Sind's Fallen Scion

The eldest son of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Murtaza had vowed to avenge the "judicial murder" of his father. That was in keeping with the feudal traditions of Sind from where his family, one of the richest in the land, hailed. He was furious that it was Zia-ul Haq—a small-time, insignificant military officer whom the "martyred" Bhutto, as president of Pakistan, had elevated over the heads of six of his seniors as commander-in-chief—who treacherously plotted against his mentor and sent him to the gallows. Murtaza knew that he could not fight the might of the Pakistan army and decided that he must organise a terrorist outfit to do away with Zia. And so Al-Zulfikar came into existence.

The author, Raja Anwar, was a devotee of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and had joined the son, Murtaza, to carry out his murderous mission. He narrates, in detail, how Murtaza organised the terrorist group, how he made use of friends and acquaintances with utter casualness, and in furtherance of his grandiose delusions, playing every game and trick of the trade, often without proper planning. Murtaza was able to hijack planes and obtain the release of some of his associates, but in his main objective of assassinating Zia, he failed.

Murtaza's shy and introvert younger brother, Shahnawaz, had also been roped in, but was poisoned in mysterious circumstances on the French Riviera. Benazir, the oldest of Zulfikar's children, kept out of this theatre of the absurd. While remaining close to the brothers, she stayed in Pakistan, whipping up mass frenzy against Zia. She carried on her emotional campaign adroitly and was arrested several times by the authorities.

And then the unexpected happened. Unknown assailants blew up the plane carrying Zia. This helped Benazir come to power, but she had, meanwhile, married Asif Ali Zardari, who is now charged with murdering Murtaza. Tariq Ali, in his foreword to the book, has characterised these gruesome developments as a Greek tragedy: "There are times when one feels that the spirit of Niccolo Machiavelli is haunting the proceedings. Farce and tragedy are willing or unwilling bedfellows in the Terrorist Prince." Anwar painstakingly describes these comings and goings, but his account lacks objectivity and authenticity. His sole purpose seems to be to denounce Murtaza, who had thrown him out of Al-Zulfikar and almost got him killed. He does not back his allegations with any documentation; they seem to be made more out of personal vendetta.

Anwar claims that India was one of the training centres of Al-Zulfikar. I searched in vain in his book for any supportive evidence. I found none, apart from a statement that the author was entrusted by Murtaza with the job of organising the centre for training recruits at Delhi. He describes his meetings with the then prime minister Indira Gandhi and his 'close' contacts with RAW. Murtaza, according to Anwar, tried to interest Mrs Gandhi in his plan by offering her, in return, the dismemberment of Pakistan and its division into four parts. And that he dissuaded Murtaza from placing "Pakistan at the feet of Mrs Indira Gandhi". As if Mrs Gandhi would have been so naive as to be taken in by such a ruse. Anwar writes that Murtaza took him to meet Mrs Gandhi on June 20, 1980, at her "residence on Canal Road. Once her father's house, this was where she had chosen to live as prime minister."

The account is a patently baseless concoction; Mrs Gandhi never lived as prime minister on a non-existent Canal Road, nor did Nehru. Again, Anwar mentions Khurshid as her secretary; poor Dhawan will throw a fit. No one, as we all knew, could see Mrs Gandhi without his nod. Anwar also mentions seeing Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan at the funeral of Sanjay—which the great Khan did not attend. I can quote one incorrect statement after another in the narration of his adventures in India. Hence it is obviously untrue that Al-Zulfikar was ever given support by either Mrs Gandhi or RAW. It was difficult for me to check on the authenticity of the other activities, especially in Kabul or Moscow or about Murtaza's relationship with Najeeb or Brezhnev. Part of it may be true, but on the whole it is highly spiced.

Nevertheless, Al-Zulfikar was a terrorist organisation which received much help from many foreign governments. Murtaza failed in his mission because he lacked the killing spirit. Anwar gives interesting details of his bunglings. He builds a plausible case against the mock heroism of Murtaza and his exploitation of the Bhutto connection to carry out his nefarious errands. However, due to Anwar's tendency to mix fact with fiction, it is difficult to get the true picture. He has a facile pen and his story about the dynamics of Murtaza's gang of misguided, albeit committed youth, makes for absorbing reading.

Anwar's entire thrust in the book is against the Bhuttos. He expresses this like a jilted lover. His assessment of the family and their political outfit is revealing, indicating how bizarre Pakistani politics has become: "The PPP is presently the party of widows, divorcees and ex-wives, many of them foreigners. The leadership of one faction (the Shaheed Group) is in the hands of Murtaza's widow (Ghinwa Bhutto, a Syrian-Palestinian by origin), while the other faction is headed by Benazir, the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Begum Nusrat Bhutto, an Iranian by origin, is at the mercy of her daughters Sanam (a divorcee) and Benazir. Shahnawaz's widow and Murtaza's divorced wife because of their daughters Sasi and Fatima are also taking part in family feuds over the control of the party and distribution of Bhutto's vast wealth. However, these Bhutto ladies have refused to relinquish the party leadership and free it from the family's clutches."