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GHQ of Corruption

The foundation of the PPP was appealing – “Roti, Kapra Aur Makan.” Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto set it rolling. But did the people ever get even one of these promises – all the way down to Bilawal Bhutto?

By S.G. Jilanee | May 2020


When the Pakistan Peoples’ Party was launched, some 50 years ago, it was a beacon of hope for the people, with its slogan of “roti, kapra aur makan.” The message captured the imagination of the masses and spread like prairie fire across West Pakistan. Among its founding members were talented people like Dr. Mubashir Hasan, Yusuf Buch, Khuda Bux Bucha, Sheikh Rashid, Khurshid Hasan Mir, Maulana Kausar Niazi, Hafiz Pirzada, et al. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was its chairman. Socialism and “musawat” (equality) were its policy.

The credit, or otherwise, for the separation of East Pakistan also goes to the PPP. It was Bhutto’s clarion call of “udhar tum; idhar hum” (There you; here, we) to the people of East Pakistan, reinforced by his threat to “break the legs” of the West Pakistani lawmakers who traveled to Dhaka to attend the first National Assembly session after the 1970 elections as well as his refusal to accept Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as prime minister, even though he held overall majority, - that clinched the issue of East Pakistan’s independence.

Bhutto achieved his ambition to become prime minister. His hubris invited his nemesis and he departed as he had come, like a meteor, suddenly. After Bhutto’s tragic departure from the scene, his daughter, Benazir, took up the reins of the party. Her circumstance as a young, unmarried orphan, touched the cord in every heart and triggered a groundswell of mass sympathy; people flocked in droves to Lahore from all over the country, to have a glimpse of the new leader.

And then, Benazir married Asif Ali Zardari. Why she took this step, remains a mystery, because, in social status they stood at the opposite ends of the social yardstick. A Zardari is to a Bhutto as an untouchable is to a Brahmin. The Zardari-Bhutto combination, therefore, makes an oxymoron. That is why Bilawal struggles with an identity crisis. Moreover, Zardari is known as an arch crook. That was why Benazir’s brother, Murtaza, never forgave her for the marriage.

Zardari’s contagion infected Benazir and permeated into her system to such an extent that it evoked a lengthy special report in the New York Times, under the title, “House of Graft,” by John Burns.

When corruption set in, the founding fathers left the party. Dr. Mubashir Hassan joined the PPP (Shaheed Bhutto), led by Murtaza Bhutto’s widow, Ghinwa. Others went their different ways. Even Mumtaz Bhutto no longer holds any party office.

The party has therefore lost ground all over the country, including the Punjab - Pakistan’s most populous province. It is under the poisonous shadow of Asif Zardari, who, though “co-chairman,” wields the real power and calls the shots.

The debate on the history and future of the PPP at this juncture offers the party a real opportunity to rethink what went wrong with it as it has shrunk to the confines of Sindh.

There is no denying the sacrifices the party’s leadership and workers have made in the fight for constitutional rule in the country. The PPP has a legacy of a heroic and brave struggle and the travails its leadership and workers have gone through are tremendous. Judicial murders, bomb blasts, gun attacks, long jail terms, solitary confinements and so forth- they have braved all.

However, though analysts might blithely say that Bilawal must overcome his father’s influence on his politics, but the actual task of infusing some life into the PPP outside Sindh will require far more than Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari having a freer hand to run the party.

The Zardari factor is something to contend with, as evident from the refrain accompanying recent party activity, including a rally from Lahore to Faisalabad.

Party organization is a daunting work in itself. But, for young Bilawal it has become more challenging insofar as much of the party has been eaten into by others, especially the PTI. Consequently, there is no PPP organization in Punjab and other vast areas in the country.

The cadres disappeared not because they had any principled differences with Zardari but because they were convinced that Zardari was not likely to throw a big enough challenge to the Sharifs.

They tolerated and stayed with Zardari until they were sure about his future. Now as he tries desperately to reclaim some of the old workers, Bilwal must restore his party’s status as a serious contender for power. If this most difficult goal is achieved, the chances of him winning them back will brighten.

However, there are issues with how he is going about it. The PPP chairman has been lashing out at the Sharifs without apparently considering it necessary to find fault with the party that has replaced the PPP as the main opposition.

At best, Bilawal’s veiled references to Imran Khan’s potential, or lack of it, as prime minister, have been vague or subdued. Besides, his mention of Z.A. Bhutto and his legacy today do not ignite the positive nostalgia they did in the past.

Even Benazir Bhutto would appear to so many today to be lost somewhere deep in history. The PPP headed by Bhutto and then, his daughter, is done and dusted.

There is more popular interest in finding out what the chairman’s answers are to the recent allegations of corruption against the PPP, and the workers want a new party altogether.

It would make sense if Bilawal decided to respond to some of these current allegations with facts at his public meetings. Also, it is important he takes on the PTI simultaneously as he goes after the PML-N.

In the end, though, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari must come up with positive examples from his own government in Sindh to start being relevant in Punjab and beyond. But, that is easier said than done, because the government of Sindh is the “GHQ” of corruption.

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