In mid-1974 the People’s Party government led by Z.A. Bhutto faced a barrage of criticism from the opposition, mostly the rightist parties which did not want hard-core secular people and committed workers at the centre of the party. This cast shadows on the party’s infrastructure. The most regrettable event was the departure of Mr J.A. Rahim, in a very disgraceful manner.
Jalaluddin Abdur Rahim was a Bengali socialist, thinker and one of the founding fathers of Pakistan People’s Party. Educated in political science and philosophy, he began his career as foreign secretary in Mohammed Ali Bogra’s government. He became a member of the Communist Party but joined Bhutto in 1965. When Bhutto convened a convention for forming a political party on November 30, 1967, J.A. Rahim authored the PPP’s constitution and was appointed the party’s first secretary general. After the formation of the PPP government in 1972, Rahim was appointed minister for defence production — a position he retained till his ouster in 1974.
On July 2, 1974, Bhutto had arranged a dinner for the cabinet ministers and close aides. Though the invitation card asked the guests to be there by 8pm, Bhutto did not appear till 11pm. As the clock struck midnight Rahim felt tired and humiliated. Considerably annoyed, Rahim rose and looking at the waiting ‘courtiers’ said that they could wait for the ‘Larkana Maharaja’ but he was leaving.
While he was asleep at home, at around 1.0am, the FSF men led by the chief of the prime minister’s security officers banged at his gate. They beat him mercilessly and took the bleeding minister to the police station in a jeep. His release was later secured by Rafi Raza, Bhutto’s special assistant. He was flown to Karachi from where he flew to Europe.
Besides his altercations with party leaders over holding independent views, Bhutto also dragged the party into confrontation with the press. Besides hundreds of examples of press gagging, three examples best illustrate Bhutto’s animosity towards the independence of the press. First, the arrest of Altaf Gohar, editor of Dawn; second, the arrest of the editor of the Jamaat-i-Islami mouthpiece, Jasarat; third, the arrest of Syed Sardar Ali Shah, editor of Pir Pagara’s Sindhi newspaper Mehran and closure of the newspaper for six months.
The arrest of the Jasarat editor was due to its criticism over the political objectives of the People’s Party and Bhutto’s policy vis-a-vis the opposition. The action against Altaf Gohar of Dawn had a background of personal bitterness. Altaf Gohar was a bureaucrat and known for his honesty and hard work, besides being a gifted writer. He became so close to the military dictator, Ayub Khan, that he outlined the government’s policies. Bhutto also remembered the incident when he had to appear before Altaf who was then the deputy commissioner of Karachi. A heated debate ensued between the two. The bitterness also had a background of the Tashkent summit when Bhutto was the foreign minister. When Altaf retired in 1969, he took up journalism and was chosen by the Haroons as editor of Dawn. One day Dawn carried an editorial titled ‘Mountains don’t cry’, which was indirectly a reference to Bhutto’s flawed policies.
One night in 1972, a contingent of police broke into Altaf’s home, entered his bedroom, dragged him out and put him in jail for reasons not known to him. In spite of these excessive measures, he continued writing according to his conscience and upheld the people’s right to freedom of expression.
The ordeals of Syed Sardar Ali Shah of daily Mehran and other journalists were not too different. This placed a pall of gloom over the community that kept the society abreast of developments and raised a voice for their rights. This created a wedge between the people and the government. Since the government’s mouthpiece papers could not give a true picture, people began relying on foreign broadcasts, a trend that had taken firm root during the East Pakistan debacle.
The London reporter of Dawn, Nasim Ahmed, who had developed an acquaintance with Bhutto during the former’s stay in the United Kingdom, had been appointed the federal government’s information secretary and used his powers in alienating the media from the people.
His handful of cronies followed the track route Nasim Ahmad laid down. This made the whole political situation murky and confusing, strengthening opposition’s fears of foul play.
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