The parties whose violent movement in 1977 had led to the overthrow of the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and imposition of the martial law, three decades down the lane, are now struggling against a military rule — in the company of Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party.

Some of the parties in the (defunct) Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) that took on Bhutto in the March 7 election and later confronted him in the street have split, re-split, reunited, formed a government or became coalition partners. Some others have enjoyed powers or faced the ‘wrath’ reserved exclusively for the opposition parties in our unenviable political culture. Still some other constituents of the defunct grouping are the same ‘hangers-on’ as they were 30 years ago.

The Pakistan National Alliance was a coalition of nine heterogeneous parties cobbled together against the PPP, which was accused of having massively rigged the March 1977 polls. The Pakistan Muslim League led by Pir Pagara, the Tehrik-i-Istiqlal of Air Marshal Asghar Khan, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam of Mufti Mahmood, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan of Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani, the Jamaat-i-Islami of Mian Tufail Muhammad, the National Democratic Party of Sher Baz Khan Mazari, the Pakistan Democratic Party of Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, the Khaksar Tehrik of Khan Ashraf Khan and the AJK Muslim Conference of Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan were the components of the PNA.

Of all the PNA components, the PML has been through several ups and downs over the past three decades. The PML has countless children and grandchildren, the youngest of them all is only four years’ old.

On the trail of the grouping that took on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s PPP in the general election held exactly 30 years ago.

At the time of the formation of the Movement for Restoration of Democracy in 1982, the PML split into two factions, one led by Pir Pagara and the other by Malik Qasim. The PPP, though reluctantly, agreed to form the MRD with the very parties which had paved the way for the ouster of the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto government in 1977. This alliance had launched a potent struggle against the Zia rule, especially in Sindh. Military force was used against agitators and the movement was crushed. However, it mounted pressure on Gen Zia to hold the elections. Convinced that party-based elections would not bring the ‘positive results’ he had been talking of, he decided to hold non-party elections in 1985. But before that he got himself elected as president through a referendum.

The PML and the JI were the only parties which contested. All parties in the MRD boycotted the polls.

Muhammad Khan Junejo was appointed prime minister, who revived the PML.

This party then became part of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI), a coalition against the PPP of Ms Benazir Bhutto. The alliance lost the race for Islamabad to the PPP, but Nawaz Sharif managed to retain his hold over Punjab and as the province’s chief minister made life difficult for prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

The PML won the 1990 elections. However, the party could not complete its constitutional term in power because of misunderstandings between Mr Sharif and the then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan.

It was during this tenure that the PML split once again and another faction named after Junejo came into being. During the subsequent years, the PML-Junejo also split, giving birth to another faction led by Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo. This group was called PML (Jinnah).

At a later stage, Gen Zia’s son Ejazul Haq set up his own faction – PML-Z. It was at this time that somebody pointed out that the PML leadership must bear in mind that English had only 26 alphabets.

After the 1999 coup, a new PML faction was set up named after Quaid-i-Azam. Mian Muhammad Azhar was its first president who was replaced by Chaudhry Shujaat Husain.

As a result of the efforts made by Gen Musharraf, Junejo, Jinnah and Zia factions have been merged into the ruling PML. Another two PML factions are part of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy.

The Jamaat-i-Islami contested the 1985 polls, but could not emerge as a major party. In 1993, it experimented by contesting the election from the Pakistan Islamic Front platform, which, even though it comprised a single party, was open to people who were not qualified to become the Jamaat members.

Its position improved in the 2002 polls which it contested along with five other religious parties, the JUI-F and the JUP among them.

The JUI-F calls the shots in the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal. Its leadership is regarded as pragmatic in approach. It doesn’t agree with all the policies announced by Qazi Husain Ahmad, the coalition chief. As a result, Qazi had to retreat on several occasions.

The Tehrik-i-Istiqlal, the Khaksar Tehrik and the Pakistan Democratic Party have failed to play any significant role during the past three decades, although PDP president Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan was behind many an opposition alliance.

The Tehrik-i-Istiqlal split into three tiny factions, each an unviable political entity.

The Khaksar Tehrik was divided into two factions during the Zia era, one led by Khan Ashraf and the other by the widow of the late Allama Mashraqi. The latter is now being led by the Allama’s son.

The National Democratic Party evaporated after passing through various crises. The ANP and the Pakistan National Party are descendents of what was once the National Awami Party. The ANP led by Asfand Yar Wali was routed in the 2002 polls. However, it has token representation in parliament.

The JUP broke up when Maulana Abdus Sattar Khan Niazi developed differences with Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani. The JUP (Nifaz-i-Shariat group) and the JUP (Sahibzada Fazle Karim group) are off-shoots of the same party. Now the JUP’s main faction is led by Maulana Anas Noorani, son of Maulana Noorani.

The AJK Muslim Conference’s role in Pakistan’s politics gradually reduced as Sardar Qayyum Khan paid more attention to the Kashmir situation. This party has been in and out of power in AJK.

At present, Sardar Qayyum’s son Attique Khan is the prime minister of AJK. Sardar Qayyum’s thinking on Kashmir has undergone sea change. He supports whatever formula is given by Gen Musharraf. Many say that the Kashmir dispute stood ‘resolved’ the day his son became the prime minister.

The 1977 PNA movement changed the country’s political landscape forever. The consequences of that one year have a direct impact on our every day life now, and it comes as no surprise that the post-1977 generation has strong opinions about the events of those turbulent times.

Those who were not yet born to witness the events that led to one of the most brilliant politicians of this country being executed and much else put at stake have the insight to understand that the events did not stand in isolation.

“This is how Pakistan has always worked. It appears as if this country was created only for the rich and the powerful and anyone who talks on our behalf is simply removed from power,” says Inayat, a bellboy in a Karachi hotel. Is this too plebian an understanding of the PNA’s successful bid to remove Zulfikar Ali Bhutto? Was the PNA movement launched only to maintain the status quo of protecting the interests of the country’s ruling elite or was it because the average citizen of the then Pakistan was afraid of losing his religious identity under Bhutto’s liberal government?

Bilal Mustafa Kaifi, 28, an IT professional who follows Pakistan’s history and politics with passion, believes foreign meddling in the affairs of the country was the reason. “Bhutto no longer fit into the US scheme of affairs, because he talked about a unified Islamic block and favoured relationships with China and Russia — and the US would have none of that. The Pakistani establishment has always been ready to take over the reins of the country at the instance of the US. Similarly a certain group of politicians and a handful of constitutional experts have always come forward to pave the way for this establishment. This has happened at least four times in this country and will continue to happen until we come to terms with the fact that we need to be the masters of our own fates.”

Pakistani youth give their perspective on events triggered by March 7, 1977

Bilal believes the religious parties have always made the transition from democracy to dictatorship so much easier for the military to complete. “The PNA movement was an easy excuse for Zia to come to power and rule the country for 11 years. The absence of a formal agreement between the government and the PNA was used as an excuse by Zia to stage a coup. PNA’s nine-star flag was in my opinion a representation of the stars of the American flag as the movement served the US interest more than it did those of Pakistan.” Having a déjà vu feeling yet or not?

Muhammad Ameer Sultan, who was born in 1977, hails from one of Jhang’s most prominent political dynasties. He says there was absolutely no case then for a military takeover — not that there ever can be one for such an act. “From what I have read and heard about the events of 1977, there was absolutely no justification for a military coup. The PNA movement was based around the accusation of mass scale rigging in the March 1977 elections. These are accusations levelled after all elections, but that does not mean that the military needs to resort to a coup. Just because the PNA had a strong street presence and it was prepared to go the distance, the alliance was able to generate enough of a noise to allow Gen Zia to take over. I know Bhutto committed a few blunders — I mean what was the point of getting elected unopposed — but he would have won anyway. Do you really want me to believe that anyone would have been able to defeat Bhutto in Larkana in 1977?”

This does seem farfetched, but there are some who believe Bhutto was going over the top and needed to be stopped.

Quratulain thinks nothing happens without a reason, and Bhutto should have been prepared for the worst after all that he had allowed to happen in Pakistan. “I hold him equally responsible for the East Pakistan debacle, and he should have known there would be consequences. He saved his rule at the expense of the country and was hoping that nothing would happen to him. I think that was a little unfair. I also believe he was trying too hard to liberalise the country too quickly and that allowed first the PNA and then Zia to use Islam as a political tool,” says the 25-year old schoolteacher from Lahore.

For all the varied reasons that the ‘generation of today’ feels Bhutto was removed and then unceremoniously executed, everyone agrees it was a tragic event in the history of Pakistan. “Bhutto was inspirational; he could have given the people of Pakistan the hope and drive to be better. None of the leaders today have that quality,” says Bilal. Whether it is the romanticism around the 1970s with all that talk of revolution, the hope of changing the world and the spirit amongst students of being able to make a difference, or the simple helplessness and disgust with the present layout of Pakistan, the feeling of what could have been prevailing amongst the young and Bhutto, with all his charisma and flawed brilliance, rides high on this feeling.

Major Sindhi newspapers have welcomed the recent statement of the Sindh chief minister that no construction would be allowed on the islands of Dangi and Bhandal as they belong to Sindh.

The daily Tameer-i-Sindh writes that the committee set up by the prime minister to determine the legal status of the two islands has remained dormant.

The paper deplores the federal government’s ‘indifference’ to Sindh’s reservations, expressing a fear that the centre wants to occupy these islands at any cost.

The paper regrets that the present rulers are ‘no different from their predecessors’ in that faint protests by the smaller federating units ‘leave them unmoved’.

Daily Awami Awaz editorialises on a speech of President Pervez Musharraf in which he claims that ‘a record development’ is taking place in Balochistan and that those dreaming of an independent Balochistan are living in a fool’s paradise.

The daily terms the president’s statement one-sided, saying that Baloch nationalists contend that a progress in which the Baloch have no share is meaningless.

The Awami Awaz writes that the Baloch nationalists’ grievances could be resolved within a ‘legal framework’. The daily reminds the government that had it been running the affairs of the state `democratically and politically’, no complaints would be there.

The daily says no project should be executed without consulting the local populace so as to preclude fears and misgivings.

The Kawish and Ibrat hail the Sindh cabinet’s decision to raise wages of doctors and nurses working in rural areas.

The Ibrat says that doctors’ refusal to work in villages should not be put down to money matters alone. There are a number of other factors, too. Foremost among them is lawlessness, the paper says.

In another editorial, Daily Ibrat opposes the Sindh cabinet’s decision to set aside 0,000 acres of land for establishing an industrial zone in Karachi. The daily argues industrial zones should be set up in small towns and villages as Karachi is already groaning under the weight of a burgeoning population.

The Sindhi press criticises with one voice the administration over its handling of the tribal clash between two groups of Marfanis in Garhi Yasin, Shikarpur, accusing the police of negligence.

Daily Koshish ridicules the Shikarpur DPO’s explanation that police have no resources to stop tribal feuds, saying this is a lame excuse.

The paper wonders that when warring groups can settle disputes at jirgas, why they do not resolve matters before they get out of hand.

Daily Kawish, commenting on the pitiable state of heritage sites, says all resolutions on the part of officials have turned out to be nothing but hollow words. The paper calls for urgent measures to arrest the vandalisation of the Hyderabad Fort.