As their political dynasty lives on despite one Bhutto dying a violent death every decade since the 1970s, Fatima Bhutto's month-old book “Songs of Blood and Sword'' appears to have opened up barely concealed differences within Pakistan's first family.
Ms. Fatima Bhutto's claim that her grandfather, the former Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), had asked his son and her father, Mir Murtaza Bhutto, to go to Afghanistan and avenge his execution by the then President, Zia-ul-Haq, is being hotly contested by ZAB's lone surviving daughter, Sanam Bhutto and nephew Tariq Islam.
The book states that in the last letter received by Mir Murtaza from his father, Pakistan's first elected Prime Minister said: “Go to Afghanistan'' and “be close to your country.'' As per information provided to Ms. Fatima Bhutto by her father's fiancée, Della Roufogalis — who claims to have read the letter —“Zulfikar told Murtaza, and through him Shah [ZAB's youngest son Shahnawaz], “If you do not avenge my murder, you are not my sons.''
This was first challenged by Mr. Islam in a letter to the editor published in Dawn on April 22 and seconded by Ms. Sanam Bhutto in another letter to the same paper on April 30. “I challenge anyone to produce that letter. Because there is none!'' In turn, Mr. Islam maintains that it was Mir Murtaza who floated the idea and wanted his father's permission to base himself in Afghanistan to wage a guerrilla war on the invitation of the then Afghan government headed by Hafizullah Amin.
According to Mr. Islam, he flew from London to Islamabad on March 24, 1979, to convey Mir Murtaza's messages to ZAB. Besides the message from Mir Murtaza, he was also carrying another from Palestine Liberation Organisation leader Yasser Arafat who “viewed Bhutto as the soldier of Islam and was ready to use his resources to spring him from Rawalpindi's central jail.''
“I first met my uncle in his death cell on March 27…ZAB flatly refused both options. On the case of Murtaza's relocation to Kabul, ZAB flew into a rage. His words…were “Did I send Mir to Harvard and to Oxford to learn about all this stuff? Already they are calling me a murderer and a smuggler [on account of the book ‘If I am Assassinated,' which was claimed to have been smuggled out of prison to be published abroad].
“Next they will be calling me a terrorist. Tell him that I forbid him to go to Kabul. No matter what happens to me, he should concentrate on his studies and complete his course at Oxford.'' Recalling what transpired next, Mr. Islam says that Mir Murtaza was “extremely distraught and disappointed'' and asked him to try and meet ZAB again. “You have to convince my father. You must do it for my sake. I don't care how you do it, but please don't come back empty-handed.''
Mr. Islam managed to get permission to meet his uncle once more on March 30 — four days before his execution — and conveyed Mir Murtaza's request yet again. “The reaction was the same, but I persisted. Time was running out. In sheer frustration, ZAB remarked with great prescience: ‘I think Mir has boxed himself into a corner. He has made some commitments to the Afghans and is finding it difficult to back out now. Tell him to go if he wishes but I am not at all happy. The Afghans are too shrewd; they have fooled two superpowers for so many years. They are master diplomats and schemers and they will manipulate Mir for their own reasons…, and sell him down the river when it suits them. He must be very careful in what he does and says. I leave him in God's hands. But ask him to complete his studies at Oxford.''
Concurring with her cousin's assertions, Ms. Sanam Bhutto — writing from London — recalls: “My father, from his jail cell, quite directly and forcefully ordered all four of his children to return to school and finish our education. My parents put us on a plane and told us no matter what happens we were to stay on board until it left and return to our universities. My father never told any of us, his sons or his daughters, to start a terrorist wing, to hijack planes, to murder passengers or to be violent in any way.''
Stating that her sister, “Shaheed Benazir Bhutto,'' chose to avenge their father's death through the ballot and conceding that her brothers may have chosen a different path, Ms. Sanam Bhutto asserts that the wishes of their parents were quite clear. About her niece's “outrageous accusations'' against the Bhutto family, the youngest of ZAB's daughters, however, differs from her elder sister.
“My sister always said that our family should not blame Fatima for the outrageous accusations she makes against us. Benazir said: “Don't blame the child, blame those who poison her.'' But, according to Ms. Sanam Bhutto, she is not a child any more. “She is a grown-up woman and at some point we must be held accountable for what we do and what we say. Her book is an assault on my family, on reality, and above all, on the truth.''
Asked for her response to the contention of her aunt and another relative, Ms. Fatima Bhutto told The Hindu : “These attacks are to be expected, given the sources — they are all people who benefitted from Benazir and Zardari in power and who continue till this day to benefit from them. I spent six years researching “Songs of Blood and Sword.” Every piece of information was checked, cross referenced and confirmed before it made it into the book. These attacks are scurrilous and petulant, from people who betrayed the legacy of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and who continue to manipulate his name to remain in power in Pakistan.''
