Gujrat—in the province of Pakistani Punjab—has earned international notoriety for at least two things—if not more. Firstly, it is known widely what many in their reverence call “Shah Doula Dey Chohay”—men and women with shrunken heads over a large human body-- described medically as micro-encephalic children. When one looks at their sad plight, it evokes sympathy and remorse.  

While not under-estimating them, one can not, however, ignore yet another ignominiously cursed breed—though in appearance normal but otherwise no better than those creatures that gnaw the society at its roots, grind their teeth into its vitals and yet take pride in being known as Choudhries otherwise popularly described as Co-operative Thugs of Gujrat.  

Not that it is something despicable to be scions of a foot constable to rise in a society--from rags to riches particularly when they have used all means—fair and foul including their kinky queer habits-- what makes one take exception to them is their most outrageous attempt at drowning Punjab in their filth and stinking scum. By abusing 44 per cent of the province’s development fund in an advertising campaign to white wash their overly kala-kola image and also to re-launch a recycled dirty tricks media operation of 1990 election campaign against PPP chairperson Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto—they have started digging their own grave to be finally buried deep down under the loads of dung-heap of their misdeeds. 

I am sure painful and agonising shrieks of Imran Khan’s sisters as well as brave PPP ladies, human rights workers—when pulled by their hair and dragged by the private police force raised on the pattern of Hitler’s Storm troopers by the Choudhries directly under the orders of their commando godfather—would be recorded as one of the most gory and blood curdling chapters that would make previous tortures to political dissidents bed-side tales for the kids. 

The clarion call by Bhutto for a people’s revolution for the restoration of democracy, rule of law, restitution of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and other judges sacked by General Pervez Musharraf to save his second skin and to perpetuate his illegal hold on power by media blackout and Draconian clampdown on the journalists---sooner than later—would unleash the dynamics of change for the good of the country.  

By returning home under direct threats of assassination by those who have wielded power for more than eight years and having survived an attempt on her life just when she landed back home to a tumultuous welcome by millions, her message to them is loud and clear—nothing can stop the caravan of democracy from reaching the goal post of its destiny. Her timely return has awakened the masses from their deep inertia inflicted on them by hunger, starvation and deprivation and they are ready for the battle to save Pakistan especially at this critical juncture when Pakistan’s mighty General has been conceding territory miles followed by miles to the conquering militants in Swat and Northern Pakistan.  

When he has dragged the country to the point when it could be declared a failed state any hour, he wants more time to Viagra-ise himself through emergency so that he could do what he could not do in last eight years. In short, his is a recipe for a total disaster.

At this defining moment all the saner political elements should join hands with Bhutto to make a united effort to stop Pakistan’s slide down the eddy of doom.   

It needs to be realised that the Gujrat’s co-operative thugs, their Praetorian godfather and other political scavengers in cahoots with them, have bloated themselves on the nation’s blood. They have got addicted to it and it is running through them—instead of giving it up they are hell-bent to devour the body to the barest of its bones. One feels that Pakistan needs to be saved from these vultures first, obscurantist forces that thrived due to their patronage can be taken care of later. The masses know well that Bhutto haters are the doddering vestiges of the old order who are writhing in the last trauma and tremors and to get rid of them for good now requires one big and final push to send them rolling down never to rise again.   

A Pakistan designed to be secular and democratic by the founding fathers was perforce allowed to be hijacked by the obscurantist elements who had opposed the Quaid’s progressive and modern vision. And the land where its citizens were not to be discriminated on account of their caste, creed or colour was allowed to be fragmented by those who had opposed Mr Jinnah’s egalitarian Pakistan. And the Generals instead of surrendering to the political will of the masses and accept them as the sole arbiters of power, preferred to lay down their arms before the Indians.  

Ms Bhutto’s announcement to return to Pakistan had made nights sleepless for those who had socio-economically and politically scavenged Pakistan. Ever since then and more desperately now her political adversaries—both in the corridors of power and outside—have been trying to outdo each other in distorting her image by their vicarious spins to derail her well-thought out mission to restore the supremacy of the masses.  

Enormously vicious print media blitzkrieg through heavily paid huge advertisements is much more of the same that the masses have suffered through since 1970. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was targeted then and now once again his daughter is facing the malicious propaganda on slought. All the filth that has been catapulted at the Bhuttos has fallen back direct on the face of its perpetrators. Theirs indeed, is a rare phenomenon. The more Bhuttos are character-assassinated, the more endeared they become with the masses. Almost all her adversaries—including those in the government-- joined hands to malign her political brinkmanship under different interpretations and connotations.

Even those in the media who claim to have an eye to see things that are normally opaque, could not guess. They rushed to declare that she had lost her face by agreeing to engage herself in talks for peaceful transition to democracy only to be jolted out of their firmly taken up positions by the teeming cavalcade of her “shirtless and shoeless” supporters from every nook and corner of Pakistan to converge onto Karachi to give it the look of a “mini-Pakistan” as a newspaper correspondent aptly described the look of the Quaid’s last resting place. All their calculations and estimates failed and most of them wimpishly agreed: deal or no deal, people wanted her back, to be in their midst and to lead them once again.   

Now most of her political contemporaries who did not see eye to eye with her politics—sneakily accept that she played her cards exceptionally well. As a result now to campaign against her are only the Thugs of Gujrat, Musharraf’s HMVs and those that wag their tongues and tails just to please their master with the whip. With rotten eggs spread on their faces, even likes of Shedda Tullies (not mistake him for Mark Tully) are accusing the PPP Chairperson of doing what General Pervez Musharraf has come to be internationally known as: “mother of all about turners” and “mother of service to his foreign masters”.  

In their heart of hearts they know that none of the military dictators in our history has done so much for the Americans as the GPM. And there is no other reason but this “mother of all services” rendered by him to them that has made Washington—despite being fed up with him for being too much of an embarrassment for them now--to continue trying to seek a safe exit strategy for him. Indeed, the common man in the street though empty in the stomach—gets a full laugh when he hears the general now rendered into a tin-pot stutterer on the idiot box claiming that he does not accept foreign dictates—only welcomes foreign exchange. It is something like pot calling the kettle black. His band-wagoners have conveniently forgotten the fact that it were Pakistan’s military rulers who have rendered Pakistan’s sovereignty and independence into a myth and not Bhuttos.  

Is it not a fact that a Pakistani prime minister had to rush to President Clinton to plead to him to save Pakistan from the dreadful fall-out consequences of the Kargil misadventure in 1999? Had the Americans not intervened effectively then, a war with India could not be averted. And indeed much earlier to that--in 1971- had not President Nixon stopped Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from advancing her conquering troops into West Pakistan after having captured 5000 square miles of Pakistani land on the western front, by now Pakistan would have become a foot note in history. It was ZAB who got back in the Simla summit what our generals had shamelessly lost in the battlefield. 

It was again a Bhutto that saved Pakistan from being declared a terrorist rogue state in 1993. Even in General Zia’s time —Benazir Bhutto—considered a ‘security risk’ by him had used her good offices to save Pakistan from American sanctions.

Even his worst critics acknowledge today that ZAB had restored Pakistan’s image of honour and respect in the comity of nations by his pro-active foreign policy, his support to the Arabs and his sincere commitment to the Third World. It was General Zia who rendered this revived image of respect back to square one. 

While one would have ignored with contempt the well-orchestrated media blitzkrieg launched against her following her return in which “she came, she saw and she conquered”, the lowly swipe by GPM at her showed his pathetic state of mind. One had heard much about his other inadequacies but one did not know that he suffered from what doctors call figure-blindness. Giving an interview to a foreign journalist he ridiculed the popularity that Bhutto enjoys among the masses. Having kept her illegally hostage, her house surrounded by more than 3000 police men plus an equal number in civvies, he said that she could not collect 150 people. One was reminded of a similar guffaw by him when he could not see the huge crowd at the Supreme Court through his window which was either shut or opened on the opposite side. Not only that, he also gave reasons for “her” unpopularity.   

He referred to her statements on Dr A.Q. Khan, Red Mosque and the Islamic militants, giving these the twist that only people who suffer foot-in-the-mouth disease can. His spin doctors had started shooting from their hips—to accuse her of being anti-state and of having belittled Dr A.Q. Khan. Like his now former ministers, his was an attempt at insinuating her. His ministers, it needs to be recalled, had twisted her statement that in which she had said that Dr A.Q. Khan had been singly made a scapegoat and to know the  truth as to who were the real culprits or who other beneficiaries were along with him in the nuclear money loot—she would allow IAEA access to meet Dr A.Q.Khan in Pakistan to find out the truth.  No where did she ever say that when she would come into power she would hand over Dr Khan to IAEA interrogators.  

Ms Bhutto was once asked the hypothetical question whether a government led by her would cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in investigating charges against Dr. A.Q. Khan. She responded by saying that a PPP government would extend full cooperation to the International Atomic Energy Commission. This position was not very different from what Musharraf government has maintained. Her simple statement of a factual position was deliberately distorted to imply that she promised any unlawful handing over of anyone to foreigners. Rather, she has maintained that the PPP has always sought to establish rule of law and there was no question of violating Pakistani or International law in relation to the freedom and personal rights of anyone, including Dr A.Q. Khan. One may add here that to get to expose the real racketeers behind the nuclear super market she had demanded immediately institution of a by-partisan parliamentary committee to investigate. There is, indeed, something more than meets the eye that whenever there is any move to let Dr  A.Q. Khan speak out, those generals having the major share in the nuclear pie rush to shoot it down as anti-Pakistan.
 
We must remember Zulfikar Ali Bhutto preferred death than to give up his pursuit of the nuclear glow for Pakistan.

In one of his last meetings ZAB emphasised to his daughter that Pakistan’s nuclear programme should remain deterrent and at no stage transfer of technology be permitted. According to him, those opposed to it might swallow the bitter pill of a Pakistani bomb but they would unleash their wrath on Pakistan if it passes the technology onto other Muslim or friendly countries. They would not let Pakistani bomb become an Islamic bomb. 

In the light of her father’s instructions she made Pakistan’s Nuclear Doctrine very clear. No export of it at any cost. It has been Benazir Bhutto’s mission to protect Pakistan’s nuclear programme. According to her, Pakistan’s nuclear programme was a matter of life and death for Pakistan. No one would be allowed to roll it back nor would be permitted to stop its further development solely as a deterrent. In her nuclear doctrine there is total ban on transfer of nuclear technology for “money or friendship”.