WITHOUT debating the merit of, or commenting on the raid on the house of MQM chief Altaf Hussain, I would like to respond to his question, as reported in Dawn (March 27), where he asks: “Can anyone tell me the name of the leader from any party who suffered the same treatment?”

Yes sir, I can give you a very glaring example of an incident which ought to fill the darkest pages of this country’s history. In the ungodly hours of Sept 3, 1977, the jackboots marched into 70 Clifton, the residence of the first elected prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Without regard to the sanctity of his private quarters where his young daughters, Benazir and Sanam, were asleep, they stormed though the door of his bedroom to arrest him in the presence of his wife, Begum Nusrat Bhutto.

The Saulat Mirza of the era was Masood Mehmood and four of his goons of the FSF. Masood Mehmood became the principal approver and was facilitated through political exile in the US under a witness protection programme.

The FSF goons were promised amnesty, but hanged along with the former prime minister. Dead men tell no tales!

No weapons were recovered from 70 Clifton or any PPP offices. But hundreds of PPP workers were imprisoned and lashed under the rising din and scream of ‘Jeay Bhutto!’

The purpose of this response is intended for nothing else but to set the record straight and refresh Bhutto history in the minds of the people, particularly the current-day workers and office-bearers of the PPP. Lest we forget!

Tariq Islam

Karachi

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2015

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