Lahore High Court Bar Association
Address of Leader of the Opposition, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto
June 30, 1998

Honourable office bearers, members of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

I am privileged to meet with the distinguished members of this noble profession. My own rendezvous with law and the judicial institutions has been extraordinary. It has truly been a momentous encounter: though not always gratifying yet never devoid of emotion. 

Today as I stand her among you, I see our nation besieged by colossal challenges. Yet the lack of vision of those who today hold the reigns of power in the name of the people has paralysed our ability to respond to the task we as a nation are confronted with. 

Just as Pakistan was first a dream of our great visionary Allama Iqbal, so nuclear power was the dream of another great visionary leader Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Shaheed. He had promised the people of Pakistan that we shall never compromise on our sovereignty and dignity regardless of the price and the consequences. He stood by his promise and sacrificed his life to see it become a reality. However, the present rulers have been unable to contribute to our national solidarity. 

At a time when we have achieved nuclear parity we are facing one of the gravest threats to our security. 

It would not be an exaggeration to say that we are in a position comparable to the former Soviet Union in its last days. At that time the Soviet Union was a military colossus. But it was an economic pygmy. It imploded from within. We must move fast to save our nation from the threat from within and without. We must move fast to save our Nation from the threat within, and without. 

Today we are a nuclear power but we are facing an internally chaotic situation. The announcement of the Kalabagh Dam has pitted three provinces against one. 

Today we are proud of being a nuclear power. However, the rest of the world sees us as a nuclear threat. 

At such a time when we are internationally isolated, politically divided and economically weak, we are continuing on a course of destruction charted by the unrepresentative Captain of the ship. Like a pirate bent on preserving his ill gotten treasure, he has taken our ship of state into stormy waters. 

Ever since Mr. Nawaz Sharif entered into a conspiratorial pact with former President Leghari, brokered by Governor Punjab, Pakistan has slid into a state of anarchy and chaos. The writ of the State and its institutions has withered. 

A sequence of events since the dismissal of the PPP government on November 4, 1996 has shaken the very foundations of our existence as a pluralistic, modern democracy with a new generation of private sector entrepreneurs. 

We have had the brother of a Prime Minister murdered as a prelude to the destabilisation of a government  elected in a fair, free and impartial elections conducted by a neutral caretaker. 

We have had elections engineered under an anti-PPP government where a President  and Prime Minister from Lahore ensured the so-called election on yet another Prime Minister from Lahore. That, too, only to re-elect yet another President from Lahore striking at the roots of federal representation. 

We today have: 

(a) A President who committed contempt of Court. He called judges “terrorists” and never apologised for it; 

(b) A Chief Accountability Commissioner who was made sub-ordinate to a defaulter Senator sitting in the Secretariat of a defaulter Prime Minister; 

(c) A Chief Election Commissioner sacked for rejecting the papers of the ruling parties nominee to the presidency; 

(d) A Chief Justice of the Supreme Court unseated by his own peers; 

(e) A Supreme Court ransacked by a mob led by Cabinet members filmed by the international media; 

(f) Judges who fled the chambers as mobs entered to attack them. 

(g) Judges sacked from the High Court of Punjab and Sindh; 

(h) Judges appointed in a controversial manner forcing the Bar to protest; 

(i) A Leader of the Opposition  whose entire legitimate assets have been frozen without bothering to prove a single illegitimate act by her in a court of law. 

(j) Rs: 2 billion allocated in 2 years to the Ministry of Information to conduct a media war against her which is twice the amount spent on the entire government, namely Senate, National Assembly, Supreme Court of Pakistan, President’s Secretariat, Prime Minister’s Secretariat. 

(k) $ 18 million of state funds spent through secret service funds in a criminal conspiracy to concoct cases, eliminate opposition and impose fascism; 

(l) Senators are not given oaths, medical treatment, open trial or unfettered defence; 

(m) Senators are beaten by police and have heads broken requiring intensive care treatment; 

(n) Women activists are assaulted by male police; 

(o) Midnight raids and use of torture  have become the order of the day as Businessmen, Bankers, Police officers and bureaucrats are hauled up to purge the institutions on one pretext or another; wives and daughters are not spared; 

(p) Senior journalists are woken at night to find themselves surrounded by armed men. 

(q) Gunny bag turn up daily with pieces of humans flesh. Sometimes a torso, sometimes a head; 

(r) Terrorists are freed from jail and paid Rs: 20 crores of state money in compensation. 

(s) Foreign currency accounts with constitutional guarantees are plundered to fill the rapacious appetite of the rulers to misgovern, squander and ruin. 

(t) Foreign Investors are told that if they admit being crooks who gave bribes their contracts will be safe. If they are honest and say they did nothing wrong, their contracts will be cancelled; 

(u) Britishers working at Hubco are arrested so that share prices fall and the Rulers buy them cheaply; 

(v) Seven sugar mills in Sindh are closed without trial in a court as part of parochial persecution rendering 70,000 people unemployed and forcing them into default; 

(w) A monveau riche palace is built at Raiwand after grabbing 1700 acres and spending 6 billion rupees of public money by a man who is so poor he paid Rs: 477/= as Income Tax; 

(x) The Royal Yacht Britannia is bought after taking Rs: 18 crores from MCB, stripped of royal furnishing three containers full for the Royal masters and then scrapped on the beaches of Karachi for the Royal factories; 

(y) After the masses are exhorted to have half a cup of tea and one spoon of ghee, the wife, the brothers, the children alongwith assorted retainers and sycophants go off at state expense with the Prime Minister to perform Umra and visit UAE and Saudi Arabia; 

(z) While the people are asked to make sacrifice, $ 500 million are sent abroad with banks open after hours and brothers of Senators sent to Banks to convert rupees taken from I.B. into dollars for the Rulers. The FIA Director General who catches them with their fingers in the cookie jar is thrown out; 

I have run out of the letters of the alphabet in describing the present state of affairs. And this is just the tip of the Ice berg. I have not given gone into the declaration of Emergency or criminal collussions with drug barons or the lies told by the Attorney General of Pakistan to foreign governments including that of Great Britain and Switzerland. I shall be exposing his misrepresentation of facts to the superior judiciary shortly. 

The fascists of today in true Goebbels style of propaganda aimed at dismantling democracy in Pakistan, have run out of lies. Their claim that the popularity elected leaders of Pakistan stole $ 3 billion dollars is as false as their claims that Senator Zardari colluded with Presidents and Prime Minister to smuggle drugs. 

To actually declare to a foreign Government that President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Prime  Minister Moeen Qureshi, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, First Lady Begum Nusrat Bhutto, General Tirmizi, Air Chief Khattak, Navy Chief Mansoor, Senators, Chief Justice etc are highly suspected of narcotics activity with Senator Zardari is not only unjust. It is morally and legally wrong. It is treasonous behaviour by a regime which has subordinated the national interest of Pakistan to its narrow, selfish, partisan aims. 

None of these tragic sequence of events which have eroded the internal environment, undermined the rule of law, disgraced democracy, wreaked economic havoc have any nexus with the nuclear blast. They are a result of the shortsighted, savage, brutal, myopic policies of morally bankrupt minds and souls, individuals who are the political product of a military dictator who hanged a Prime Minister, lashed intellectuals and workers and shot at crowds of people staining the land with the blood of innocents. 

In such hands, Pakistan’s future lies at a critical time in our history. At a time when the very existence of Pakistan is at stake. 

Every patriotic Pakistani will consider it our foremost duty to rid ourselves of a regime born in the darkness of a palace intrigue. An intrigue played out before an empty theatre. Let us not forget that over 80% of the people of Pakistan boycotted the so-called election drama in February, 1997. 

Pakistan’s friends in the international community are at a loss to understand why Pakistan went nuclear. We gave no coherent explanation. We never said, clearly and unequivocally, that India had threatened our security with its blast and forced our hand. Instead we vacillated. We gave every impression, signal and message that the Indian blast did not force our hand. 

We should have said, after the Indian blast that our security was at stake. We did not do so. What did we do. 

We told foreign leaders in daily phone calls broadcast all over the world that we were “thinking” what to do. In other words, we were not sure what to do. We were not sure, whether a counter blast was essential or not. We were not sure whether India had forced our hand or not. This paralysis of leadership cost Pakistan dearly. 

The diverse subsequent explanations fed into western fears. A lady may be entitled to change her mind, but not a state. Unfortunately, this is just what a confused Nawaz and company did. We went nuclear because; 

(a) India was about to attack Azad Kashmir; 
(b) Israel was about to attack Kahuta; 
(c) The West gave us lollipops and chewing gum; 
(d) Nawaz to Clinton in Newsweek: “I know its wrong, Sir, but I’ll lose my Chair”. 
And that is what the world is asking us: If your Prime Minister said it was wrong, why did you do it? 

Ladies and Gentleman, 

The entire world know that Pakistan had nuclear capability. The entire world expected Pakistan to immediately detonate following the Indian blast because of security reasons. 

But given the diverse explanations, we, the Pakistani Nation, have a right to ask, “Why did Pakistan detonate?” Did we do it out of security or did we do it because Nawaz Sharif would otherwise lose his chair. I and every other Pakistani are prepared to sacrifice our last drop of blood for our Nation’s security and survival. 

We, however, are not prepared to take actions simply to save power for Nawaz Sharif. 

I demand an explanation from Nawaz Sharif. We, the Nation, should hear the tape recording of his conversation with President Clinton. We want to know why Nawaz Sharif told President Clinton as per News Week that he knew that detonating was wrong but he had to do it to keep his job. We, as a Nation, demand to know; did we go nuclear to save Nawaz’s chair. 

OR 

Did we go nuclear to save Pakistan? 

We, as a Nation, are being deceived by rogue rulers bent upon self-preservation at the cost of national unity. 

The Finance Minister, in his Budget speech, did not prepare the Nation for any sacrifices or towards any goal or horizon. We were told it was Business as usual. No more new taxes. Inflation down. Growth up. No mention of the Realities. 

The regime acted as if there had been  no nuclear blast, no seizure of foreign currency accounts, no declaration of emergency, no sanctions. It was business as usual. 

Sorry, Honourable Members, 

As Leader of the Opposition  I am constrained to point out that it is not business as usual; In six months time, sanctions will hurt. But even before the effect of Western sanctions takes place, we have put sanctions on our-selves. Our misgovernance, our subordination of national interests to an agenda of political persecution, has bankrupted our economy. One forex reserves are down, our stock exchange have collapsed, our growth has slowed, our tax revenues have fallen, our debt has burgeoned. Our banks are riddled with defaulted loans and the value of our ruppee has eroded. 

The Post-Cold war period had already plunged our economy into disarray. For decades our style of living was subsidized by the west. Free military equipment. Free wheat. Assistance of all kind for us to face the strategic realities of communism. The Bipolar World has now ended with a new dawn. 

The age of free meals donated by Super-Powers is over. We now have to pay for our own military hardware and our wheat etc. That means we have to tax where we did not need to tax yesterday. That means we need to cut our cloth according to our size. This we are not somehow prepared to do. 

I am dismayed by the false promises of false prophets who would make their political fortunes out of feeding false illusions to our people of easy solutions. 

These false prophets promise a better tomorrow with either an Islamic Revolution or by eradicating “corruption”. Neither of these apparently noble aspirations can fill the gaping hole in our budget caused by the end of $ 4.2 billion dollars of aid. 

Housewives are seduced into believing that the price of electricity, telephone, food will come down if we “change the system” or find so-called “honest” rulers.. Nothing could be further than the truth. The fact is that the $ 4.2. billion dollars has gone from our kitty. That is why each citizen is burdened with increasing cost of living. 

The fact is that we spend more than our national income. The fact is that our national income goes on debt and defence. There is noting left to feed, house or keep a population that grows at an astronomical 2.6% every year. 

There are no easy choices. But whatever we choose, we choose for ourselves. Our destiny is in our own hands. We shape our own futures. The time has come when we realise what we earn, where we spend and stop complaining. 

It is time for us to realise that the world of trade has replaced the world of aid. This is a world which allows the free flow of currency, goods and ideas. This is a world where there is no place of growth for those who would roll back the frontiers of the free market economy. 

Instead of crippling the free Market State the regime should have de-dollarised the economy by bringing dollar accounts into the taxable net. 

The regime should not have increased the deficit by borrowing for white elephant projects such as the motorway. 

Or cut the programme for the Lady Health Visitor programme aimed at bringing down the infant mortality and population growth rate; 

Or promoted the devaluation of the ruppee by borrowing at 9% premium while simultaneously expanding the money supply through forcible conversation of dollars into rupees. 

Or hit the traders at a time of recession; 

 Or gobbled up the benefit from the fall of oil prices instead of passing it on to the consumer; 

Or left the poor, the unemployed and the wretched at their own mercy without a safety net of a roof or a piece of bread; 

My concern is for our people. I did not enter politics to profit for myself. I entered politics to build a stable, peaceful, progressive, just and free Pakistan. For that I have paid a heavy price, as has my family and my Party, for two decades. 

But we have never wavered in our commitment to the social emancipation  economic prosperity in a free environment with liberal values for our people and our country. 

We are poised to enter a borderless century. A century which recognises no boundaries, horizontally or vertically. It is time we gave up the old cliches, which characterised the Old World. It is time we moved on. To a new age, a new era, a new millenium. 

A new generation has been born. A generation whose outlook has been shaped by global trends and influenced by the revolution brought by the global information breakthroughs. Let us keep pace with this generation. This is a generation, which demands merit, efficiency and transparency. A generation ready to compete with the rest of the world. A generation rejecting paternalistic form of government. A generation demanding equal participation in decision-making. 

We, in the PPP, believe the time has come for radical reform to restructure the pattern of governance. 

We are calling for decentralisation and devolution. We are calling for the Federal Government to devolve social issues to the provinces. And for the provinces to devolve resources and local issues to the districts. 

And we are stating that, having achieved nuclear parity, our foreign policy needs a fresh direction. The nuclear blasts were the ultimate “tit for tat”. The time has now come for Pakistan to initiate an independent policy with regard to proliferation and arms control issues free from the shadow of India. It is time for us to realise that Nations rise and fall not only on the basis of military might but also on the basis of the size, growth, productivity, wealth and potential of their markets. 

In this new post-nuclear blast situation, we need to review our fifty years foreign policy towards India. 

We must not compromise on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. But we must look at other nations in Asia. Who have disputes. And yet, despite maintaining their respective positions on the disputes, have learnt to live with each other. 

I, as a woman and a mother want to bequeath to my children and to your children and to all our children a future free of the threat of a nuclear holocaust. And if that means opening negotiations with India bilaterally whilst simultaneously seeking multilateral efforts through the P-5/OIC and other forums, so be it. A nuclear war is too horrific a consequence to tie to the altar of rigidity, bigotry and fanaticism. 

Our people fought for independence. And won. Our people fought military dictatorship. And won. Our people are our hope and our future. Our progress, our strength, our stability lies in trusting our people. On that promise alone can we succeed. And to that promise, we pledge our support. 

Go Back

Biography - Speeches - Articles/Interviews - Kashmir Policy - Letters - Audios/Videos - Poems - Photographs