LAHORE, Dec 27: Pakistan People’s Party leader Aitzaz Ahsan expressed sorrow over the tragedy befalling Benazir Bhutto, saying “there were great apprehensions in the establishment about her chances in the election.”

Speaking to Dawn over phone on Thursday, he claimed: “Even though her rhetoric was soft towards the establishment, she was considered by her nature a threat to the establishment.

“Everyone feared that she would be a dominating partner in any alliance or arrangement within the structure of the state. She was not expected to be a Shujaat Husain, Zafarullah Jamali or Shaukat Aziz,” Aitzaz replied to a query on reasons behind her assassination.

“It (the establishment) endeavoured to thwart her onward march on the date of her arrival in Karachi. And those who feared her finally got her in Rawalpindi,” he said, demanding that there should be a proper, free and fair investigation. But it was not possible as long as the present regime remained in office, he hastened to add.

Already they had spoiled the investigation into the Karachi blast of Oct 18, ridiculing Benazir’s demand for independent investigation from the United Kingdom, he said. The tragedy, he said, had put the federation of Pakistan at a great risk and a great burden rested on the Punjab and the Punjabis to demonstrate their solidarity with the people of Sindh.

“Benazir Bhutto was not a leader of only one province, but she had following in all the provinces. It is for the Punjabis to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Sindhis in a struggle against the present system,” he said.

Earlier, Aitzaz sounded sad and expressed his feelings in these words. “I am deeply grieved. I have not felt so sad and depressed since April 4, 1979 when her father was executed. There is not a greatest challenge the country faces today.”

This colossal tragedy, he said, had exposed the federation to jeopardy. “She was a great leader and her nationwide party reflected the federation itself because the PPP reached out to every region and nook and corner of every province,” he said. —Staff Reporter