In the first sweep of arrests by General Chishti, immediately after the promulgation of martial law, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Ghulam Mustafa Khar, managed to successfully evade arrest. Even Gen Chishti was stumped; Khar had managed to escape the legion of army and intelligence personnel pursuing him — Gen Chishti later remarked that Khar was “difficult to find”.

However, Khar could not stay underground for long as he needed. He needed to get in touch with his family but any attempts at making contact with them could have exposed him to the military. Perhaps for this reason, he decided to come out of hiding and wrote a letter to General Ziaul Haq, seeking a meeting with him.

This letter was marked to Gen Chishti, who then made contact with Khar and summoned him to the officers’ mess in Chaklala military airport. Here, Khar told the corps commander that he was worried about his wife as she was expecting a baby. The corps commander put him under custody at the mess, and asked him to call his wife and apprise her of his situation.

Next morning, Khar was sent to Murree.

Deposed prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, had already been detained in Murree. Soon after finding out that Khar had also arrived in Murree, an enraged Bhutto called him a disloyal fellow who was not to be trusted anymore. Meanwhile, Khar’s plea to Gen Chishti that he be detained separately was not met. During his meeting with Bhutto, Khar advised Bhutto to escape from Pakistan — a proposition that was both unacceptable to Bhutto and near-impossible to execute.

Khar wanted to meet Gen Zia as soon as possible but could not get a chance. When Gen Zia next visited Bhutto, Khar requested Gen Chishti to arrange a meeting with the chief marital law administrator — a request that was granted.

The Khar-Zia meeting held at the GHQ; Gen Chishti and Gen K.M. Arif were also present. Khar told Gen Zia that he had been Bhutto’s close friend for a long time, but things had changed now since Bhutto considered him to be an undesirable person.

Recalling Bhutto’s various acts, Khar also told Gen Zia that the prime minister’s fall was due to his own blunders and machinations. In a veiled manner, Khar offered his services to Gen Zia too — but it seems the dictator did not trust Khar.

On July 28, all detainees of both parties were released. Before releasing them, Gen Zia met with all leaders and told them that during electioneering, they should not exploit the voters’ emotions. Justice Mushtaq Hussain had already been appointed as Chief Election Commissioner, replacing Justice Sajjad Ahmad Jan. A committee had been formed to formulate the rules for elections.

The Election Commission announced on Aug 2 that the elections to both assemblies would be held on Oct 18. Pressed for time, the Election Commission began work with great speed, assuring people and leaders that the polls were a definite possibility.

It was difficult to tell where the future was headed. But it appeared that Jam Sadiq Ali, a former minister in the Sindh government, was privy to some details — at least of the actions to be taken against him, since he was alleged to be involved in the murder of six disciples of Pir Pagaro, killed in Sanghar on May 17, 1973.

There were other Bhutto loyalists in military custody too: these included Rao Rashid, special secretary tasked with intelligence matters; Masood Mahmood, director-general of the Federal Security Force (FSF), cabinet secretary Waqar Ahmad, Federal Investigation Agency Director Akram Shaikh and FSF deputy director Mohammad Raza. These men all faced different charges later.

Unlike the loyalists, Khar and Jam both sought clemency. After the July 5 coup, when Gen Jahanzeb Arbab was appointed Martial Law Administrator of Sindh, Jam decided to employ his politicking skill to negotiate his way through. First, he tried to cultivate cordial relations with the new administration. Then he requested them to allow him to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Umra. Jam was granted leave; he would later proceed to England, where he lived for 11 years.

It seemed that Ghulam Mustafa Khar was also trying to negotiate a pass out of the country. This way, he wouldn’t have to answer any questions. He would remain safe from the persecution of the military.

Next week: Hunt for anti-Bhutto evidence

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