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Murtaza Bhutto

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Mir Murtaza Bhutto (September 18, 1954 - September 20, 1996) (Urdu: مير مرتضی بھٹو) was a Pakistani politician and left-wing radical from the powerful Bhutto family, and the brother of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto. He was assassinated under mysterious circumstances.

File:Mirmurtaza.jpg
Murtaza Bhutto with Nabil Gabol

Biography

Murtaza Bhutto, the elder of the two sons of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was a left-wing revolutionary.[1] He took to arms after his father was executed by the military dictator Gen Zia in dubious circumstances. He shifted his base to Afghanistan, where a post-Soviet invasion communist government provided him with sanctuary and training.

Soon after, young Pakistani men started to cross over the hazardous mountains in packs to join his international organization "al-zulfiqar", a militant branch of the left-wing Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). KHAD offered help, and Bhutto willingly accepted while exploring other options in Tripoli (Libya), Damascus (Syria) and Beirut (Lebanon). Later, Murtaza married Lebanese-Syrian Ghinwa Bhutto, who now runs the Pakistan Peoples Party-Shaheed Bhutto (PPP-SB).

According to Gen Zia and ISI Murtaza Bhutto's group made numerous attacks on military and state infrastructure. These included the hijacking of a PIA airline in March 1981, and the murder of a Pakistani diplomat on board the plane.[2]

Murtaza Bhutto campaigned as an independent in the 1993 elections, winning a seat in the Sindh provincial assembly[3]. In 1995 he led a schism of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).[3]

Club Accident of Murtaza Bhutto

On 20 September 1996, Murtaza Bhutto was accident, along with six supporters, in what was later determined to be an ambush by police.[4][5][3]

That evening, there were 70 to 100 police officers near his residence (70 Clifton Road, Karachi), including in sniper positions in the nearby trees. It is alleged that several high-level police officials were present.[6] The streetlights were turned off. As the car carrying Bhutto approached the house, it was stopped by a police contingent. When Bhutto exited the car, the police opened fire. All six men accompanying him were also fatally shot. Bhutto was shot several times, but the coup de grâce was fired, execution-style, into his neck.[6] The victims were left to bleed without any medical attention for 30 to 45 minutes. All seven men were taken to different locations, but none to emergency hospitals.[6] Bhutto was taken to Mideast Hospital.[6]

No police officers were arrested during or after the investigation; some were later promoted[6]. Benazir Bhutto's government arrested all the survivors and witnesses; two of them died in police custody.[6]

A judicial tribunal concluded that the assassination could not have occurred "without approval from the highest level of government", implying the involvement of Benazir Bhutto (the Prime Minister at the time) or her husband Asif Ali Zardari (the Minister of Industry). [5][6][4]


Murtaza's daughter, poet and writer Fatima Bhutto, has criticized her aunt and her uncle for their alleged role in the death of her father.[6]

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Murtaza Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari

A brutal killing by any measure, one that was pre-meditated and meticulously planned when a brother did not see eye to eye with his sister and brother-in-law, who happened to be the Prime Minister and the Minister for Industry respectively. Zardari along with Benazir has been accused of siphoning public and private monies out of Pakistan and into Swiss accounts. Anyhow, we all know that story.

Murtaza Bhutto was a radical leftist who was being supported by the Soviet Union at the time of his assassination. He had been in exile in Afghanistan but decided to return to Pakistan in the mid ’90s to be part of the political milieu and to partake in the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Critical of Asif Ali Zardari, Murtaza lost ground with Benazir which in turn made him a strong and vocal critic of the PPP. Murtaza felt that the arguments were getting out of hand and decided to have a private meeting with Zardari which ended badly.

After a heated discussion, Murtaza and Zardari resorted to fisticuffs during which Murtaza managed to somehow shave off half of Zardari’s moustache.

Murtaza decided to confront the organ-grinder himself. He rang Zardari and invited him round for an informal chat sans bodyguards to try and settle the problems within the family. Zardari agreed. As the two men were pacing the garden, Murtaza’s retainers appeared and grabbed Zardari. Someone brought out a cut-throat razor and some warm water and Murtaza shaved off half of Zardari’s moustache to the delight of the retainers, then told him to get lost. A fuming Zardari, who had probably feared much worse, was compelled to shave off the other half at home. The media, bemused, were informed that the new clean-shaven consort had accepted intelligence advice that the moustache made him too recognisable a target. <ref name="lrbr">{{http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidDate=2008-09-14&hidType=HIG

And hen Benazir arrived to attend her brother’s funeral in Larkana, angry crowds stoned her limo.


See also

References

  1. ^ Zahid Hussain (October 18, 2007). "Bullet-proof glass for Benazir Bhutto as thousands flock to greet her return". The Times. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
  2. ^ LRB · Tariq Ali: Daughter of the West
  3. ^ a b c "Benazir Bhutto accused by critics in brother's death". CNN. 1996-11-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b ""Pakistan in Turmoil after Benazir Bhutto's Assassination"". "Democracy Now". December 28, 2007.
  5. ^ a b Tariq Ali (December 13, 2007). "Daughter of the West". London Review of Books.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Fatima Bhutto (September 20, 2007). "Murtaza Bhutto's Murder".
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