.

The federal budget announced last week establishes that

over the past eight years alone the cost of the State' s es­
tablishment has multiplied four folds, doubling every
second year. The State apparatus, the bureaucratic elite,
is obsessed with spending obscenely on its own retainers.
No other poor country can have so many luxury
limousines at the disposal of the barons of administration
and the public sector. No other developing country can
place at their disposal means of such luxurious living as
is enjoyed by our senior civil servants and administrators.
The princely life-style of top bosses impells their less for­
tunate and subordinate colleagues to take to CORRUP­
TION.

The budget speech betrays many cancers and inconsisten­

cies. But the State Bank report that preceded the Budget
by a few months is slighty more candid. So gigantic and
palpable has this economic sector, (if we may call it that)
become that Gen. Zia could set- up a new m inistry to
look after it. It could be named the "Ministry for Bribery
and smuggling". I could also suggest some names from
amongst his associates for the post, but that must remain
his prerogative. Out of a GNP of Rs: 82 billion, or almost

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one-sixth of the whole. Come to think of it, it might re­

quire .two ministers, or even a Deputy Prime Minister !

Tied up smuggling are imports. 8 oth indicate our fatal

dependence upon foreign manufactures. The country has
deliberately been hooded to imports. And it has been
mortgaged in the process. Its balance of payments has
been wrecked. Imports over Rs : 90 billion are more than
twice our export at Rs: 40 billion. Spiralling foreign debt
is the natural and inesca,pable outcome. It has been ac­
quired with a wanton disregard for national interest. In
the first thirty years (by 1977) Pakistan had acquired an
external debt of US.$ 6.3 billion. In the past decade
alone it has been burdened with an additional $ 10 bil­
lion. Mr. Wattoo's budget now admits an annual debt­
servicing bill 30% of the total GNP. Debt service pay­
ments consume 4 1 % of the earnings of our exports.

Importers, even at the risk of acquiring such an un­

bearable debt liability, have been designedly m ade to
spiral in geometric progression. To a large extent these
go directly into the consumption sector. Consumerism
has been deliberately encouraged in a calculated effort to
de-politicise the nation. The State's interest have been
staked to secure the narrow interests of the regime. Pakis­
tan is one of the few desperate countries where out of a
Rs: 522 billion GNP, Rs: 49 1 billion were consumed in
1986. In the words of an Islamabad Editor.

The economy is barely kept afloat "by bonwing our­

selves sick."

Can any body in his right mind call this a stable

economy? Now even the Minister of Planning is on
record having admitted that the strategy for mobilising

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resources visualised under the ill- fated Sixth Five Year

Plan has fallen flat on its face.

When saving have been consumed, and resources

mobilisation is beyond the capacity of an unpopular elite,
it is comp elled to place all its reliance upon ex­
propriatrion of the citizen's own meagre savings. With in­
creases in the prices of motor gasoline, kerosine oil, high­
speed diesel, furnace oil, natural gas, electric energy and
telephone calls, the piratical hand of a brutal s tate ap­
paratus reaches out to strip the citizen of hard- earned
fruits of his labour and the security of his children. Then
there is the impo�ition of the DEFENCE TAX. This will
have another negative .effect. It will raise a wall of bitter­
ness and antagonism between the people and their own
brothers in the Armed Forces of Pakistan. It has already
sent a wave of discontent among the lower-income
groups. they are very back-bone of the support of the
Anny. It is this back-bone which is directly, and ex­
scl usivelyaffected by any indirect tax. Importers,
manufacturers and traders conveniently pass the burden
on to the consumer. Prices rise. Galloping inflation
depletes the value of the currency at home and abroad.

The disastrous result are visible in the depleted value of

the Pakistani rupee. In the last five years alone it has fal­
len by 80% against the U.S. dollar, by more than 100%
against the Deutsche Mark and almost 170% against the
Japanese yen.

Pakistan' s grim economic outlook, ladies and gentlemen,

is not the only manifestation of the ineptitude of the
regime. The incompetent manner in which it has handled
the Afghan situation has made Pakistan' s northern border
the most prous and insecure in the entire region. And

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 19S

AWACS are no answer. They will not be able to prevent,

or predicts the bomb blasts that shake our cities today.
They will not be able to stop the movement of Heroin
and the Kalashinkov rifle under the patronage of the
regime and its retainers. The Zia regime has the dubious
distinction of introducing both to this country.

We all know the HEROIN was unknown to Pakistanis

until 1 98 1 . This is testified by the U.S. Drug Enforce­
ment Administration and the International Narcotics Con­
trol Board. Yet, by the end of 1 982 there were SO,OOO
heroin addicts in Pakistan. Today the figure has spiralled
to 2 million. There are said to be 20.000 addicts in Liyari
alone. Pakistan has the rare honour of being the world's
largest exponer of heroin The United States alone
receives 3 metric tons of it with love from Zia's ad­
ministration, A befitting return for the American largesse
bestowed upon him.

The regime's involvement in the traffic is obvious. Only

the blind can pretend not having seen the criminal hand.
Why else would the relatives of a Finance M.i nister and a
governor be discovered as participants in the trade ? Why
else would Major Zahoor-ud-din and Flight Lt. Rehman
be allowed to "escape" from the maximum security
quaner-guard in Malir Cantonment in October and
November last year, despite their having been caught
with 420 kilos of pure heroin? Why else were no drug
pedlars even tried by any military court during the eight
brutal years of Martial Law 7 Why has no mafia boss
been brought to justice so far ?

This i s only one of the many questions that can be asked.

But the essential truth is that at a time when the fear of
civil strife stalks our cities, at a ti me when adventurists

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elements anned with extremist slogans and disintegration

; at a time when a military leader, a self proclaimed cus­
todian of the interests of state, relinquishes claim to vast
tracts of the countty ' s sacred land; at a time when the cof­
fers of this great country have been depleted by an avari­
cious and degenerate elite; and at a time when the state
apparatus has itself become the primary vehicle of bar­
barism and obscurantism; at such a time, more than ever,
it is the duty of every citizen to stand up and be counted
as an uncompromising ally of truth, justice and the
democratic way of life.

Members of the Pakistan Peoples Pany have always

stood up to be counted in this most urgent duty towards
our countty and i ts peopJe. That is why for an entire
decade Gen. Zia and his confederates have focussed all
the brutality available to them upon us. We have con­
tinued to struggle resolutely for the restoration of
democracy and of the Constitution of Pakistan. Neither
bullets nor c hains, neither the gallows or the torture cham­
bers can deter us from this struggle. They have inflicted
the injuries. We have had the capacity to sustain and over­
come them. Ours is the sacred task. Ours is a historic des­
tiny.

We will never allow our own personal grievances to tip

the golden scales of justice. The value of the inde­
pendent and unbiased judicial process is known to those
who have repeatedly encountered a brutal denial of due
process. Endless and unending terms in jail have taught
us the value of liberty. From life in exile we have ac­
quired a passionate and consuming love for our home­
lr.nd.

Time i n its fullness has shown the righteousness of our

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cause. I remember those long and lonely days when we

waged a solitary struggle for the people against the ex­
ploitation of their lives. Time with its ruthlessness time
with its single-mindedness, slowly ripped apart the
veneers to reveal the ugly and brutal reality. Time stands
still for no one. Like a river it moves on sometimes silent­
ly, sometimes restlessly, sometimes in h igh flood.

No one can stop the tidal wave of the people.

And as the clarion sounds, let all Pakistan' s sons and

daughters, hear the call and respond to it. The future chal­
lenges us. Let us rise to meet tha! challenge and trans­
fonn the destiny of ravaged land and its ravaged people.

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 1 98

FINGER ON
THE TRIGGER
(Speech at a receplion given by Qazi Abdul Ghmti on 7. 7. 1987)

On July 5, 1977, the popularly elected government of

the People of Pakistan was overthrown in the darkness of
night in a coup d•etat. The coup d'etat not only meant
that the General had broken his solemn oath to the Con­
stitution but it also meant that power had been usurped
by the Chief of Staff from the people.

Since 1 977 the PPP and subsequently the MRD have

been struggling to put an end to Anny Rule and restore
the sovereignty of the people.

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When the patience of the people ran out and military dic­
tatorship became unacceptable, Gen. Zia put up a civilian
facade with the purpose of buying a few more years. It is
quite obvious that the civilian regime has no option but to
permit the Armed Forces of Pakistan to retain an
autonomy that is neither sanctioned by the Constitution,
nor it is in the larger interests of the State. Despite the
fact that Anicle 243 of the Constitution provides that the
Federal Government shall have the " control and com­
mand on the Armed Forces ", they remain an autonomous
and independent corporate entity.

To use them solely as a vehicle for his own personal

power Gen. Zia has effectively delinked the Armed For­
ces and insulated them from the body politic. Only the
top generals continue to participate in, and to detennine
the nature of the political process. Having de-linked the
soldiers from their civilian brethem, the High Command
employs them as a mechanical device for its own power
and privilage. De-linked from the people it takes on a
colonial role.

This de-linking is. however neither in the interest of the

country nor in that of the Armed Forces. Any Army
which insulates itself from the representatives of the
people, that is made immune from superior civilian com­
mand and is autonomous of popular will, can neither
remain dedicated to the service of the country. nor it can
continue to enjoy the love and respect of the people. The
insulate and the distanced soldiers breeds alienation
among the populace. After all it was not for nothing that
the wisdom of the Constitution-makers dictated that the
contrOl and command of the Anned Forces of Pakistan
shall remain not with the uniformed generals but with the
civilian representative administration.

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Recently a former General who was Corp Commander at

the time of the Multan Massacre of Labour, wrote a syndi�
cated article ..General Bashing". It was interesting to note
that he did not say stop the Army Bashing but restricted
himself to General Bash mg.

The fact of the matter is that an Army which becomes

politicised comes i n for political criticism. When an
Anny is compelled to take on the aspect of the terror
machine, whipping. tonuuing. imprisoning. hanging and
shooting innocents. it cannot gain the love or the respect
of the people. And an Anny which does have the suppon
of the people is an Army whose defence capability is af­
fected for the reasons already enumerated by Gen. Azeem.

We can see that in no advanced country of the World

there is Anny Rule. Because politicising an Army means
making it an object of division, criticism and lack of
respect. Countries which hav.: had military rule have
faced military set-back. I referred to this in my speech at
the Minar-e-Pakistan on April 1 0, 1986 when I pointed
out that Greece faced the Cyprus set-back, Argentine the
Falklands debacle and Pakistan the loss of Bangladesh
and Siachin when the military had seized power.

When he illegaly seized power ten years back, not only

the PPP but independent analysts pointed out the dangers.
At the time of the assassination, a world-wide consensus
emerged on the consequences it would de-stablise the
country. it would give rise to regionalism, create bitter
polarisation and lead to a gulf between the people and the
Army.

This is exactly what has happened

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Annies which are politicised come under extreme

strain. Their professionalism is affected by the politicisa­
tion. When professionalism is affected capability is also
shadowed.

The Far Eastern Economic Review of October 2, 1977

had written an article called Hawks and Doves. lt had
speculated that four Corp Commanders wanted the elec­
tions to be held fairly and impartially so that the Army
could regain the reputation and honour which had been af­
fected on the battle fields of Bangladesh.

Unfortunately. the doves wem not listened to. They had

the vision to foresee the consequences for the Army and
the country. Had their advice been taken Gen. Azeem
would not have to write about Gen. Bashing. Nor would
Pakistan have lost the statesman of the calibre of. Shaheed
Bhuuo whose brilliance and understanding of the forces
of history would have elevated Pakistan to greater heights
of glory rather than weighted down into a bottomless
abyss of burden-some loans. tom apart by communalism
and sectarianism and st.ill in search of a national identity.

Politicised Armies come under strain. The Praetorian

guards were there to defend Caesar but then they decided
to choose Caesar. Finally they began to choose from
amongst themselves and destroyed Caesar and the Roman
Empire.

But do our Rulers even know when the Roman Empire

existed leave alone why i t fell ? Obviously not or they
would have learnt from the lesson of history.

Under Martial Law the Anny has been under such strain
that we have learnt of two attempted coups -- the Taj-

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jamul Case and the Attock Case. The discipline on which

the Pakistan Anny prided itself has given way in these
two cases. Other Anny Officers, including Major lftikhar,
Brig. Usman and Col. Shamim have resigned. Outstand­
ing officers such as Col. Cheema and Brig. Sharif have
retired. Professional soldiers like General Kallu are
· retired while those written off as bad officers during the
Bangladesh war and overage are given double promotions
and made to sit on top of the entire Armed Forces.

I don"t like speaking about these matters. But I am

forced to in the national interest. And to make the point
that in the past, one was not concerned so much about
what is happening in the Army. By bringing the Anny
into politics , Zia has made it a focus of public interest,
public criticism and, in the words of General Azeem.
"General Bashing."

Here it is also pertinent to mention that amongst Gen.

Zia"s early acts was the release of those Anny officers
who had conspired against the PPP government and
whom Gen. Zia the Presiding Officer of the trial had sen­
tenced.

One should have consistent values. Consistent values im­

part an education, structure and guidance of their own.
By inconsistent values one shakes a framework and
makes whims. favouritism , likes and dislikes the over­
riding criterion.

If the Attock Conspirators could be pardoned for acting

against the oath they had sworn as officers, why have
those involed in the Tajammul Case and the Attock Case
not been pardoned.

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 203

Gen. Zia is extremely keen to get immunity for his wick­

ed deeds from high treason to murder of elected Prime­
Minister. of the country of the crimes against humanity to
the corruption.

We can understand an argument made that certain aspects

will facilitate a smoother transfer of power. But what we
cannot understand is why Zia, the seeker of amnesty in
the form of the Eighth Amendment for himself cannot
grant amnesty to all the political vicitims of his illegal
rule? They still languish behind bars. the families of mar­
tyrs remain without livelihood. Political exiles wander in
far off lands. Property. of which the Peoples Foundation
is one. remain "immunised" while proper ty belonging to
the people is alloted to wives, daughters sons damaads
and now MNAs snd MPAs.

Moreover, fresh Tribunals have set up. PPP workers are

implicated in false civil and criminal cases. Those ar­
rested in the August 1986 from Ghulam Hussain Chandio
to Khisano Mori workers are still behind bars to fill the
vindictve lust of a ruling regime re pudiated by the
people. Smugglers convicted by Military Courts are set
free. But brave warriors of Freedom Languish behind
bars.

In the interest of the Country, to promote its defence and

to mitigate the ill-feeling caused by long years of Military
Rule, the PPP called for the Army to be delinked from
politics. The PPP campaigned for a professional Army.
Although we do not know the V ice-Chief of Staff, he has
a reputation for being a professional soldier and, as such
we are glad that our argument has had partial results.

Nonetheless, this is not a solution. Gen. Zia should leave

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the office of the Chief of Sraff not only because his con­
stitutional tenn finished long ago, not only because his
time of retirement has come not on ly to prevent further
••oeneral Bashing" but also to.

a. delink the Army from politics

b. to pennit the Army to be run by professional

man whose services are devoted whole time to
their profession and the sacred duty of defending
the frontiers.

The Pakistan Anny is not so starved of men of calibre

that it needs Zia as the Chief of Staff.

The same dedicated workers whose courage is higher that

the mountains and whose dedication is deeper than the
oceans are even 'lOW ready to come forward and to
sacrifice in the manner of sacrifice inspired by S haheed
Bhutto and in the manner of sacrific known only to the
political descendants of Muslim Martyrs.

·But we have as a deliberate policy. kept in check the

throbbing emotions seeking rele.ase. The tragedy of our
country has been not only the military seeki ng intervem­
tion but political self- seekers and opportunists who for
self-gain have been willing to subven the political
process and thereby weeaken the political forces.

WE do not see Junejo as an individual nor are our actions

guided by power thirst. We are motivated by principles.
We are seeking a political, democratic and free Pakistan
where sovereignity belongs to the people where there i s
egalitarianism not only in terms of economic equality but

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 205

political equality and human equality.

So we see a system, a defective system. We can either

subvert it for quick gains or we can try to strengthen the
political process and thereby the political forces. We can
mute the polarization and strengthen ourselves so it be­
comes difficult for a re- imposition of Emergency. Mar­
tial Law or whimsical commands. We are looking not
only at today but also at tomorrow.

Gen. Zia once said all had to do was snap his fingers and
all the politicians would come with tail wagging. If one
can take his metaphor further, he doesn't just snap his
fingers. he throws them bones. He tells three or four of
them at a time that he will make them Prime-Minister.
And unfortunately. they believe him. They play his game
each thi nkin g the bone will be his.

How can they be so blinded by ambition as not to see

through his game. He has consistently played ,on the
greed and ambition of political self-seekers.

By the grace of Allah. PPP has, from the time of Shaheed

Bhutto to the present, refused to part with its principled
stand for a political Pakistan in exchange for personal
gain or profit. Those who have left the PPP tantalised by
power prospects, have found themselve out on a limb.

Perhaps that is why the PPP has the love and respect of
the peop le who sense in it an integrity of purpose and
purity of mission apart from the selfish perspectives of
oth"!rs.

This is no way means to exclude other individuals or par­

ties who in their own manner have believed i n the

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 206

politics of integrity.

A country is not governed which repeatedly has to be con­

querred Gen.Zia clung to power for ten years on the
strength of brute force. The country has been caught in
turmoil and hhs not had the respite to develop. The dis­
astrous consequences of Gen. Zia's repressive rules are
evident in the break down of law and order. He has in­
ducted a culture of violence and theft. If the CMLA can
rob power because he has armed might at his control. the
daciot can rob the individual because he has the Kalish­
nikov in hand. Summing up the ten years of Gen. Zia
rule, the London Times worte :"the reality of power in
Pakistan is that it resides with the gun. With his finger

cliscretly on the trigger Zia is still calling the shots."

How correct. Everyone has learnt to call the shots by put­

ting their finger on the trigger. Violence and the threat to
use violence is the value wh�ch Zia's decade has im­
oposed. Morality and immorality, right and wrong, legal
and illegal, constitutional, honesty and dishonesty--all
yard sticks have vanished. He calls the shots who has his
finger on the trigger. What a terrible legacy to impose on
a generation which will have to bear the burden of the
twenty-flTSt century.

From �e CMLA to the kidnapper, smuggler, daciot, all

believe in the law of the gun. What is right, what is fair,
what is just, what is legal have all been sacrificed at the
altar of the gun. Even our universities have become am­
munition centres--seats of learning and knowledge have
been corrupted by the thug culture. Principals, lecturers
all are targetrs of those with their *'finger on the trigger"--

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ordinary citizens are not safe in the streets and they are
not safe in their homes. Fear of law has been turned into'
fear of the gun. Which Police Station should citizen tum
to? Which court should the citizen tum to? The citizen
in Pakistan is helpless. He is a victim of a decade of
devastation.

The unity of the country has been undermined. Society

has been fragmented. Drugs have been introduced. ll­
literacy has risen. Tracks of lands lost without care for
"grass does not grow there."

And what of the Economic Picture. For several years the

regime lived off the investments of the Bhutto years in
infra-structure and the remittances of the overseas
workers who went abroad in the B hutto years. Unborn
chidren have been mortgaged as Gen. Zia has squandered
the resources of the country, squandered the benefits of
good crops. no rains. no floods and the relief provided by
the drop in oil prices from $ 36 pler barrel to $ 1 8 per
barrel. He has squandered the money we have received
in Economic Aid.

We have only to look at the figures we lose in corruption

provided by Dr. Mahboobul Haq. Or consider the state­
ment given by the Punjab Chief Minister that over 50%
of the money allocated for development is wasted. High
prices make modest living an on- going battle for sur­
vival. For setting up 100 Muslim League Units each
Muslim Leaguer is to be given Rs. 20 lak.hs from the
Treasury. In any other country such rulers would be
lynched by the people. In the United States the President
had to resign for wrong doing. Here, he puts his "finger
on the trigger"-- and Pakistan bleeds.

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 208

Otherwise the people are being cheated. Charged more

for petrol and tea, to name two items. than they cost We
are told the regime has to raise prices of i mponed goods
because of the fall in the value of the rupee externally. If
the economy is strong why is the rupee so weak? Why is
it faring so badly against not only the srrong currencies
but also others?

When it comes to education we were told we will be able

to acheive a literacy rate of 50% when the sixth five-year
plan ends by this financial year. But Dr,Mehboob-ul-Haq
says the plan will end with a literacy rate of 32% only.

Now we are told the Prime Minister's five-point plan will

acheive a literacy rate of 50% 1 989. Will it? Because a
large number of persons begining with Mr.Mehboob-ul­
Haq are doubting the efficacy of Nai Roshni Schools on
which a great deal of money is being spend. They
country needs more than the kind of nominal literacy
which the Nai Roshni Schools seek.

Look at the state of public health. The PPP government

increased the number of medical colleges readically to
provide full health cover to the masses but now thousands
of doctors are unemployed. Now an ineffective plan has
been brought out to provide employment to them but
without really utilizing them for the welfare of the ailing
masses. Medicine is out of reach too. An item costing
rupees 21- in 1977 now cost rupees 20/-

If there is so much prosperity and so much economic ex­

pansion why is there so much unemployment, educated
unemploy ne nt, and unemployment of the technically
trained? Evidently the economic expansion is not as large
as claimed.

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What kind of economic system has been evolved that in

the name of abolishing interest we have really increased
the interest rates. We would like to see interest rates
revised to facilitate investment. Land revenue has been
abolished as the farmers pay Ushr. But where is the Ushr
and Zakat m oney going. There is simply no accounting.
The peoples money is being spent to buy political sup­
port. Bribery has become a craft of state. Forty percent
of the salaries of Armed Forces personnel serving abroad
is cut every month. This comes to Rs.5 crore a month
from Saudi Arabia alone. In theory it is spent on the wel­
fare of the Armed Forces. In practice we doubt very
much that it is being so spent. Of course it remains unac­
counted for. We hope it is not being spent adventurously
on clandestine ventures in the Lebanon to fulfill the gran­
doise of delusions of those who would be the Shah of
Iran.

The most outstanding features of the economy are waste

and embezzlement. Dr. Mehboobul Haq says that Rs. 40
billion are embezzeled by the controllers of the economy.
The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee says
that 60% of the public expenditure is wasted and that if
even 20% is well spent the face of the country would
have been far different. The Punjab Chief Minister says
that 50% of the development expenditure is wasted.
These are all men from the government side. In reality
the waste is far higher.

Is this is how the economy of a poor country of 100 mil­

lion should be managed? Is this the kind of efficiency
and integrity which 1 0 years of Martial law and quasi­
martial law have brought us.

The countr y cannot pay for such wastes. And yet the

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 210

personal projects of the MNA and Senators for which Rs.

50 lakh has been provided by the Government and the
projects of MPAs for which Rs. 30 lakh has been
provided is now to be made an annual feature and not
once in one tenn only. So the budget allocation for the
current year has been doubled to Rs.250 crore from Rs.
125 crore last year. and within four years a minimum of
Rs. 700 crore is to be spent. Much of this expenditure is
waste and an act of outright political corruption. To
make for this soaaring waste and corruption more and
more money is being printed. Last year alone Rs. 2.200
crore. No wonder the rupee has lost its value and real in­
flation is far higher than officially admitted.

If the economy situation is bleak, the security scenario is

not comforting either.

Only July 2 on the floor of the National Assembly Sheikh

Rasheed Ahmed, MNA from Rawalpindi, made a very
disturbing statement. He claimed that the Indian Anny
has captured another imponant border post in the Siachin
Glacier 2 days earlier a severe battle in which several
Pakistani soldiers were killed and injured.

Sheikh Rasheed funher added while tabling his adjourn­

ment motion seeking discussion on the matter, that his
repon about the Indian occupied of a Pakistan border
post was authentic. S heikh Rasheed claimed that he had
personally visited the Military Hospital in Rawalpindi
where the injured soldiers were under treatment.

Sheikh Rasheed pressed for immediate debate since, he

said the security of the country was supreme to the mem­
bers of the house. However, Mr. Wazir Ahmed Jogezai,

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 21 1

the Deputy Speaker ruled the motion out of order on tech­

nical grounds.

Later talking to newsmen Sheikh Rasheed claimed that

the · anny post captured by the Indians was the same
where the Prime Minister had addressed the jawans
during his recent visit to the area in the North. Not only
that Sheikh Rasheed added, Indian President Zail Singh
visited the captured post from Pakistan and addressed In­
dian soldiers.

In the first Place, I would like to draw the attention to the

apathy shown by the so�called elected representatives to
an important issue which relates to defence and security
of the country. It is normal that when action takes place
on the borders, the houses of Parliament instead of clos­
ing their eyes and ears to it, go into emergency sessions.
In our country the house ordained by General Zia-ul-Haq
knocks down the . crucial defence issue on technical
ground. No words would be strong enough to condemn
the apathy shown by the members of the Parliament just
busy in spending the millions that they have received
from Zia regime.

Now one would like to dilate a little on the Siachin issue.

The nation has not been taken into confidence about it.
While a newspaper report (Jang July 6) yesterday says
the Defence Committee of the Cabinate met to review the
situation eman ating from the Indian attack on a military
observatory post. The reaction on the news of Indian oc­
cupation given to the newsmen here on July 5 by the 63
years old Chief of the Staff of the Pakistan Anny was dis­
appointing and dismal. When his attention was drawn to
the Indian occupation of another post in a Siachin told
newsmen (lang, July, 6, 1 987) that he would be coming

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 212

down to Karachi after a week when he would be i n a posi­

tion to say something. Does the Chief of Staff not know
what is going on or is ignorance always bliss?

Siachin issue is a matter whic h has not b een given the

strategic importance it deserves. Except for the news that
somehow tricklies into the newspaper columns announc­
ing one capture after another. of Pakistani post by the In­
dians, the nation is being kept totally in the dark and
under the impession that one should not bother about
Siachin because Gen. Zia says cannot grow grass on.

One would recall that in October 1 986 Junejo reiterated

the administrations determination to get back S iachin
G lacier from the Indians. Immediately after him in Quet­
ta. Gen. Zia dismissed the matter lightly and tried to hood­
wink the countrymen that it was incorrect to say that In­
dian had occupied Pak istan territory. According to the
General ; it was no man's land and that there were no In­
dian or Pakistani soldiers posted there. At that point, he
disclosed, Indian sem their troops there and Pakistan
obliged by sending its own. to skirmishes he
Referring
had said that he was trying peaceful means to settle the
issue.
Instead of coming out with facts General Zia and his
men, have been trying to hoodwink the nation through
various excuses. His propagantists have been telling us
that Siachen Glacier is the 1 8000 feet high mountanious
area. is not worth all that fighting. Opposite has been the
claim of the Indian General M.I.Chibber who after captur­
of India
ing the area. made claims that i t was integral part
and his troop s have been repulsing effectively every at­
tempt by Pakistani soldiers to recapture it. Indians. be­
sides that, have been refusing to talk about since accord­
ing to them Siachen "formed part of Jamu and .kash mir

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 213

state."

The fact of the matter, however, is that S iachen has been

under Pakistan' s effective control since the first cease fue
on Januc.ry 1 st, 1 949. After that, it was incorporated as
the part of Pakistan 's Northern Region. Geographically
speaking, Siachen is the biggest glacier in Asia and ·
second biggest in the world. India came to know of
strategic importance i n its debacle in the war with China
in 1962. The volnerablity of its defe nce Vis a v i s
- -

Pakistan in the absence of Siachin was revealed to it in

1965 and 1 97 1 wars. But i t could not capture it until
General Zia came on the scene and demonstrated he was
too busy firing bullets on the people of Pakistan to con­
centrate on the defe nce of the cou n try . He did'nt even
know that Indi a had been landing its well-trained moun­
tain troOps in the Siachen Area. They captured two passes
strategic for Pakistan ' s defence, namely Sia La and
Bilaford La on the extreme western edge of the Glacier,
enabl ing Indian soldiers to block the entry into the area
from Pakistani- controlled positions. As far as general in­
formation is concerned, Indians completed their mission
without a bullet fired from Pakistan. The fall of Siachen
to India was kept a well guarded secret among the
various skeletons in Zia's cupboards. Nobody had come
to know how Pakistan lost about 1000 square kilometres
of its strateg i ic land.

May be we are lay people but look at the statement made

by the Gen. Zia 's earstwhile colleague, Gen. Chisti. In an
interview published the other day he nailed Zia's l ie by
categorically declarin g that S iachin is now under Indian
occupation. Not only that Chisti advised Mohammad
Khan Junejo to have his own advisers on defence so that
he is not made to make wrong s tatements as he did the

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other day when Junejo declared that not an inch of

Siachin was under Indian occupation. The factual posi­
tion, Chisti said, was contrary to Prime Minister's claim.

French Statesman Talleyrand had once declared that the

defence of the country was much too serious an affair to
be left entirely in the hands of the Generals. Surely Gen.
Zia has proved how right he was.
WE are a poor country but we spend even more lavishly
than Oliver North fund ing the Contras. After all which
Prime Minister can afford to spend 2 million on a private
visit to England? and considering he was received by a
junior visitor at Healthrow, we cannot call i t anything but
a private visit. Will we be informed of how many
thousands of British pounds were allocated to unsuc­
cessfuly get Mr. Junejo publicity? The taxi bill alone
came to 75,00CJ/- pounds because we ride limousines in
England and Suzukis in Pakistan. The nation would like
to know the bills of the Five Star Luxury hotel which
housed 101 members of the Prime Minister's entourage
for 1 1 days.

According to the revenue figures Pakistan has an income

of Rs. 93 billion. The Army get Rs. 44 billion. The
Banks takes Rs. 3 1 billion in rescheduling of Iones. Law
and Order gets Rs. 14 billion. The B ureaucracy takes its
share and , to borrow a phrase, the people are left with
peanuts. Sony. Adulterated peanuts because we must
not forget the deficit financing.

The regime claims that the rate of economic growth

is 6 to 6.5%.

In fact not. A higher growth rate is being achieved by

depressing the rate of inflation and price deflator for

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political reasons.

If the rate of growth is good and we are really prospering.

Why has even drinking water become a major problem in
Karachi. And why are the people suffering from continu­
ing load-shedding for very long periods even in a city
like Karachi where we are said to have surplus power?
The telephone department makes a profit of nearly Rs.
500 crore but most of the telephones do not work, and
each one is a victim of too many wrong calls both ways.

This is the way Martial Law " improved the effeciency" of

the administrative system inspite of the higher rates
which the people are forced to pay all the time.

Oil prices in the world crashed nearly a year and a half

ago. From nearly 40 dollars a barrel it went below even
10 dollars a barrel; but we in Pakistan have been forced
to pay higher prices of POL 3 times higher even after
that The present budget too has increased petrol and
other prices. Our petrol price includes a percen tage added
too Cyclone releif in 1 97 1 for Bengal. Where does that
money go to? What is use of talking of the rising
prosperity of the people if they will be forced to pay
higher prices when i nternational prices rise. whether they
be for POL. vegetable oil or tea. We want domestic
prices to come down when intematjonal prices fall.

We have lost Siachin God knows what Zia has made up

his mind to give up next on the platter. Before. God for­
bid. anything worse happens to the nation we demand
that he should step down as a Chief of the Anny Staff
and as President. There is a charge that "Generals are
being bashed". I would only say that it was time counuy
bashing was s topped.

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 216

More one, we in the Pakistan Peoples Party alongwith

other like minded parties, are working for the estab­
lishment of Pakistan based on law, Justice and Freedom.
We want a Pakistan where honesty pays where greed and
personal ambition is replaced with selfless hardwork and
sacrifice. We want a Federal. Democratic and Egalitarian
Pakistan with a bold and independent judiciary. with a
Press where reasoned criticism and analysis keeps the
government on its toes, where parliament voices and
resolves the problem of the people and the provinces.
We want decentralisation of institutions and power to
provide both equity & efficiency. We want to free the
talents of the people of our country, not supress them.
We want the public and the private sector to work hand in
glove for rejuvenating the economy. We want an end to
contract system of labour and we want the farmer not
only to pay agriculture-tax but to get crop insurance. We
want the fanner either to get international prices for his
produce and pay international prices to his labour or will
provide him with s ubsidise to feel free from persecution.
If Europe and America can subsidised its farm products
for economic reasons so can we subsidise feniliser. We
want our students to have the best of education. We want
women and minorities florish We want government of­
ficers to be promoted on the basis of rules and nor
nepotism. We want our Army to securely defend our bor·
ders. We want to provide internal cohesion.

And we don' t ever want to become the Shah of Iran, Fer·

dinad Marcos, Baby Doc Duralier, Nimeri of S udan or
Zia-ul-Haq of Jullender.

We are of the people, belong to the people and will live

and die for the people, and for our country.
Thank You.

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 217

SIND AND THE NATI ONAL

MAINSTREAM
(Speech at Seminar otr Natiotral Problem in Sindh and its impact
011 1he Federation of Paki.vtan under the auspicious of S. P. S. F. 011
5. 1 1 . /987)

When we refer to the '*National Problem" in S indh what

exactly do we mean? This problem has two major aspects,
which are worth considering:

1. The problem o f nationalist consciousness in Sindh

and how sind his are redefining their concept of com­
munity in the light of new social trends and the
proliferation of new philosophies within Sindh.

2. The problen. that Sindh, nationalism and to a cenain

extent Sindh secessionism pose for the Federation of

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 218

Pakistan. I will dwell on both these points briefly.

What is Sindhi Nationalism? How did it evolve? What is

its role within the emerging society of S indh today.

Sindhi Nationa1ism owes its genesis to the creation of One

Unit - a system whereby the people of what was then West
Pakistan were deprived of their distinct identities by the im­
position of a single unified administration in the then
province of West Pakistan. One Unit allowed the rulu.g
classes of West Pakistan to claim parity and ultimate
supremacy in making decisions, at both political and
economic levels. Thus they governed both wings of Pakis­
tan without reference to the wishes of its people. It was es­
sentially an anti-democratic concept for two reasons:

1. It prevented administrative, economic and political

decentralization. which would make national policy
responsive to the demands of the varied social and e th­
nic groups that comprise Pakistan.

2. It allowed the growth of a monolith

philosophy based on one religion, one language, one
political objective. It sought to ignore rather than ab­
sorb the diverse cultures, races, histories and units
which made us the federation of Pakistan. It suffo­
cated the units and gave a sens e of colonization with
its concommitant rebelliousness.

This monolithic creed was personified in the image of an

all powerful Anny General who would rule over a unitary
Pakistan as opposed to a Federal Pakistan.

This superimposed, artificial philosophy gave birth to such

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 2 19

deep resentments that the point of combustion was reached

in 1 91 1 with the civil v-oar in East Pakistan. The disintegra­
tion of the country left the people with an identity crisis.
Islam had not held the two muslim wings together. So what
the raison d'etre of our state and of ourselves. Had religion
failed.

Of course religion had not failed. Politics had failed. But

this is the dilemma we face when malafide and unrepresen­
tative political action are garbed in religion by those ruth­
less enough to exploit the sacred message of God for selfish
political motives. It is important for us to separate religion
which is universal and infinite from politics which is
specific and changing according to objective circumstances.
This will enable us to examine the objective conditions we
find ourselves in with due consideration to social and
economic realities.

Sindhi nationalism grew out on various beliefs w h ich were

as follows:

1. That the original inhabitants of Sindh had lost control

of towns and cities within Sindh, which had been oc­
cupied both by migrants from United India and
people from other provinces.

2. That the new barrage lands in Sindh were being free­

ly distributed to bureaucracy, people from other
provinces who had been displaced by Mangla and
Tarbela Dams and to personnel of the Armed Forces
- all this at a time when the land hunger of landless
Hari in Sindh was immense.

3. That the Sindhi language was not recognized, and its

rapid

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phasing away would lead to the loss of a sense of

uniqueness of historic destiny that defined Sindhi
culture.

4. The belief that the One Unit system combined with

the predominanc e of non:.Sindhi speaking people in
the towns and cities of Sindh, would lead to under·
representation - and hence deprivation - of the Sindhi
speaking elements of the population in the national
polity - in matters pertaining to education, jobs and
governments posts.

The unequal development of various parts of the Federation

and the unrepresentative nature of its political system led to
the secession of East Pakistan. The simultaneous
withdrawal of the One Unit had come too late. The sub­
sequent ushering in of a democratic era, led to the hope that
things would now change. Despite the overloaded agenda
of the PPP Government and the breif period to fulfill it, a
situation developed with the incon.e generating and socio­
culture projects for Sindh and other provinces which led to
a grass root consensus and the emergence of a resonoat na­
tional identity. An identity based on accomodating the
diverse elements, traditions, histories, races and units into
the rich mosaic of a united nation . A military coup frag­
mented the mosaic into unpatterned pieces and reopened the
various problems of the Federation that had accumulated
over the last thirty years. The execution of the democrati­
cally elected Prime Minister. who hailed from the provi nce
of Sindh despite the verdict of the three minority provinces
honourably acquitting him the rapid allocation lands in
Sindh to the Annd forces, the growth of joblessness for
Sindhi graduates, all led to a powerful explosion in 1 983
and in 1 986 in Sindh. The problem of Sindhi nationalism

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that has grown simulatneously with these trends thus be­

came a matter of acute nation-wide concern.

All this is distinct from the secessionist phenomenon that

has been a part of Sindhi politics since the early 1 950's.
The secessionist movement which barely accounts for a few
thousand people in the province drew its sustenance from
the same set of problems which led to the growth of
Sindhi nationalism. But there was one distinct and impor­
tant difference. The Nationalists wanted their rightful place
for Sindh WITHIN Pakistan. the secessionists wanted a
role for Sindh OUTSIDE the context of the Federation, and
possibly for union with India.

Paradoxically enough, the secessionists had not only

counted the Punjabis and Pakhtoons amongst their enemies,
but also the migrants from undivided India who had settled
in Sindh. In the 70's the secessionistsJeyye S indh Movement
introduced the slogan of an alliance between New and Old
Sindhis. But they were essentially unable to chart out any
role for the Urdu speaking Sindhis (who had originally
migrated from undivided India) in the context of Sindh.

The growth of S indhi Nationalism unfortunately triggered a

powerful reaction in the cities, and gave birth to ethnic
politics. The "Mohaj ir.. political groups and groups repre­
senting the Punjabi and Pakhtoon settlers i n Sindh began a
tussle for their share ofr the economic pie, when they felt
they had been denied.

Paradoxically enough, none of these so-called ethnic groups

had any defined role for the S indhi speaking inhabitants of
Sindh outlined in their political manifestos. An opportunis­
tic alliance between the secessionists and some ethnic
political groups was a natural consequence of their shared

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 222

beliefs � each wished to exclude some section of S indh 's in­

habitants from a role in the future development of Sindh.

Thus three distinct phenomena - Nationalism, secessionism

and ethnic politics grew simultaneously. Although they all
drew their sustenance from the same perceived state of
socio-economic and cultural deprivaton in Sindh, each had
distinct political philosophies, and each one individualisti­
cally identifried the wrong done by Federation to their
groups or sub-group

You have all heard the saying from our colonial past
"divide and rule". The strategy of the Martial Law
Government was indeed to divide and rule - hence the
growth of nationalism, secessionism and ethnic politics.,

At this juncture it is important that we understand that these

political movements were a direct consequence of the in­
euqitable, non-representative and un-democratic system that
followed the assassination of anelected Prime Minister who
haild from Sindh. For Sindhis his unjust murder, the wan­
ton acts of cruelty and barbarism deliberately meted out to
him and his family symbolised the cruel and barbaric treat­
ment meted out to them.

His defiance and the defiance of his family in the face of

over whelming odds spawned a militant defiance particular­
ly amongst the Sindhis. This defiance, amongst the i mpas­
sioned youth, become a determination not to succumb in
silence to the bunality and barbarism meted out to them to
the usurpation of their rights, but to fight for them against
all odds. And the odds were great - whips, Hangmans
noose, Helicopter gunships. Indiscriminate firing, Shell­
ing .by Rocket launchers. Whole villages destroyed. Crops
burnt. Masj ids marked with bullets and blood. Daughters

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and mothers held captive young men chained with festering

wounds. But in the martyrdom and the persecution of the
martyrs family, Sindhis had crossed the mental barriers·
from submissiveness and subservience to defiance and
detennination. From the dusty towns and the poverty
hounded villages the cry went up, "we will take what is
ours. We will fight for Sindh. We will give all sacrifice.
We will live in honour or we will die. We will not submit.
We will not submit.

Sindh is today the angry province. The burning province.

There are three distinct trends in it = nationalism in its sub­
lime sense, secessionism with its chauvanism and ethnicity
in its reactionism. The ruling clique is quite satisfied. Let
Sindh bleed - its blood gives us the pretext to justify our
unrepresentative and dictatorial rule.

Such movements continue to exsist and grow today, be­

cause the powers that be, require them to remain political
forces in our provi nce. H discordant and negative pol\tics
are removed from the national scene and from Sindh, what
justification can exist for the continuance of General Zia
and the hollow facade of a so- called civilian government?

We do not want to see such destrucion. Nor do we believe

that such destruction is i nevitable. Its solution is clear. Its
solution lies in identifying and redressing the causes of al­
lienation, anger, disenchantment, bitterness and fury.

Let us identify the genuine problems which must be sorted

out.

1. The first problem i s to clearly state that all those who

live in the province of Sindh, and wish to continue to
live here must be given rights and considered full

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 fledged S indhis. Sindh will then emerge as a bilingual
province in which both S indhi and Urdu languages
should be given due importance. Virtually all Sindhi
speakers in the province speak Urdu and living side by
side, from generation to generation Urdu speakers will
learn and cherish the linguistic heritage of a province
that is now their home, where they are born and where
thev bury their dead.

2. If, for economic reasons, people in search of jobs have

come from other provinces to S indh, thus over- burden­
ing its resources. a national solution to the problem
must be designed. Federal grants over and above
Sindh 's rightful allocations from Islamabad should be
made as an immediate and shon term measure tro the
Sindh Government to cover costs of providing basic
amenities - health, shelter, education, public transporta­
tion - of these migrant populations. Secondly there
should be a planned and balanced development of all
provinces, which obviates the need for large migrant
populations to move into different provinces and pose a
threat to the stability of our delicate social structures.

3. A balanced distribution of resources must be allocated

between large cities, small towns, semi-rural and rural
areas within Sindh. Given the differing densities of
population of ethnic groups between the cities and the
countrysice, a policy needs to be evolved of sharing the
benefits of economic growth and the facilities of
government between all segments of the population.
Today the S indhi speaking population with the rural
areas, are governed by regressive social structure - by
feudalism by Mirs and by Pirs, by dacoits and
patharidars . The haris and scheduled castes are one of
the most oppressed segments of Sindhi society. We

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 need to design special economic and social measures to
bring them in line within the material standards of
living enjoyed by the city dwellers in Sindh. This im­
plies affirmative action - which means the continuance
and judicious accomodations on a just and equitable
basis in jobs and in education, to follow these com­
munities to better themselves.

To bring Sindh into the national mainstream the following

basic causes of resentment need attention and alliveration.

1 .Continuous flowing in into Sindh of the people frrom

other areas, which started in 1947.

2. Cultural distance between the people of Sindh and the

people who have been pouring in.
3. Continuous periods of dictatorship, wherein Sindh
had no participation at all.

4. Right wing anti-Sindhi policy.

S. Allotment of lands in Sindh to Anny personnel.

6. Attempts at governmental and non-governmental

levels to lower the status of Sindhi Language.

7. Demolition of Sindhi culturral traits in the grab of

creating a unitory culture.

8. Shelving cantonements at Pano Aqil and Hyderabad

when redeployment of troops can easily be made
should security needs so demand.

9. Settling the water rights of the lower riparians on a

just equitable basis in accordance with the guidelines

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 226

provided by international Jaw.

10. Scrapping the controversial and defective Kalabagh

Dam project in place of a dam at a more suitable site.

1 1. Investing in the infrastructure of Sindh. These

measures i nclude lining of canals to prevent seepage,
building proper drainage schemes and ensuring cor­
rect levels of water at the Barrages to permit floursih­
mg of acqua-culture.

12. Prevent the ecological erosion of Sindh. These in­

clude measures from the preservation of mangrove
forests to the sustenance of the blind dolphins.

13. The decentralisation of PICIC, I.D.B.P. etc. through

the establishment of provincial boards to accelerate
even industrial growth.

14. The decentralisation of resources. employment of­

central Services such as wapda, Railways ect by set­
ting up of provincial boards.

1 5. The restructuring of grass root i nstitutions. These in­

clude measures to have directly elected district health
and education representative to efficiently administer
district health and education centres.

16. Replacement of the motives for creation of Pakistan

from the right wing sectarian politics of Zia and his
Mullah to a grass roots consensus and national iden­
tity.
Some would say that I am speaking of a Utopia, and this
cannot be done. I say this can be done, and wil l be done.
But sovereignity of the people - If we restore the principle

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of the democratic representation, If we restore the principle
of democratic responsibility. this cannot be done with a
Military regime in power, with a Parliament and Prime
Minister who serves at the discretion of the Chief of Staff.
Not with the omnipresent sociology of greed and violence
that consumes our present illegal rulers. This can be done if·
Zia goes. This can be done if elections are held, and if the
elected representatives of the people who represent various
segments of the population decide upon rational and equ i­
table solution in the interests of the Federation. The
Federation cannot be better than the sum of its parts. Let us
work together to heal the wounds , to make the Federation a
living reality. This is what the manyred Prime Minister,
Mr. Zulflkar Ali Bhutto would have wished. This is wha�
en lightened segment of the popu lation in Sindh like the
SPSF must work towards.

The youth are the promise of a better tomorrow. The fresh­

ness, vigour, idealism and courage of the youth give us the
confidence to build a better world, a better soc iety. Con­
spiracies. intrigues, character assassination, corruption,
cruelty are the dishonest values of a decayed and dead
order. Honour, Honesty. Integrity, Commitments to ideals,
Mutual Respect and Trust, Dignity are the values we
enshrine on constructing a vibrant society and a humane
person.

The future beckons us. The challenges are many. Iqbal,

Quaid-e- Azam and Quaid-e-Awam had a dream. That
deram beckons us. In resugence of that dream lie s the hope
and the vitality, the peace and the sweetness which the land
of the Indus and of S hah Abdul Latif deserves and which is
its desti ny.

Sindh has known many turns and twists. Cruel fates have

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 228

gripped it. It has known the pinocle of culture and of tri­

umph. Our fate today is linked with Pakistan, not Zia's
Pakistan, not a militarezed Pakistan, but a peoples Pakistan
where Sindh takes its place with pride and with honour.

We have a dream. We will pursue it together. We will at­

tain it together and when we do, we will say, ''Ask not what
your country can do for you: Ask what you can do for your
country."

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 229

A FOREIGN POLICY
WITHOUT DIMENSION
(Speech on Foreign Policy llt Pakistan Institute for lmemational
Affairs Institute on 1. 12. 1987.)

If the dictum is true that the foreign policy of a country is

dictated by its geography, then it is specially true in the case
of Pakistan . Quaid-e-Azam' s vision was of Pakistan and
India at peace with each other, devoting their energies to
the progress and prosperity of their people. But this was
not to be. Situated as it is on the geo-political map there
was no escape for Pakistan from involvement with the great
powers. India's relations with Pakistan have been charac­
terized by an animosity as old as Pakistan •s existence.
Similarly relations with our neighbours to the west, Af­
ghanistan were fitfull and uneasy from the begining, be-

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 230

cause of irridentist claims put forward by the Afghan rulers.

With long borders to defend and relatively limited strategb
depth, Pakistan has been concerned more than most
countries, with the problems of safeguarding its borders and
protecting its independence and integrity. The search for
security has been the principal objective of Pakistan's
foreign policy throughout its 40 years of existence and
remains our main preoccupation.

The theme of your conference "Security Environment in the

region and Pakistan Foreign Policy", is timely and pertinent
for the evolving si tuation poses new challenges for
Pakistan's diplomacy, and new threats to the hountry's
security. I have spoken out on these matters from time to
time and expressed my party's deep concern at the way
things are going but I welcome this occasion to put forward
a brief and comprehensive expression of my party's view
on the country's foreign policy.

No one can forget that it was the founder of the Pakistan

Peoples party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who broke the decades
old mould of subservience, initiated an opening to the east
by signing an oil exploration agreement with the Soviet
Union, developed our relationship with the Peoples
Republic of China, led the country i nto the non-aligned
movement. It was he who gave the country's foreign
policy a new orientation and the stamp of independence, to
which lip service continues to be paid. From the defeat and
disgrace of the 1 97 1 war in the East Pakistan he took the
country back to a position of honour in the world com­
munity, making our voice heard with respect in world
forums.

Pakistan has come a long way fro m, that position, a long

way into the wilderness. The country's defence budget has

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 23 1

gone on rising from year to year and stands today at the

staggering figure of billions of rupees. security has become
synonymous with the acquisition of weapons and particular
weapons system, regardless of whether the country can af­
ford them or their relevance to Pakistan's special cir­
cumstances and situation, giving little consideration to
their oppurtunity cost.

To get an idea of the sacrifices the people of Pakistan are

called on to make on this score, let an estimate be made of
the number of development projects - school rooms, hospi­
tal beds, village roads, irrigation pumps ect, that had to be
given up to pay for just the three I;' 16 aircrafts which we
have already managed to lose in accidents caused by
negligence or incompetence. Let us bear in mind, moreover,
that most of our costliest weapons are paid with borrowed
money, and therefore, the burden is being carried not only
by the present generatio n but will be passed to our children
and grandchildren.

Yet the more the country spends on defence, the less

security we seem to have. Villages along the frontiers are
bombed with impunity and we are told that F- 16s cannot
stop these attacks unless they are supported by �ven more
expensive advance warning aircraft. Our borders with Af­
ghanistan and the cease fire line in Kashmir are routinely
violated. We lost important posts in the Siachin Glacier
only to hear the COAS belilttle it as being a place of little
use and consequence.

The two front conflict the nightmare built into our geo­
political situation is now a reality. Four decades of
diplomacy , or arms acquisition, of alliances and arrange­
ments have, as it were come to nothing. Indian ' s hegemony,
which we denounce and claim to reject, is becoming a fact

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 232

of life.

In Sri Lanka, Indian troops are "keeping the peace" which

India herself had contrived to disturb in the last few years.
And while they are there under an agreement with the Sri­
Lankan government, the truth is that the government was
left with few other options by the skill of Indian diplomacy
and the indifference of other governments, including ours.
The little store that India sets by relations with Pakistan
could not have been more clearly shown than by the Indian
Prime M inister's public dismissal of his foreign Secretary
for the sin of suggesting that the Prime Minister would pay
a visit to Pakistan - a visit many times overdue after the
numerous visits paid to India by General Zia-ul-haq for one
reason or another. India's present disdain for Pakistan was
even more ominously expressed in Rajiv Gandhi 's exhorta­
tion to the Indian Press: "Don 't pay so · much attention to
Pakistan. It is a small country of little consequence, with
whome we will know how to deal when the time comes.
Let us not make any mistake about the intention behind
these words. We should not be surprised when and if such
a time does come and if we offer the opportunity, that India
will not hesitate to make good on this threat. Pakistan paid
dearly in 197 1 for underestimating and ignoring the threat
then staring us on the face. Let us be warned.

And let us not forget how assiduously and methodically

India had prepared the grounds for its action in East Pakis­
tan. taking advantage of the follies and errors, complacency
and political pre-occupations of our then miliatry rulers.
Even as we look on. in apparent detachment, at what is
ha_ppening. in and to Sri Lanka, let us ponder the implica­
tions of the situation for Pakistan. It is dangerous nonsense
to say Pakistan is not Sri Lanka, that our debacle in East
Pakistan occured because it was separated from the rest of

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 233

the country by a 1000 miles of hostile territory.

What divided East Pakistan from West Pakistan was not

hostile territory but estrangment between two wings
provoked by the shon sighted policies and aggravated by
the selfish ambitions of the country's military rulers of the
time.

A paper published at the time by the Indian institute of

Stagegtic Studies laid a vinual blue print of how Indian
should take advantage of the situation and proceed step �y ,­
step to bring about the secession of East Pakistan. It all
happened as forecast but our people seemed to be mes­
mirized by the impending danger and went unconcerned
about their merry way and paid no heed. They took not
much account of the signing of the Indo- Soviet treaty of
peace and friedship. They were busy instead with
manipulation behind the scenes to ensure that the military
clique would continue somehow to retain effective power
after the general elections. The same ostrich like attitude is
very much in evidence today. Siachin is lost. The National
Assembly does not even hold a full scale debate on the sub·
ject. There is no accounting for the lost territory, lost lives.
lost honour, G.M.Syed is received in India and discussed at
the highest level how to bring about secession of S ind.

While Military pressure and political tensions mount on

our eastern and western frontiers, a veritable third front has
come into existence within the country's borders. Kidnap­
pings and dacoities take place routinely i n Sind under the
very noses of the army. Bombs go of in hotel lobbies and
crowded bazars notwithstanding draconian laws against ter­
rorism and the establishment of special couns. In Karachi,
curfews have become the nonnal mode of existence for
many areas in substantial numbers of the city's population.

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 234

The anny is being regularly called in to assist the civil

power for civil power has become a symbol of civilpower­
lessnes. The general lack of respect for law is such that
soon the anny too may be unable to control the situation,
for after all whether it is the anny or the police, they are in
service of the same regime, ftring the same sort of tear gas
and the same calibre of bullet.

The lesson that history has repeatedly had to teach to

tyrants, big or small, throughout the centuries and all over
the globe, is that basic problems cannot be solved by
repression and that the use of force will not cow down the
people forever. I n the long run in facing dangers to the
nation 's borders and integnty there is no force greater than
the combined will of the people.

This is the all important ingredient which is missing in the

formulation and conduct of Pakistan foreign policy today.
When we went to Simla in 1 972, we went against the back­
ground of defeat, unqestionably the worst defeat and hum­
liation suffered by muslims in the history of India. Impor­
tant pieces of our territory were i n Indian hands and our en­
tire eastern army with 90,000 men and officers were
prisoners in Ind?an camps. But Zulfikar Ali Bhutt o went
there with his head held high, because he went with the
knowledge that the p eople of Pakistan stood behind him to
a man. He was going to a country wich held all the cards
but he went on a mission of reconciliation not on a mission
of ingratiation and obeisiance and he returned with an
agr eement which provided for the return of lost territories,
the repatriation of our POWs and which established means
and procedures for settling dispute and developing relations
in all ftelds.

The s uccess of a nation's foreign policy is not a matter of

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merely of the skill with which it is conducted. The true

measure of a purposeful foreign policy is the extent to
which it is rooted in national policy and the degree to which
it promotes national aims. Our present foreign policy gives
evidence on the one hand, of a lack of professional com­
poetence, and on the other. seems to be divorced with
reality both on the national and international planes. The
humiliation suffereed by Pakistani candidature for UNES­
CO directorship is a demonstration of its shortcoming on
both scores. it served one hope to show our military rulers
what the world thinks of their regime.

A successful foreign policy cannot be conducted in the ab-­

sence of a national vision. and when the country is kept in
the dark about what is happening. A regime which has
ruled the country for nearly decade without popular sanc­
tion and accountability of any kind is concerned primarily
with keeping itself in power by any means. Such a regime
is incapable of mobilizing the people behind a national en­
deavour whether at home or abroad.

At a time when the country is facing the most complex and

dangerous problems and challeges in its foreign relations,
the greatest need is to redefine and reaffmn the basic and
fundamental aims of national policy and to strengthen na­
tional concensus. The three principles and permanent goals
of national policy are;

1) to safeguard the territorial i ntegrity and independence of

the nation.

2) to strengthen national cohesion and institution and

3) to develop the country economic and social potential.

raise the standard of living of the people and about so-

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cial justice in accordance with the tenants of Islam

among the people and reform the country's institutions
in line with the need of the modem age.

The three objective are intricately and closely inter-linked.

Our frontiers cannot be secure if i nternal dissenions and
divisions undermine the foundations of national unity. Na·
tional cohesion cannot be fostered i f democratic institutions
are subverted. A nation like Pakistan, created by an act of
self determination, can only survive and flourish by coun­
tinually renewed concensus.

Political independence will remain without substance so

long as the country is mired in poverty. people steeped in
ignorance the bulk of the population deprived of the ordi·
nary amenities of life, proper health care and housing, clean
water and electricity and so forth. Our independence is
trammelled when our economy becomes yearly more in­
debted and our plans for development and progress depend
on decisions of foreign .legislatures and international banks.

Foreign policy has a vital rote to play in the attainment of

the national goals I have outlined. If it is out of touch with
realities if i t shows ineptitude or opportunism, the country
may have to pay a heavy price. Skill, knowledge and
professionalism are important elements i n the successful
conduct of diplomacy but overriding everything else is the
need for our foreign policy makers to be imbued with
awareness of national goals and vision.

As I said Pakistan 's relations with the two countries which

are closest to us not only in geography but in many ways,
have been unhappy from the beginning. yet, stable and
friendly relationship with these two countries is the keys­
tone to peace in the region and lhe progress and prosperity

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of all three. At Simla a path was charted out that was to take
Pakistan and India • through a just and peaceful settlement
of their difference and disputes and by promoting friendly
co-operation in various spheres, towards an honourable and
lasting peace. It would have strengthened peace and stabil­
ty in the entire region had that path been followed with
more resolute steps. had more than lip service been paid to
the aims and purposes set out i n the Simla Agreement,
there would remain no cause for the mistrust and tension
which continue to bedevil relations between the two
countries. Indeed many of the problems which are trou­
bling the peace of region, including the conflict in Af­
ghanistan, may not have arisen or taken the tum they have
if Pakistan - India were at peace with each other as visual­
ized by their leaders at Simla.

I was there with my father and although our countries were

at war amd India had attacked and invaded our country. I
was impressed by the spirit of hope and goodwill shown by
both leaders and their evident determination to make a new
start. Nor shall I forget the warmth and friendliness shown
to my father and to me personally by the ordinary people of
India. The PPP i s determind to do everything it can to
revive the spirit of Simla. The people of Pakistan and India
are not destined to be enemies. They are nor condemned to
wasting their resources and energies in meaningless conflict
and rivalry. In the 40th year of their independence new
generation have grown up in both countries free of the bit­
terness and bloody memories of partition. We both share
many problems in common� have a similar attitude on
world issues specially those concerning economic develop­
ment and justice. Both can gain from cooperation to meet
the challenges of the rapidly changing times . As the
smaller of the two countries. Pakistan poses no threat to
India. But while we are the smaller country we cannot ac-

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cept a · "big brother'' role for our neighbour. We will not

accept discriminatory treatment i n any sphere. We consider
it unwise and dangerous for either country to try to profit
from internal discension in the other.

Nearly 20 years ago. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had this to say

about Afghanistan. ''If all the states of Asia and Africa, are
put together and we were asked to choose one out of all of
them for its imponance to Pakistan. Afghanistan would
probably head the list". He cautioned in words which now
sound like a premonition. Good relations with Afghanis­
tan can bring infinite good to Pakistan. S trained relations
between our two contries cancause irreparable demage to
both in war and in peace. I spoke earlier of Afghan irriden­
tism and Pakistans constant concern over the possibility of
being confronted with a threat on both fronts. In actual
fact, during none of our wars with India, did Afghnistan
even give pakistan the least cause for concern about the
western front. That fact says much about the deepest and
abiding fraternity which binds our two people.

Yet today the Afghan people are no longer masters in their

own country. Almost a third of the population has fled the
country and of this number 3 million are in Pakistan. In the
8th year of civil strife and foreign occupation the brave and
free people of the Afghani stan, true to their ancient tradi­
tion. remain finn in their refusal to accept foreign domina­
tion. Pakistan for which so much is at stake seems neither to
help them bring the fighting to a successful conclusion nor
to bring about a peaceful seulement of the turmoil . There
was a point of time, at an early stage of the crisis, when we
might have played such a role and by helping to end the
war in Afghanistan, put our own relations with Afghanis­
tan on a pennanently stable basis. Instead our military
rulers saw i n the Afghan crisis an opportu ni ty to gain

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foreign aid and sympathy for their own ends and preferred
to play politics with the mujahideen movement. So as a
result Pakistan had become itself embodied in Afghan war
and its cold war entanglements and remifications in Pakis­
tan.

Let me make it absolutely clear that the PPP stands firmly

for a political settlement of the Afghan problem incorporat­
ing the withdrawal of Soviet troops and the return of Af­
ghan refugees. We appreciate the need for social reforms
and justice in Afghanistan and consider that is for the Af­
ghan people themselves to deal with these matters and
resolve their internal problems without any interference
from any foreign quarter, we believe that non-aliganed and
independent Afghanistan maintaning friendly relations with
all its neighbours, including the· soviet Union, would be a
factor for peace and stability in the region and that a swift
end to the Afghan war, on the basis of these principles,
would do honour and bring advantage to all the protagonists
in the tragic and unnecessary conflict. The removal of this
focus of confrontation between the super powers cannot,
fail to have a beneficial effect on their relations in other
spheres and makes an important contribution to world peace
and stability. A new opportunity for an A fghan settlement
may be in General Secretary Gorbachev's plans to restruc­
ture and open up the Soviet system and his anxiety to be rid
of the running sore of Afghanistan . The question for Pakis­
tan, at this crucial junctures, is whether we have the im­
agination, the clarity of purpose and political will to seize
the opportunity.

I turn now to our relations with the Super Powers with the
both of whom they have rarely been more difficult and
complex as at the present time. The Soviet Union, with
whom many ups and downs in reciprocal relationships we

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had in the past no direct quarrel , now consider Pakistan 's
Policy as a factor inimical to its position in the region and
the government a too willing tool i n the cold war on the
side of the USA. At the same time our relations with the
USA multifacted and long standing and subject to even
greater ups and downs over the years, are once again enter­
ing a stage of mutual suspicion and recrimination. Thus at
a time when Pakistan is confronted with the difficulties and
dangers on both fronts, it also faces the active hospitality of
one Super Power and pressures and threats from the other.

Pakistan's need for nuclear energy is evident and indis­

putable. Pakistan is ftnnly opposed to nuclear proliferation
both as a matter of principle and because nuclear prolifera­
tion constitute a direct and immediate threat to Pakistan 's
security. For Pakistan 's safety lies not in developing
nuclear weapons of its own but i n seeking that nuclear
weapons are not introduced in the region in any shape or
fonn. B ut it is clear that non- proliferation in our region
cannot be brought about through unilateral and unrecipro­
cated steps by Pakistan. Various proposals to ensure
nuclear non-proliferation on a regional basis were put for­
ward by Pakistan as early as 1 973. They are eminently
reasonable but have failed to carry conviction, and the
regime has been unable to mobilize i nternational opinion or
the diplomatic weight of the Great Powers behind any of
these proposals. On a question so vital to the nation
progress and survival our policy must be; clear and
equivocal No to nuclear weapons but a ftnn no aJso to any
discrimination in the matter or to any restriction on our
right to acquire the modem technologies necessary for the
nations progress and security in this respect. Let us recall
again the words of Zulftkhar Ali Bhutto : "It is no good
trying to outwit or outsmart a Great Power••.

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 241

In the long years of military rule Pakistan•s role in the

world forums has diminished and tended to become mar­
gi nal. The simplistic logic of the military rulers has made
the country's Foreign Policy undimensional and inflexible.
Yet Pakistan belongs to many overlapping and concentric
groupings of states SAARC and the Economic Cooperation
Organization with Iran and Turkey, the OIC, the group of
77, NAM, and of course the United Nations and its family
of agencies. organizations and programmes.

In todays interdependent world, foreign policy is not a mat­

ter only bf pursuing the country's national interests but of
reconciling them with the great movements which are
changing and reshaping the world. As the end of the 20th
.Century approaches, important changes and realignment of
forces are taking place in the world which will bring about
a fundamental transformation in the pattern of international
relations and the structure developed in the after World War
ll years. Arms control agreements between the U.S.A and
the U.S.S.R. which are in the offing, continued at present to
short and medium range missiles, cannot failed to have a
profound effect on the relations between the Super Power
and the future course on the nuclear arms race between
them. A reproachement between China and the U.S.S.R.
which is gradually taking shape will be a development of
no less significance, specially for neighbouring countries
such as Pakistan. Of particular interest to Pakistan is the
prospect of a settlement between China and India.

This is a development which we need not fear in itself and

would welcome if it strengthens peace between Pakistan
and India and leads to a wider understanding in the region.
Far-reaching consequenses for the countries concerned
themselves and for the world at large may flow from the
changing of the guard and the fundamental interval trans-

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formations which are underway in China and Soviet Union.

The future may also see greater political expression of
Japan's enormous and still growing economic power.
Japan's economic power combined with the emergence of
China and economic take-off acheived by the countries of
the Pacific ocean and South East Asia foreshadow the
making of a new, perhaps predominent centre of the world
in the 2 1 st centuary. On the other hand, the power and
potential of our brother countries of the Middle East
paralyzed by intercine disputes, nulified by the Arab-Israel
challenge. The war between Iran and Iraq has ·laid waste
the lives of a whole generation and the resources of
countries. It is a war of which the end is not in sight and
when the end comes - as one day it must - no great purpose
will have been served - for either side. Meanwhile the war
has made the gulf a hot point of international tension and
increased the military presence in the region of the two
Super Powers.

Pakistan itself stands at the hub of the turmoil in Asia, but

more as a spectator than an actor. Our voice carries little
weigtit on issues the outcome of which will be of the utmost
concern for Pakistan. Even in the case of Afghanistan,
despite the presence on our soil of 3 million refugees and
all the important Afghan parties and movements, Pakistan
seems unable to play a decisive role in bringing the crises to
an end. But the regime boasts that in the tumult and turmoil
around us Pakistan stands as an island of order and stability.
This is deception and self-delusion. Pakistan is not an is­
land of peace but a ship adrift in a sea of troubles. A ship
propelled forward thus far not by a sense of purpose and
firm hands at the t.iller but by winds of fortuitous events.
Now the self-appointed captains seized our ship of state
have brought it into dangerous waters full of reeps and
shoals. With no clear idea of where to go, they could well

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run at aground.

I would be misleading the country if 1 said that there was an

easy way out of these difficulties and back into the open
waters. Diplomatic jugglery and stratagems will not get us
there. What we need is a government and a leadership that
is honest with the people and honest with the world. Only a
government whose strength lies in the united suppon of the
people, a government which is accountable to the people,
can muster the national will and harness the skills to face
and overcome the present dangers and those that lie ahead.

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 2A7

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S OVIET WITHDRA WL
AND THEREAFfER
(Speech delivered at State Guest House in Prime Minister's
Conference on Afghan issue on 5.3 . 1988)

The Pakistan People.,s Party appreciates and welcomes

the initiative taken by Mr. Mohammad Khan Junejo for a
dialogue on the Afghanistan issue with the leaders of the
political parties who belong to the opposition We fiillly l
believe that in a democratic system the affairs of the state
should be settled in consultation with each other. As the
Quaid-e-Azam once told the leaders of the Indian Nation­
al Congress: 'Let us talk to each other and not talk at
each other, ' So if we follow the Quaids advice we shall
be able to come to an understanding not only on ·the Af­
ghanistan issue but also many other serious problems

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facing the country and we may also succeed in removing

serious misgivinjs caused from time to time.

This ·meeting is a meeting of hope and promise. Each one

of us today carries the burden and the responsibility of en­
suring that the hopes are lived upto and the promises ful­
filled. Afghanistan may be on the agenda but the eyes of
the nation are on this momentous gathering. Momentous
it is. This is the first dialogue between the administration
and the opposition since the illegal coup d'etat of july 5,
1977, overthrew the representative government of the
federation. Almost eleven years when the democratic
hallmarks of diatoguke were thrown aside for the most
brutal dictatorshop. We welcome this dialogoue. We do
not want anarchy and bloodshed. Matters of national im­
portance, the d estiny of the federation, the security con­
cerns of our Nation should be resolved by a dabate and
discussion tolerating dissent and democratically arrived
at. No opportunity should be offorded to adventurist to
play golf with the fate of the impoverished exploited and
downtrodden people of Pakistan. This invitation of
yours, Mr. Prime Minister, carries both substantive and
symbolic weight. Symbolically it carries the potential of
signalling an end to era when power was usurped. An
elected Prime Minister who restored honour to Pakistan
was assassi nated and when even shariat couns were
made subordinate to summary military courts. Even
women were not spared. The transiton from military rule
to full democracy is never an easy one. Today Pakistan
is still at the crossroads. We take at face valu your intent
to hold election - although our views on early polls and
the 1973 constitution are well known to you. But we can­
not exclude the possibility of the process being sub­
verted on any p�text -- such as the disputed polls of
1977 were siezed for lust of power at the cost of the
-

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highest narional interests of the federation.

The irony is that in our country those who gave Pakistan

a unanimous Islamic Democratic and ·representative cons­
titution are elected as 'independents • to the Senate, those
who declared themselves demi-gods beyond accountp
ability , today boast of the 'accountability' and those who
stripped an elected Prime Minister of his rights and or­
dered security forces to rrre on the people of Pakistan
today weep because the • guard outside their homes ' has
been removed. These ironies of fate need not occur in
our country if the civilians resolve their differences.
evolve an acceptable framework under which the final
arabitrators are the people of the country.

Against the torrured background of the last eleven years,

against fragmentation and wells of bitterness and blood­
shed. it could not have been easy for you to take this in­
i tiative.

Neither was it easy for us, given our own principled

stands, to accept this invitation. Moreover, i n the view of
the concluded talks with U.S. representative, the comple­
tion of the Assembly debates and the resumption of talks
at Geneva, some of us did feel that the meeting may not
serve any meaningful result as Pakistan's position was al·
ready predetermind. But. without prejudice to our stand,
we took the risk of accepting the invitation. We did so
because we want to encourage the concept of dialogue,
create good will for further discussion - such as the
release of political prisioners and an election supervisory
body amongst other - and finally because we want you,
Mr. Prime Minister, to emerge as the voice of the ad­
ministration on Afghanistan. It was painful for us to note
that the Indian Prime Minister invited the Chief of Army

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 2Sl

Staff to India for talks on Afghanistan. There should be

no confusion in our country or outside. Those who did
not derive the basis of their rule from the geo-strategic
position of Pakistan following the Soviet presence in Af­
ghanistan would be more willing to see the Afghan issue
settled expeditously.

While respecting your wish to discuss the Afghan issue

we look forward to your hearing us on other vital issues
confronting us. Some of these include the political
prisoners of the Martial Law years and those arrested in
the August 1986 Movement - such as the Khisano Mori
case - who are on the nation's conscience. The over­
throw of the 1973 Constitution has spawned regional and
ethnic strife which the Kalabagh Dam threatens to accen­
tuate. According to media reports some Muslim League
members of the National Assembly joined us in complain­
ing about the structural manipulations in the local bodies
election. Given the last fall out of disputed natioanl
polls, we need an election scheme considered satisfactory
and acceptable to all concerned. Perhaps somthing
similar to that which was worked out between the PPP
government and the PNA in 1977 before the imposition
of Manial Law.

Coming to the Afghan issue: We have heard with great

attention the st a temen t made by the Prime Minister and
Mr. Noorani's briefing on the current development at the
Geneva talks. It i s clear that the Afghan issue has
entered a critical stage. The manner in which it is settled
and the decisions to be taken by Pakistan now, will have
far-reaching consequences in the region as a whole and
the world at large, and for our own relations with Af­
ghanistan and other neighbouring countries as well as the
Great Power. An A fghan settlement cannot fail to have

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the most profound repercussions also on many aspects of

life in Pakistan for Pakistan became increasingly involved
in the conflict and is host to 3 million refugees. It is vital
therefore that the d�isions we have to take should be
taken after the most careful consideration of all their im­
plications and consequences. the only interest that we
have to protect is the security of Pakistan, now and in
times to come. the purpose that we must bear in mind
and promote is peace in our neighbourhood and the well­
being of our people.

The PPP and other parties in opposition have been criti­

cal of the military regime for its motives and objectives
in invovlving Pakistan in the Afghan crisis and for its
handling of the issue. We are convinced that if a popular
government had been in power in Pakistan in 1979. the
country would have been able to play a positive role in
th" Afghan crisis and perhaps things would have gone dif­
ferently in Afghanistan itself. B ut we are not here to
seek pany advantage or to criticize for the sake of
criticizng.

Speaking in Karachi last December, I expressed the

PPP's position on the Afghan issue in the following
words:
"The PPP stands imnly for a political settlement of the
Afghan problem incorporating the withdrawal of the
Soviet troops and the return of Afghan refugees. We ap­
precriate the need for social reform and social justice in
Afghanistan and consider that it is for the Afghan people
themselves to deal with these matters and resolve their in­
ternal problems without any interference from any foreign
parties; we believe that a non-aligned and independent Af­
ghanistan. maintaining friendly relations with all its neigh-

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bours, including the Soviet union. would be a factor

peace and stability in the region and that a swift end to
the Afghan war on the basis of these priniciples, would
do honour and bring advantage to all the protagonists in
the tragic and unnecessary conflict. The removal of this
focus of confrontation effect on relations in other spheres
and make an important contribution to world peace and
stability. a new opportunity for an Afghan settlement
may lie in General-Secretary Gorbachev's plans to resttuc·
ture and open up the Soviet system and his anxiety to gat
rid of the running sore of Afghanistan.

The question for Afghanistan is whether we have the

imagination, the clarity of purpose and political will to
seize the oportunity."

I should add that the PPP belives firmly in a policy of

balanced and friendly relation, based on mutual benefit and
mutual respect, with all the great powers. Our good
relations with the U nited S tates have a long history and
need not be tactical in nature. We do not share the
nervousness of those who feel that when peace returns to

Afghanistan. Pakistan will lose American friendship and

support.

The Soviet action in Afghanistan made it difficult for

Pakistan to maintain the friendly relations with the USSR
which should exist between close neighbours. But with
the settlement of the Afghan crisis. we should look for­
ward to a great improvement and expansion in Pakistan­
Soviet relations. Pakistan has nothing to gain from get­
ting involved in the cold war.

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In February 1 987 during its Peshawar session, the PPP

pointed out that while the Soviet Union �d United States
can live with acceptable time-table of withdraw} • for
Pakistan the question is not simply of withdrawal but also
of the return of more than 3 million refugees on our soil.
Despite the aid we have been getting, the burden having
of million refugees has been a heavy one for our country.
With the settlement world attention will shift elsewhere.
We should not be left holding the refugees. The people
of Pakistan are united in seeking a solution which leads
to the return of the refugees. Conducive conditions for
their return are essential. We want a settlement where
the refugees go back in safety.

Therefore, the questions which have become pressing are:

What is to happen in Afghanistan during the 10-12

months of Soviet withdraw- J? What measure can be
devised to prevent bloodshed,to guard against a break­
down of law and order, ensure that no further influx of
refugees pour into Pakistan because the civil war con­
tinues.

In raising these questions, we do not wish suggest that

the Afghans need outside tuterage to settle their
problems. Every country, whether big or small and
whatever the nature of its internal problems, must solve
these problems in its own way and no country has the
right, even for the most benign motives, to interfere in
the affairs of another. It is not for outsiders to decide
what should be nature or complexion a composition of
the government to be set up in Afghanistan once the
Soviet withdraw. The withdrawal is evidently the frrst
priority. Nothing should therefore be allowed to hamper
or delay their departure for the beginning and completion

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of which the Soviet Union has already set a date and dura­
tion.

Even after they have gone, the consequenses and after ef­
fects of their long presence will remain: those cannot be
effaced overnight or dissapear by themselves.

Our concern is that the. transition that follows the Soviet

withdrawal nothing should happen that would lead to con­
tinued instability and its concurrent consequenses on
Pakistan. It is vital that the transition is made as peaceful­
ly as circumstances permit and no new disorder and tur­
moil should add needlessly to the sufferings. the Afghan
people have undergone in the last eight years. Such a
peaceful transition is possible only if the order which fol­
lows the Soviet withdrawal enjoys the confidence of all
the elements involved in the Afghan civil war.

The question of an internationally recognised internation­

al boundary is one which has plagued Afghan - Pakistan
relations. We hope a settlement also incorporates the
draft agreement of 1 976 reached between President Daud
and Shaheed Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on the
recognition of the Durand as the recognized international
boundary. With that I would like to conclude the PPP
brief.

Thank you for the patient hearing.

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DEPENDENCE ­
THE OTHER NAME OF WOMAN
(Statement 011 /mernatio11al Women 's day 011 8.3. 1988)

It is the extremely backward condition of the Pakistani

women that impels special scrutiny. Under normal cir­
cumstances the proper objective would be for the two
sexes to advance together, however, when one group lags
far behind, efforts must be made to bring it at par before
the ideal ofPannership could be brought into operation.

If one is asked to describe the state of the Pakistani

woman in one word i t could be 'DEPENDENCE' . She is
not in command of her own life. From brith to death
dicisions affecting her are taken by others. She lives out

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her days in a culture where poverty, ignorance and ill­
health are accepted nonns . Pakistan is a patriarchal
society to the point of caricature. It is men who define
the tenns oif women's existence. re i nforce a self image
-

of helplessness and subordination, whether they are

treated as mere cattle or as precious wards. It is only a
few women who break out of this restricti n g social
framework to live l i fe on their own tenns. Otherwise
women find self-respect only in relation to a man. this is
the antithesis of the spirit of the IBR (International Bill of
Ri ghts which enjoins autonomy of the human indivitual
Limited only by the right of autonomy of fellow beings).
The present situation is �ountry to the highest expression
of an Islamic society which envisages men and women as
complementary and mutually supportin g .

It is all very well for · Muslim countries to take umbrage

at a UN report that cites Islam as a cause of female back­
wardness, but an honest apprai sl of policy and practices
in the muslims world reveals that the treatment of women
leaves much to be desired. No wonder the outside ob­
server begins to think that religion itself bestows a subser­
vient role upon women even though believi ng Muslims
know that this is not case. Unfortunately obscurantism
and half backed notions in the garb of sacred edict
havedone great dam a ge to the women of Pakistan and
therby to the nation.

In Pakistan, health, education and employment figures

speak eloquently of the neglect of women. The 1 98 1 cen­
sus discloses the male-female ratio as Til to 100 and the
female population at 48 percent. Women are less than
half of the total inhabitants the demographic picture is of
a decl ini ng female population. A pronouced son
prefemce results in less care and attention to the health

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 2S8

and nutrition of girls and a genedll indifference to their

education. They are not encourged to express themselves
outside the family circle. the majority of girls are ex­
pected to ferfonn on endless series of repetitive reward.
Lives of unrelieved drudgery are not even compenstaed
with some personal income. Any cash earned is pooled
into the family kitty.

Throughout the educational structure in Pakistan the num­

ber of institutions catering to females is far below the
number for males. The rollment ratio of girls and women
is also much lower being approximately one female for
three males at every rung of the educational ladder.The
drop-out rate for girls in much higher and we have been
left with the abysmal figure of 16 percent overall literacy
for women. while the estimate in rural areas is disgrace­
ful 7 percent. There is hardly any other country Beven in
the least developed regions where such dvast multitudes
of women are not even alphabatized. Yet we calim to be
heirs to a proud Islamic civilization, a civilization based
on a faith that exhorts its followers with clear injunction
to read, learn and think.

Similarly, in the economis and employment sector

women of Pakistan do not have equal access to resources
either within the household or outside it. The labour of
women at home and on fann is unremunerated. When
they do enter paid em ployment it is at lower wage levels.
the labour force participation rate of women is again one
of the lowest in the world at 5 percent. This is a poor
record for a nation of 1 00 million, the tenth most
populous country in the world. We are aware that Pakis­
tan's economy is geared to the neo-colonial mode of or­
ganisation and withtin this system econmic j ustice is i m­
possible for either sex. the woman is therfore exploited

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within a general framework of exploitation. However as

countries struggle to attain self-reliance within a new
World Economic Order, it is possible to avoid extreme in­
justice to women. In fact it is impossible to acheive a
healthy, debt-free economy in a nation where women are
steeped in ingnorance, fanning a perpetually vulnerable
group.

The illegal seizure of power by the Chief of Army Staff

in 1 977 prevented the complete repon of the Women's
Rights Committee from seeing the light of day. and the
hope of progressive measures that might have flowed
from it. Under Manial Law. orthodoxy has been en­
couraged to unleash its venom against women. Mullahs
of evcery hue and description have a license to isue
edicts, to publicly slander educated women, to be in­
volved in legislation although they enjoy no consent from
the people. As a result of these exercieese we have the
Hudood Ordinance ( 1 979) which among other aberra­
tions, reduces a woman to half and renders her vulnerable
to violence. the amended Law of Evidence ( 1 982) again
excluded women as withnesses in. many situklation. It is
an insult to women and minorities. the infamous 8th
Amendment gives sanctity to all Martial Law violation of
Human Rights.

In the works though not promulgated, the Qisas and Diyat

Bill also values a murdered as half, while the 9th Amend­
ment seeks to snatch away from women their only inade­
·
quate legal protection - The muslim Family Laws Or­
dinance ( 1 96 1).

The status of Women Commission, a high level body, set

up by the regime in 1982 with a comprehensive mandate
a generous budget submitted its repon in 1 984. But in-

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spite of the chorus of demands for its release, it has been

. suppressed by the reactionary military regime.

We pay tribute to all those women and men within and

outside our Party who protested the imposition of legisla­
tion demeaning to women, who raised their voice or
wrote and who were arrested and imprisoned . But for
them, these issues would have faded away, while the
military bulldozer crushed all rights unchallenged.

In its wisdom the reg ime has decided to raise the voting
age from 1 8 to 2 1 . this disenfranchises several million
young men and women for the next general election
whenever they are held. One can only marvel at the logic
by which young men of eighteen are old enough to bear
arms and even die in defence of their country, but they
areconsidered too young to have a say in how they are
governed. Le gaily young men of eighteen and women
of sixteen are old enough to many and have a family but
they are denied the right to an opinion regarding the
setup in which they are to do so.

The ten years of Martial Law have seen an increase in ag­

gression and violence against women perpetrated by the
State itself, its ultimate expression be ing the public flog­
ging .of women. this unprecedented barbarism i s justified
in the name of Islamic Justice, when those in power in­
itiate the trend, it is not surprising if criminal elements in
society also seek out women as victims.

However, we harbour no intertion to deride the devout,

the men and women of true faith. the ulema have a vital
role i.e. to provide spiritual guiedance and solace to the
people in town and country, to educate them in the eter.­
nal principles of the great ethical, moral system of Islam .

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But the PPP fumaly believes that law making is the prer­
gative of the elected representives alone and not of a cler­
gy outside parliament.

The PPP is committed to msmg living standards and

reducing income disparities amongst the citizens of Pakis­
tan. It is specially pledged to work for the vulnerable
groups, the women and children who are so frequently
forgotten when policies and budgets are designed.
We plan to address primary education with the higest
prioity. Special allocations will be made to bring girls
into schools and keep them there until they are atleast
frunctionally literate.

The convention on the Elimination of Discrimination

against Women will be scrutinised with a view to its
adoption, bringing our country in alignment with humanis­
tic international thinking.

It is within the larger contest of social transformation that

we place the question of women •s status. It is not a mat­
ter of merely providin g relief to historically disadvantage
community but a necesity to raise the debate to a far
higher level to understand and bring about a qualitative
chang in the attitudes and actions of society towords its
women.

With this objective, the Pakistan People's Party seeks to

foster active encouragement to its women citizens to
enter every level of plublic activity, to demand and
receive the essential family and social support in newer
and more dynamic roles.

Our Pany. whithout any reservation, stands for the com­

plete equality of women in every sphere of human exist-

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ence. We do not envisage women as f.:>rever pleading

and protesting against decisions already made for them,
or as a perpetually disavantage community seeking to
wrench concessions from a reluctant male· dominated
order. For us women are part of the process of social
tranfonnation and their public and family contribution is
integral to the healthy growth of society.

As regards eligibility for office you can see before your­

self the living example of a woman Chairperson and a
woman Co-Chairperson of the country•s largest political
Party.

Pakistan was a signatory to the International Bill of

Huamn Rights or the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights proclaimed of December 1 0, 1 948. This universal
document of thirty articles enshrines all possible rights
and freedoms for men, women and children, making no
distinction of race, colour, sex, language, religion, politi­
cal or other opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status.

Governments have not been true to the their pledge and

in Pakistan military curuption have made a mockery of
the solemn committment to recognition of the inherent
dignity and equality of all citizens. It was during the PPP
Government that the Constitution of 1973 was adopted by
a popularly elected National Assembly. The democratic
Constitution of 1973 embodies the Fundamental Rights of
the UN International Bill of Rights and goes even further
by including special safeguards for women, even though
all articles of the Constitution apply equally to them. It
was the PPP Government which rendered constitutional
protection to the Family Laws Ordinance (196 1 ), which
has been the target from reactionary groups, who seek its

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repeal.

The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Dis­

crimination Against Women (CEDAW) which came into
force in 198 1 , also contains 30 Articles that specifically
refer to women. It has been signed or retified by over 90
countries but the present rulers of Pakistan arc reluctant
to sign it.

Most comprehensive todate is the Document adopted at

the UN Women's Conference held at Nairobi for which
Pakistan also voted. Called the Forward-looking
Strategies to the Year 2000, it spells out in great detail
policies and means for implementation that will ac­
celerate the equality and progress of women in every pos­
sible area of human life.

The PPP honours all the UN Plans, Declaration and

Strategies devised by the world body that are aimed to
make governments responsible towards their women
citizens. 2000 as a target year leaves little time, but with
the political will and people's suppon many of the
strategies could be adopted and the right directions set.

The Women•s Rights Committee set up by Prime Mini­

ster Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1 976 was a step towards inves­
tigating the conditions of women with a view to u nder­
take remedial steps to improve their status. It will be
recalled that the PPP government opened the Foreign Ser­
vice to women for the fmt time. As an outcome we have
over 20 women Foreign Service Officers today. The
Bridal G ifts Restriction Act ( 1 974) was also intended to
curb wasteful marriage expenditure.

A Permanent Federal Status of Women Commission must

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be instituted with similar bodies replicated in the provin­

ces and districts. These will act as vigilance and referral
centres, providing a countrywide network to monitor the
requirements and rights of women.

The Pakistan Peoples Party is setting an example, but we

realise the need to recruit and appoint more workers and
office-bearers at all levels of the Pany structure. Work at
the local level is the best training experience for eventual
active involvement in mainstream public life. A time
will come when there will be no status of women
problem, where discussions such as today' s will seem
redundant Let us all resolve to strive towards that day.

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CHILD REN - VICTIM

OF AGGRESSION
(StotemetJI 011 lmermllional doy of lmwcem Children, Viclims of
Aggression 011 4.6. 1988)

Today the world commemorates International Day of In­

nocent Children, Victims of Aggression. As a result of
the socio - economic situation. aggression on children
begins at home or some would say, it starts in his
mother's womb. ( Because of malnuttition of the mother,
most children are born weak.) Sometimes they are born
disabled and diseases and many do not survive for long.
its rare that poor children can afford to be educated and
only sllightly better off parents manage to admit their
children in schools. As a result of bad economics teachers
too come from a tension-ridden environment. They are

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not very qualified either. They too subject children to

maltreatment and take their frustrations out on them.

The miserable plight of the common man forces him to

seek employment for his minors. The e xploiters in tum
strike an easy bargain and extract maximum labour out of
children, for a meagre salary.

Pakistan is basically an agrarian society. Children are

made to work in open fields, in the worst heat and cold,
for nominal returns. Influential land owners loby even
manages to get schools closed down during harvest
seasons in order to extract free or cheap labour from
children. It is estimated that more than 75% of labour
employed in hand-knotted carpet industries comprises of
children, between the ages of 5 and 1 2. For this industry,
beside the advantage of low wage, children can tie finer
knots with small fingers. Similarly the shoe industry and
many cottage/packaging industries etc. are noteable
places of children labour. Quite a sizeable number of
children are also employed as domestic servants. Condi­
tions of work are horrible. They · are bullied and beaten.
They develop diseases like A sthema, Tuberclosis, etc. It
is an acknowledged reality that love, care, protection, free
environment and the like are essential for the grooming
of children, At this age, children need the care and affec­
tion of their parents and family members. When in school
they need guidance and encouragement rather than hate.
They need to be brought up in a free environment,
where there is democracy, justice and fairplay, rather
than dictatorship. suppression and exploitation. The en­
vironment in which our children are born and raised. ad­
versely affect their physical and mental growth. They
are not afforded conductive opportunities to nourish them­
selves. Aggression sha.tters their confidence. Their bodies

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and minds become prone to diseases. When a child

remains uneducated, he is dissatisfied with his future. His
reciprocity and understanding suffer. The existance of
' Begar camps' is the worst of stigmas on our society.
Ch i ldren are shackled, tortured, and hard . labour got out
of them.

Such a state of affairs cannot exist without the knowledge

of the administration. Children are future gardians of our
country. What will happen to our mother land, if such
conditions are allowed to persist? It is indeed the respon­
sibility of the government to do away with such excesses.
Child labour should be declared a heinous crime and the
hardest of punishments invoked for its violation.

But the crux of the matter is the socio-economic system

of the country. The Peoples Party wishes to create a truly
democratic and egalitarian set-up: where people are af­
forded genui ne opportunities to work, develop and
prosper ; where children are afforded free and compul­
sory education; where the government is bound to look
after the education,health, upbringing and overall welfare
of a child and where children are born and raised in free
and democratic environment, the problem of INNOCENT
CHILDREN, VICTIMS OF -AGGRES SION can be drasti­
cally tackled..

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BROKEN PROMISES
(Resolution of Central Execwive Commillu o} P. P. P . General
Ziaul Haq 's Dissollllion of Assemblies on 29.05. 1988)

The Pakistan Peoples Party n:otes that General Zia has dis­
missed Assemblies and Prime Minister he created through
the 1 985 elections. It notes that General Zia has promised
to hold elections within three months according to the
1 985 Constitution. The PPP notes that a caretaker ad­
ministration is being formed to supervise the elections.

We in the Pakistan Peoples Party repeatedly called for

mid-tenn elections as a means to strengthen the limited
political process in the country which had been initiated
with the holding of controlled elections of 1 985.

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We had predicted in 1986 that the present structure can­
not last until 1 990 and mid-term elections will be held. It
would have been better if these elections had been held as
a consequence of the civilian administration and opposi­
tion reaching a settlement. Nonetheless, we welcome the
principles of fair, free and impanial party based elections.
Our Party is anxious to go to the people of the country
who are the true masters of the Nation 's destiny.

Pakistan today is facing a grave crisis striking at the roots

of our unity and integrity. The long years of military dic­
tatorship have fanned provincial hatred and eroded nation­
al consensus. Corruption is rampant and the back of the
ordinary man is broken by unemployment, retrenchment
and high prices. The Army has been deployed in Sindh
for three years but has failed to curb what is termed as
'Lawlessness •.

We believe political problems cannot be solved, only

heightened by repression and suppression. Only a politi­
cal ideology and programme which cuts across narrow
sectarian and ethnic lines can give the nation respite
from bitter clashes and help create brotherhood and har­
mony.

The Pakistan Peoples Party believes that Pakistan faces

the danger of disintegration. The inception of this process
of disintegration began with the coup of 1977. It is the
duty of all patriots to put an end to this process of disin­
tegration. This can only be done if the strength of the
people is galvanised.

We call upon the caretaker administration to recognise

the gravity of the situation. Given the track record of
broken promises and postponed elections, the people of

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Pakistan await anxiously for fmn assurance that elections

will be held which are fair, free and impanial, that are
pany-bassed and in accordance with the Constitution of
1 973. Even under the Constitution of 1 985 elections must
be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the Assembly
by the President and there is no const.itutional escape
from this.

The 1 985 experiment in which political panies were

debarred and in which the premier pany of the country
was kept out are before us all. Any such tactics now can
only funher deepen the crisis. create greater disillusin­
ment and discontent, and give the enemies of Pakistan an
opponunity to play havoc with the very integrity and
sovereignity of Pakisan.

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ZIA'S END
(Resolution of Central Executive Committee of P. P. P. on C /30
Crash on 18.8. 1988)

Genral Zia's era ended as it began. in violence. As mus­

lims do not rejoice in death. Our battle with Zia was a
political battle.

In temationaly Zia m ay be remembered as the m an who

stood up to the Soviets after they entered in Afghanistan.
Inside Pakistan he will be remembered as the man who il­
legally seized power and after 1 1 and a half years of
repressive rule, left behind nothing but debts and
mortgages, hunger and unemployment, exploitation and
discrimination, drugs and corruption. However the Zia era
is in the past and we must dwell on the future.

The challenge of the future is to overcome the legacy of

the Zia years through the reconstruction of Pakistan on
the basis of Federalism, democracy and Egalitarianism
Now constitutional and institutional means must be fol­
lowed to ensure stability and security of Pakistan.

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The Acting President has been placed by fate at a critical

position and critical time. Every patriotic Pakistani will
want him to suceed in ensuring a stable transfer of power
in Pakistan.

We in the Pakistan People' s Party are prepared to

cooperate for constitutional response to the vacuum in of­
fice created by the death of General Zia. We are hopeful
that as a seasoned and experienced person, the Acting
President will not only remain neutral but respond to the
national aspirations of the people by:

a) Holding party based elections on November 1 6, 1 988.

b) Ensure conducive political annospher by even­

handed treatment of all political parties.

c) A caretaker cabinet composed of Senators or other in­

dividuals who would not be fighting elections and
thereby not have a vested interest in its results.

d) Appointment of non controvercial judicial officers as

caretaker Cheif Ministers.

The CEC noted the loss of Anned Forces personnel

traveling on the same plane. It grieved with the nation
and their families on the loss of the defenders of the na­
tion.

The CEC also noted that the Ambassador of the United

States, Arnold Raphel, was on tho plane and lost his life.
Raphel was a distiguished diplomat associated with the
transition to democracy. We join his wife and family in
grieving his loss.

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