Daily Times

In a rare TV interview, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of President Asif Ali Zardari and the late Benazir Bhutto, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he holds former military-ruler Pervez Musharraf responsible for his mother’s murder in 2007 as he was in power at the time. The 23 year old Chairman of the ruling PPP said Musharraf deliberately sabotaged his mother’s security when she returned to her homeland knowing full well that she was a marked woman, adding that the more Bhutto spoke out against Musharraf, the more her security decreased. His statements have prompted furious responses from both Musharraf’s party, the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), and from Musharraf himself. The two have rejected Bilawal’s assertions, claiming Bhutto’s killers are a part of the current cabinet (an obvious reference to Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, who Benazir named amongst others (Musharraf and Brigadier Shah) to be held responsible if anything untoward happened to her on her return to Pakistan.

Although Bilawal is a bereaved young adult yet to find closure in his mother’s assassination despite the fact that his father’s government is in power, his claims are not without weight. Musharraf cannot, in good conscience, absolve himself of responsibility for what happened. The buck stops at the top. The manner in which Benazir’s security was handled, or rather mishandled, points the finger of suspicion at the incumbents at the time. A figure like Benazir Bhutto required increased and stringent — not conditional — security, especially after the frightening attempt on her life in Karachi that left over 150 people dead. Benazir had complained many times of inadequate security, lack of jammers, and on the day she was killed, her security was abysmal. Almost five years on, there is no answer to why the crime scene was hosed down, and who gave those orders. Even a senior police officer could not do something so grave off his own bat, and so the finger is left pointing higher up. However, while accusing Osama bin Laden and the Pakistani Taliban of being the murderers, Bilawal must make a distinction between the mastermind(s) and the tools. The elephant in the room remains unaddressed. Despite numerous investigations — including by Scotland Yard and the UN — the case remains inconclusive and shrouded in ambiguity. Too many important questions have been left unanswered. Even Rehman Malik, the current Interior Minister and the head of Benazir’s security, has failed to satisfactorily answer questions, leaving the investigation with more holes than a cheese. As a result, the worms have been happily crawling through. Indeed, the fault lies with the government in power at the time, but there is a massive failure on the part of a government — led by her husband — whose leader was tragically killed that day. Pakistan has a heavy past where too many assassinations of prominent figures have remained unsolved. Why wasn’t the murder probe of the charismatic, illustrious, brave Benazir pursued more vociferously? Five years on, why have we not gotten to the bottom of what happened? *