Peshawar The City of Dreams

Why is China so upset about Trump’s Taiwan call – and could it lead to war?

George Kyris, Lecturer in International and European Politics, University of Birmingham. The fact that Donald Trump is the first US president to have a call with his Taiwanese counterpart in nearly four decades, seriously upsetting China in the process, might come as a shock when you think that Taiwan is the world’s 22nd largest economy.

Kabab a Beauty

  

شامی کباب — فوٹو فواد احمد

شامی کباب پاکستان میں چائے کی ٹرالی کا شہنشاہ ہے، چاہے یہ عید کا موقع ہو یا کسی دوست کی آمد، یہ لذیذ سوغات ہمیشہ ہی گرما گرم لوازمہ ثابت ہوتی ہے۔

گرم مسالے، سرخ مرچ اور سبز مرچوں کے ساتھ یہ کباب نہ صرف چائے کا مزہ دوبالا کرتے ہیں بلکہ گفتگو کی چاشنی بھی بڑھ جاتی ہے۔ مجھے شامی کباب کے دل جیت لینے والے ذائقے کے بارے میں جو پہلی چیز یاد ہے وہ کباب بننے سے پہلے ہی قیمہ کھانا ہے۔ شامی کباب کا یہی مزہ اور ہمہ گیری ہے کہ بلینڈر میں قیمہ چلانے اور تلنے سے پہلے بھی اس کا ذائقہ انتہائی لذیذ ہوتا ہے۔

کھانوں کی تاریخ دان لزی کولنگھم اپنی کتاب کری میں شامی کباب کے بارے میں تفصیل سے لکھتی ہیں:

"نواب آصف الدولہ کی پکوانوں سے محبت کو شامی کباب کی ایجاد کا باعث قرار دیا جاتا ہے۔ یہ لکھنؤ کے کبابوں کی اقسام میں سے ایک ہے، مغل شہنشاہ اگر احتیاط سے یا کم کھاتے تھے تو اودھ کے نواب پیٹ بھر کر کھاتے تھے۔

"درحقیقت آصف الدولہ اتنے موٹے ہوگئے تھے کہ گھوڑے پر بھی سوار نہیں ہوپاتے تھے۔ انہوں نے اپنا وزن بہت زیادہ بڑھا لیا تھا حالانکہ وہ دانتوں کو کھونے کے بعد چبانے کی صلاحیت سے محروم ہوچکے تھے۔ شامی کباب کے بارے میں تصور کیا جاتا ہے کہ ان کی تخلیق چبانے کے مسئلے پر قابو پانے کے لیے ہی ہوئی۔ انہیں انتہائی باریکی سے پسے اور کٹے ہوئے گوشت کو پیس کر تیار کیا جانے لگا۔ مغرب میں قیمے کو عام طور پر نچلے درجے کے کھانوں کے طور پر استعمال کیا جاتا تھا تاہم مغلوں گوشت کے بہترین حصوں کا قیمہ بنواتے تھے۔ اکبر کے درباری ابو الفضل نے بار بار کھانوں کی تراکیب، بشمول پلاؤ، کے اجزا میں قیمے کا ذکر کیا ہے۔

"مغل گائے کا قیمہ پسند کرتے تھے مگر لکھنؤ میں باورچی بھیڑ کے گوشت کو ترجیح دیتے تھے جس سے بننے والا قیمہ زیادہ نرم ہوتا ہے۔ وہ گوشت کو پیس کر باریک پیسٹ بنا دیتے تھے اور پھر اس میں ادرک لہسن، خشخاش اور متعدد مصالحوں کو شامل کرکے انہیں گیند کی شکل دے دیتے تھے، پھر انہیں سیخ میں پرو دیا جاتا اور آگ کے اوپر بھونا جاتا۔ اس کے نتیجے میں کباب باہر سے تو زیادہ خستہ ہوتے مگر اندر سے اتنے نرم اور ریشمی ہوتے کہ دانتوں سے محروم آصف الدولہ بھی انہیں مزے لے کر کھا پاتے۔"

ریشمی شامی کباب کسی بھی کھانے کا پرمزہ پہلو ہوتے ہیں مگر ان کا مزہ گرما گرم نان، پیاز اور پودینے کی چٹنی کے ساتھ دوبالا ہو جتا ہے۔ لکھنؤ کے نانبائی بہترین شامی کبابوں کے حوالے سے شہرت رکھتے تھے اور اب برصغیر، خاص طور پر کراچی میں ریڑھی پر بن کبابوں کی فروخت اسی روایت کا تسلسل ہے۔

مجھے سب سے لذیذ بن کباب ابھی بھی واضح طور پر یاد ہیں جو میں ستر اور اسی کی دہائی میں کراچی کے علاقے نرسری میں واقع خیام سینما کے باہر ریڑھی سے لے کر کھایا کرتی تھی اور میں اب بھی سوچتی ہوں کہ کیا اب بھی وہ ریڑھی وہاں موجود ہو گی؟

میری تحقیق بتاتی ہے کہ سب سے پہلے کباب فوجیوں نے تیار کیے تھے۔ یہ مانا جاتا ہے کہ ترک اور فارسی فوجی اپنی تلواروں پر لگے تازہ گوشت کو آگ پر بھون کر اس کے ذائقے سے لطف اندوز ہوتے تھے۔ یہ گوشت جانور کی چربی کے ساتھ پکتا تھا اور فوجی اسے مختلف ممالک کی سرزمینوں میں جنگوں کے دوران زندہ رہنے کے لیے کھاتے تھے۔

لفظ کباب کے بارے میں کہا جاتا ہے کہ یہ اس کی بنیاد عربی زبان میں چھپی ہے مگر فارسی، ترک اور وسطیٰ ایشیائی زبانیں بھی یہ دعویٰ کرتی ہیں۔ اس کا مطلب الاﺅ پر سیخوں میں تلنا، بھوننا یا پکانا ہے۔

کبابوں کو ہمیشہ سے ہی کوئلوں پر بھونا جاتا ہے یا اسے ڈیپ فرائی کے بجائے کم تیل میں تلا جاتا ہے۔ مغرب میں اکثر کبابوں کو سیخوں میں پیش کیا جاتا ہے یا ڈونر کباب کی طرح مشرقی وسطیٰ کی پیٹا بریڈ میں پیش کیا جاتا ہے۔

برصغیر میں کبابوں کو بنانے کے حوالے سے ایک درجن سے زائد مقبول طریقہ کار موجود ہیں جیسے چپلی کباب، بوٹی، سیخ، بہاری، گلاوٹی مگر ان میں سے کوئی بھی شامی کباب جیسا منفرد نہیں۔

معروف شیف اور مصنف سنجے ٹھما اپنے مضمون 'شامی کباب' میں لکھتے ہیں

"شامی کباب کا عربی میں نام سیرئین کباب ہیں (سیئریا کو اردو اور ہندی میں شام لکھا اور کہا جاتا ہے)۔ مغل عہد میں مشرقی وسطیٰ سے تعلق رکھنے والے مسلم تارکین وطن نے ان کبابوں کو جنوبی ایشیاء میں متعارف کرایا۔ مغلوں کے پاس شاہی باورچی خانے میں پوری مسلم دنیا سے تعلق رکھنے والے باورچی بطور ملازمین کام کررہے تھے اور ان میں کچھ کا تعلق شام سے تھا۔

"ایک اور ذریعے کا کہنا ہے کہ انگریزی لفظ ایوننگ کو اردو اور ہندی میں شام کہا جاتا ہے اور شامِ اودھ (لکھنئو کی شامیں) وہاں کے نوابوں کے دور میں ناقابلِ فراموش ہوا کرتی تھیں، اور یہی شامی کباب کے نام کی بنیاد ہے۔ مگر کچھ لوگوں کا یہ بھی ماننا ہے کہ شامی کباب کی جڑیں پنجاب کے ضلع ہوشیارپور کے معروف گاﺅں شام چوراسی میں ہیں۔ لکھنئو لذت دہن، رنگین شاموں اور فنون لطیفہ سے محبت کے حوالے سے جانا جاتا تھا۔ یہاں کے باورچی خانے اور باورچی و رکابدار شاہی درباروں میں جانے جاتے تھے۔ لکھنوی کھانوں کی ورائٹی اور اجزاء کا اظہار شامی کباب کے چٹخارے دار ذائقے سے بخوبی ہوجاتا ہے۔"

شامی کباب کی جو ترکیب میں شیئر کرنے والی ہوں، یہ میری پیاری امی کی ہے، وہی جسے میں بچپن میں چپکے سے کھایا کرتی تھی۔ ہرا مصالحہ کباب کی ترکیب میری نانی کی خاصیت تھی۔ ہرا مصالحہ کباب (ہری مرچ کے بغیر) بچوں کے برگر کے لیے مثالی جز ہے اور میرے بچے اپنے برگر میں انہیں بہت پسند کرتے ہیں۔

اب یہ میرے باورچی خانے سے آپ کے کچن کا رخ کررہی ہے۔

شامی کباب

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اجزا

ایک کلو گائے کا پیسا ہوا گوشت

ڈیڑھ کپ چنے کی دال

ڈیڑھ پیاز بڑی

ادرک کا ایک انچ کا ٹکڑا

لہسن کے دس دانے

بارہ ثابت سرخ مرچیں

ایک چائے کا چمچ زیرہ

دو چائے کے چمچ دھنیہ پاﺅڈر

دو دارچینی اسٹکس

تین کالی الائچیاں

بیس ثابت کالی مرچیں

سات سے آٹھ لونگیں

نمک حسب ذائقہ

چوبیس سے تیس اونس پانی

طریقہ کار

اوپر دیئے گئے تمام اجزاء پانی سے بھرے برتن میں ڈال دیں اور اس وقت تک پکائیں جب تک پانی مکمل طور پر خشک نہ ہوجائے اور دال کو بھی نرم ہونے تک پکائیں۔

انہیں ٹھنڈا کریں اور ہھر اسے پیس لیں۔

اب ایک باریک کٹی ہوئی پیاز، دو انڈے، پودینے کے پتوں کی تازہ گڈی (کٹے ہوئے) اور دس سے بارہ دھینے کے پتے (کٹے ہوئے) کو ان میں شامل کریں اور انہیں قیمے کے مکسچر میں اچھی طرح ملائیں اور پھر انہیں کباب کی شکل دیں اور کم تیل میں تلیں۔

ہرا مصالحہ کباب

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اجزا

نو سو گرام قیمہ

وائٹ بریڈ کے آٹھ سلائیس، (پانی میں بھگو کرنچوڑ لیں)

چار چائے کے چمچ کارن فلور

دو درمیانی سائز پیاز باریک کٹی ہوئی

ادرک کا دو انچ کا ٹکڑا

دو انڈے

دو چائے کا چمچ کالی مرچ کا پاﺅڈر

ایک گڈی پودینہ (کٹی ہوئی)

نمک حسب ذائقہ

چار سے چھ سبز مرچیں (اچھی طرح کٹی ہوئی)

طریقہ کار

تمام اجزاء کو مکس کریں اور کباب کی شکل دے کر کم تیل میں تلیں۔

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— تصاویر فواد احمد

INDIAN MUFTI CREATING HATRED

The Murder of Liaquat Ali-Khan

سید اکبر پاکستانی شہری نہیں، بلکہ افغان تھا۔ 1944ء میں برطانوی حکومت کی ایماء پر افغانستان میں سیاسی گڑبڑ کی ناکام کوشش کے بعد اس کا خاندان صوبہ سرحد میں آباد ہوگیا تھا۔ اسے اور اس کے بھائی مزدک خان کو برطانوی حکومت سے وظیفہ ملتا تھا، جو پاکستان بننے کے بعد بھی جاری رہا۔ کیا سید اکبر حکومت پاکستان کا تنخواہ دار خفیہ کارندہ تھا؟ اس نے پنڈی کے ہوٹل میں اپنا پیشہ سی آئی ڈی پنشنر لکھوایا تھا۔ صوبہ سرحد میں ایسے خفیہ معاملات کے ضمن میں سکندر مرزا کا بہت شہرہ تھا جو قبائلی علاقوں میں پولیٹکل ایجنٹ رہنے کے علاوہ پشاور کے ڈپٹی کمشنر بھی رہے تھے اور قیام پاکستان کے بعد سیکریٹری دفاع کے طاقتور عہدے تک پہنچ چکے تھے۔

Bhutto Legend: Myth And Reality

Bhutto Legend: Myth and Reality 

By Dr Asif Javed

Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA

“I feel that your services to Pakistan are indispensible. When the history of our country is written by objective historians, your name will be placed even before that of Mr. Jinnah.” The writer of this infamous piece of consummate flattery was a young Z.A. Bhutto, and the recipient, Sikander Mirza, who should be in the political hall of shame, if one were ever to be erected in Pakistan.

Balawal Zardari has recently made a lot of noise about Z.A. Bhutto’s trial and demanded apology for the unjust verdict handed out to his grandfather. It has become very fashionable lately to call it a “judicial murder”. This writer is not a lawyer nor am I a politician; I do, however, belong to the unfortunate generation that witnessed the events of his grandfather’s time in power, and fall from it. It is said that legends ossify over time; in Bhutto’s case, certainly that appears to be so. Bhutto worship has become a relentless train that shows no signs of slowing down; instead, it keeps gathering speed. In the process, the established historical facts are being denied or distorted, and myths are being created. KK Aziz may easily write another volume of Murder of history based upon what we have seen recently.

Z.A. Bhutto was widely admired for his genius. Henry Kissinger may not have been way off the mark when he remarked, “Elegant, eloquent, subtle. . . .I found him brilliant, charming, of global stature in his perceptions. . . .He did not suffer fools gladly.”It is however, the other side of ZAB—the dark one—that needs to be revisited. In the process, perhaps we, as a nation, may learn some lessons and see things in the right perspective. Khalid Hasan, a life long admirer, who knew ZAB first hand, and worked as his press secretary, may have written the most balanced and insightful short biography of ZAB. He has summed it up eloquently: “ZAB had all the makings of a classical hero, carrying the seeds of self destruction in him—he was a flawed genius, a god who turned out to have feet of clay. . . .ZAB had many personal failings, including an inability to trust others, a congenital suspicion of friends and high sensitivity to personal criticism.”

With rare insight and objectivity, KH writes: “There is no evidence that US government or any of his agencies played a role in the overthrow of Bhutto—the time has come for us to accept that much of what has happened to our country and our leaders has been the result of our own mistakes. . . .ZAB believed that a country should have only one central figure as leader and all power should flow from him. It is a tragedy that a man of Bhutto’s intelligence, education and sense of history did not appreciate that Pakistan could only survive as a federal state with the provinces enjoying the maximum autonomy. Bhutto could not abide rival claimants to power even if they were elected to their office. He could not work with the opposition run provincial governments in Quetta and Peshawar and squeezed them out; that was his undoing. Bhutto forgot that power in order to be kept, must be dispersed.” KH also notes that it was Bhutto who revised ISI’s charter to include domestic political intelligence.

It is widely believed that Bhutto was hanged for a crime that he did not commit. It is rarely, if ever, asked, who then was the real perpetrator? Mohammad Ahmad Kasuri was murdered in Lahore; the crime scene was found to have shells used by FSF—Bhutto’s elite security force. And yet, the investigation was not extended to FSF. I recall a statement by Hanif Ramay of PPP, then the CM of Punjab, that Kasuri family had many enemies. This was despite Ahmez Raza Kasuri’s contention that there was no suspect but one—ZAB. This was not the first attempt on Kasuri’s life; he had escaped one ambush in Islamabad earlier. These episodes had followed an angry exchange between ZAB and Kasuri in the NA when ZAB called Kasuri a poison and threatened to fix him up. Ch Sardar, former IG Police, Punjab, has provided the firsthand account of this case in his biography, The Ultimate Crime; so read on: “FSF was created by a notorious dismissed police officer, Haq Nawaz Tiwana, and was headed ultimately by another infamous police officer, Masood Mahmood—-The FSF did not bother about any law, assuming the role of Bhutto’s private army—- Soon after the imposition of martial law, an elaborate enquiry in to the affairs of FSF was initiated. The FSF had gained a reputation of being, Bhutto’s gang of goons, for dirty works. During the enquiry, ASI M. Arshad of FSF, appeared before Ch. Abdul Khaliq, Dep. Director, FIA, Lahore and promised to tell everything truthfully if he were not tortured. He disclosed that he was a member of a special cell in the FSF headquarters, which had the most trusted officers for secret and sensitive missions—then he threw a bombshell. He said he was one of the FSF men who had fired on the car in which MNA Ahmad Raza Kasuri was ambushed.” So, this was the first solid lead in to the infamous murder case that led Bhutto to the gallows; legal intricacies aside, one is hard pressed not to see a connection here. Ch Sardar discusses the dubious character of the infamous trio of Masood Mahmood (DG FSF), Saeed Ahmad Khan(Chief Sec Officer to Bhutto) and Sardar Abdul Wakeel, DIG Lahore; they all had been among the most trusted police officers of Bhutto and would commit criminal and illegal acts to show him their ‘devotion and loyalty’. After his overthrow, they all were among the star prosecution witnesses in the case that led to his conviction. Sardar also, confirms the widely believed rumor of the time that a procession of opposition women in 1977, was mal-handled near Wapda House, Lahore by the “Nath Force”—a large number of prostitutes, recruited temporarily as police women, specifically for this purpose.

Kasuri’s murder may have been the most famous one, but was by no means the only one; this is a list that includes Dr. Nazir Ahmed of JI, MNA from Dera Ghazi Khan who was gunned down in his clinic weeks after provincial chief of his party, Syed Asad Gilani, had been warned by Khar (Us ka anjaam acha naheen ho ga). Kh Rafiq was gunned down behind Punjab assembly while leading a procession; Abdus Samad Achakzai was killed in his house in a grenade attack while Maulvi Shamsuddin, MPA and deputy speaker of Balochistan assembly, was shot in his car. Those who escaped attempts at their lives included Wali Khan, who lost his driver and personal body guard in the ambush; this was fourth attempt on his life. Years later, Wali Khan was to warn Zia of Bhutto’s vengeance (there are two dead bodies and one grave; make sure Bhutto goes in first, otherwise, you may be the one). Ch. Zahur Elahi, whose political heirs sit happily with Zardari at present, suffered more than most; Amnesty international once reported that there were 117 cases against him; this included a case of buffalo stealing. He survived in jail in Balochistan, courtesy of Governor Akbar Bugti, who refused to do him harm. Small wonder that after Bhutto’s hanging, Zahoor Elahi requested and received the pen that Zia had used to reject the mercy petitions for Bhutto. Mian Tufail, was scandalously manhandled in jail, writes Sher Baz Mazari in his autobiography,AJourney to Disillusionment; it was rumored at the time, that a naked prostitute was sent in to his cell to humiliate the Amir of JI. At the height of crises that eventually toppled him, Bhutto rushed in to see Maudoodi in Ichra; one wonders whether the founder of JI reminded ZAB of the treatment given out to his successor. Barrister F. Ibrahim, who was later to become chief justice of Supreme Court, used to share the legal chamber with Bhutto in Karachi, in the 50’s. “Bhutto was very generous, but I sensed a streak of violence in him, a certain mean or vindictive quality,” he told Stanley Wolpert, the author of Zulfi Bhuttoof Pakistan.

Mukhtar Rana, a PPP MNA from Lyallpur, had earned the wrath of his leader by his divergent views. He was deposed as MNA, arrested, and after being subjected to severe physical abuse—according to one report, he almost died under torture—was convicted in a military court and sentenced to five-year term of imprisonment, all in a matter of days. Ustad Daman, dervish Punjabi poet, made the cardinal error of writing an anti-Bhutto poem; he had a case registered against him—he was accused of being in possession of a hand grenade.

Kaswar Gardezi, was one of many to suffer vicious brutality; here is Mazari’s narrative: “In a voice breaking with emotion, Gardezi related his horrifying experience to me. The police presented him with an egg, a potato and an onion, he said, and then asked which of these will he prefer to be inserted in to his anus. After undergoing this humiliation and barbaric ordeal, he was then threatened with sodomy; to his good fortune, this threat was never carried out. Instead, he was badly beaten with a stout cane, after which he was forced to lie naked on a solid slab of ice.”At the time, Gardezi was Secretary General of the NAP, one of the leading opposition parties. Some people have been accused of going to irrational lengths in their hatred of Bhutto; incidents like above, are perhaps, the explanation for this.

One has to remember that Bhutto’s own associates were not spared his wrath; J.A. Rahim, a senior member of the cabinet, learned this lesson the hard way. He annoyed Bhutto once by leaving early from a dinner hosted by the PM. Rahim also made the mistake of showing his resentment by calling Bhutto, ‘Raja of Larkana’. What follows is how Rahim described this horrifying experience to Wolpert: “On reaching home, I went to bed. . . . About 1 A.M., I was woken up by my servant who said that there was a crowd of people before the house. . . . Some men of the FSF were climbing up the front balcony for the purpose of entering my bedroom. . . . I went to the front door downstairs. . . . Saeed Ahmad Khan, Chief of PM’s Security, who was at the head of that mob of armed FSF thugs, answered that he had come to deliver a message from the PM. . . . As the door opened, they rushed in . . . . Besides being beaten by fists, I was hit by rifle butts. I was thrown to the ground and hit while prostrate. . . . I lost consciousness. . . . I was dragged by my legs, then thrown in to a jeep. . . . bleeding profusely.” Intellectually brilliant, Rahim had retired as Pakistan’s ambassador to France, had been one of the founding members of PPP, and had written its manifesto.

Khalid Hasan was once asked by Bhutto to check out a certain person in Lahore. “I found out that the man was saying bad things about Bhutto all over the place,” Khalid writes. “I came back and told Bhutto. His brow furrowed. “His credit in my book has not quite run out yet,” he said. “I shuddered to think what would happen when the man’s credit did run out.”

Malik Meraj Khalid, in his biography, Merajnama, describes the extent to which Bhutto and Khar could go to harass their political opponents. Meraj Khalid once received a phone call from Zahoor Elahi’s daughter, whose admission to Lahore College of Home Economics had been blocked by Khar. By nature a decent man, Meraj had to call Bhutto personally to rectify this. On another occasion, Meraj had to call ZAB again to stop Khar’s plans to set on fire the house on Davis Road, Lahore where Asghar Khan was staying. Asghar Khan was not so lucky with his house in Abbotabad though; it did burn to the ground in very suspicious circumstances.

No account of Bhutto’s Awami Raj is complete without Dalai Camp. It will be fair to call it Bhutto’s Gotanamo Bay. It was used to secretly detain, three political dissidents (Iftikhar Tari, Ch. Irshad and Mian Aslam). These individuals were former PPP members, who had fallen out with Bhutto and left PPP along with Khar. As I recall, two of them had been former provincial ministers. Fearing arrest, some of them had been granted bail before arrest by the high court. They vanished without trace one day, having been picked up by FSF and were only recovered when Bhutto was deposed. Iftikhar Tari, who had the reputation of a goon, appeared broken after release. He narrated his ordeal on TV and could not stop crying in a program called, Zulm ki dastanay.

Bhutto could not forgive. Mazari recounts the following in his memoirs: “Back in the 50’s, Sir Shah Nawaz (Bhutto’s father) went to see Ayub Khuro, who was then CM of Sindh. Bhutto went along. Khuro slighted them by making them wait for half an hour in the verandah, and then drinking tea without offering them any. Swallowing his pride, elder Bhutto requested the Sindhi politician for a job for his son in the foreign service. Khuro listened to the request and asked the elder Bhutto to submit an application in writing to him. He then dismissed them cursorily with a wave of his hand. Later in 1972, as soon as Bhutto achieved power, one of his first acts was to humiliate Khuro by having the walls to his home in Larkana razed to the ground.”At times, Bhutto’s sensitivity reached absurd levels. Mazari notes: “In the mid 50’s, Ahmed Nawaz Bugti was hosting a table for some foreign ladies at Le Gourmet. Bhutto, who was present at the restaurant, spotted him and asked if he could join the group. Knowing his reputation with women, Bugti declined. Years later, Bhutto visited Quetta as President, to attend a formal dinner held by Governor Bazinjo for Princess Ashraf of Iran. Seated at the high table, he sighted Bugti, who was then Balochistan’s finance minister, dining at a less august table than his. Bhutto asked his ADC to bring Bugti to his table, looked at him and said, ‘Do you remember the time when you would not let me sit at your table? Well this time, I won’t let you sit at mine’.”

Here is another eye opener for Bhutto fans; this is again written in Mazari’s autobiography: “Over dinner at the Governor’s House, Arbab Sikander Khalil, related a rather strange and unsettling story to me. It seemed that Bhutto had recently visited Peshawar and while staying at the Government House, had requested Arbab Sikander for a supply of whisky. The Governor politely informed ZAB that as he did not imbibe alcohol, he was unable to provide the President with liquor. Bhutto then sent his airplane to Islamabad to fetch whisky. When the plane returned that evening, it not only brought alcohol but also, a Federal Minister’s wife too, to keep Bhutto company.”

Here is an excerpt from Stanley Wolpert’s book, Zulfi Bhutto of Pakistan: “One of the women Zulfi met at a cocktail party that fall (1963) was Rita Dhar, daughter of V. Lakshmi Pandit, the first woman president of the General Assembly. Mrs. Dhar recalled how immediately after meeting her, Zulfi eyed her lasciviously, inviting her to his apartment.” Nehru’s niece apparently declined to Bhutto’s chagrin. Pakistan’s young foreign minister was in NY to attend the annual session of General Assembly. Ardsher Cowasjee told Wolper that Nusrat Bhutto had once attempted suicide and was hospitalized in Parsi hospital, Karachi with a drug overdose; on another occasion, she approached Ayub Khan, through Nancy Cowasjee, after “having been thrown out of her own house by her faithless husband.” She was staying in Mrs. Davies Private Hotel in Rawalpindi. It is to her credit that she stuck to her husband as he continued his love affairs.

A myth that refuses to go away is that opposition and Bhutto had reached an agreement and army sabotaged it; the facts speak quite otherwise. Here is Mazari’s account: “At 10 P.M., on July 3 rd,Mufti Mahmood, Prof Ghafoor and Nawabzada Nasrullah, handed over the additional nine points to Bhutto. Having consulted Pirzada and Niazi, Bhutto returned to the PNA team and told them that he needed time for further consultation. According to Prof. Ghafoor, Bhutto’s attitude appeared accommodating; but only two hours later, his stance hardened dramatically. Addressing a press conference at midnight July 3rd, he lambasted the PNA negotiating team for ‘repudiating their earlier agreement’. It was clear to all that the PPP-PNA talks had broken down once again.” Gen K.M. Arif gives a very similar account of events in his book, Working with Zia. Arif quotes General Gilani, ISI chief at the time, that both him as well as Rao Rashid, newly appointed Director of Intelligence, had warned Bhutto repeatedly that the army’s patience had been exhausted and it was planning to act very soon. KH has also, devoted many pages of his book to crises of 1977. Here is an excerpt: “Tikka Khan (Bhutto’s adviser at the time) told the PM, in the presence of Zia and Corps commanders, ‘Sir, I would say we wipe out five or six thousand of their(PNA’s)men. That will cool them off’. Tikka Khan’s mindless remark convinced Zia and his Corps Commanders that Bhutto and his men were bent upon doing just some such thing.”

Gen. Gul Hasan and Air Marshal Rahim Khan had played a key role in bringing Bhutto to power. They were both dismissed in a most humiliating way, having been forced to sign their resignations, taken hostage and then driven to Lahore in the company of pistol packing Jatoi, Mumtaz Bhutto and Khar. Years later, while awaiting his fate in jail, Bhutto accused Zia of ‘biting the hand that fed him’. He had conveniently forgotten his own treatment of Ayub, Gul Hasan and Rahim.

“Bhutto trusted nobody,” KH notes. “He was troubled by what he considered unrealistic and idealistic liberal approach to press freedom, basic rights and government by law. Long before his overthrow, he had deprived himself of those who were capable of honest and wise advice. . . .and chosen to exercise power through civilian and military bureaucracy that he had once denounced. After his overthrow, he told Inam Aziz—Bhutto’s last interview—that he now understood where he might have gone wrong. He said he wanted to start all over again, back to the real fountainhead of power.” But history is merciless, Khalid laments, and had moved on.

Mazari’s assessment is similar to KH’s: “The press had to bear ZAB’s determined onslaught. As soon as he attained power, he dismissed the chairman of National Press Trust (that he had vowed to abolish) and the editor of Pakistan Times. His rival from the Ayub days, Altaf Gauhar, who was then the editor of Dawn, was placed under arrest. The printer, editor and publisher of Urdu Digest, Zindgi and Punjab Punch were arrested for protesting against ZAB’s martial law, were convicted and sentenced even before the writ petitions challenging their arrests could be heard in the Lahore High Court. Shorish Kashmiri of Chataanwas also sent to jail; Hurreyet and Jasarat were banned and their editors imprisoned. Mehran was banned while Iqbal Burni’s weekly Outlook was forced in to shutting down its publication.”This is by no means an all inclusive list of the journals and newspapers that suffered.

KH has analyzed the issue of rigging in 1977 elections: “As far the rigging, it was so unnecessary because he was going to win big anyway. There is no evidence that he ordered the rigging, but he did not exercise the vigilance that it was his duty to do as PM and chairman of the ruling party. His own unopposed election from Larkana encouraged the lesser figures in the party to use the muscle of the state wherever possible to ensure their individual victory. The first angled brick that Bhutto built was laid by the unanimous and unopposed election of the PM himself. This less than laudable example was followed by his CM’s and some other PPP leaders in the four provinces. His rival Jan M. Abbasi of JI had -been kidnapped earlier, to keep him from filing his papers.” Wolpert traces this back to highly unexpected defeat of Bhutto’s father Sir Shah Nawaz in 1937, at the hands of Sh. Majid Sindhi. “Young Zulfi may have taken too much to heart, the lesson of his father’s election defeat, resolving even at his tender age, never to risk losing an election, no matter how high a price need to be paid to insure victory.”

ZAB’s intolerance had no limits. On 23rd March 1973, an opposition rally at Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi was disrupted. Here is the eye witness account by Ch. Sardar, who was SP Police at the time: “It was in the air that armed workers would be present in the public meeting. . . .then came reports that that armed PPP workers were also coming to the same public meeting. . . .by midday, we received information that large conveys of PPP crowds were coming from Punjab and some of them were armed as well. . . .DSP City told me that he saw some FSF men in plain clothes and suspected their involvement—On the FSF involvement, I was really shocked.”The violence at Liaquat Bagh led to eleven deaths and hundreds of serious injuries. Almost four decades later, BB was assassinated at the gate of the same Liaquat Bagh; was this divine retribution? One has to wonder.

Arthur Kessler once wrote that nothing is more sad than the death of an illusion. Many of Bhutto admirers never knew him first hand; one wonders what their reaction would have been, had they seen their leader’s behavior at close quarters. Back to the apology, demanded by Balawal, I am not sure if the Bhutto family deserves an apology for his hanging. One should certainly ask whether the Oxford educated Balawal has the moral strength to offer one to the families of those who suffered his esteemed grandfather’s vengeance.

NEWS PAPER RELATED TO PAKISTAN

This page contains a large collection of meticulously selected rare newspapers about major events which occurred in Pakistan. It is Pakistan’s history through newspapers and magazines.

Cyclone at Karachi on June 16, 1902 (Rare Edition of The New York Times, June 17, 1902)

Sepoy Khudadad Khan, The First Indian to Win the Victoria Cross in First World War . Rare edition of The Daily Mirror January 26, 1915. Khudadad Khan (20 October 1888 – 8 March 1971) was the first South Asian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest military award for gallantry in the face of the enemy given to British and Commonwealth forces. He was the first native-born Indian to win the Victoria Cross. Born on October 20, 1888 in the village of Dab in Chakwal District (then a tehsil of District Jhelum) of the Punjab Province, British India (now Pakistan), Khudadad Khan was a Sepoy in the 129th Duke of Connaught’s Own Baluchis, British Indian Army (now 11 Baluch Regiment of Pakistan Army). The battalion formed part of the Indian Corps, which was sent to France in 1914, to shore up the British forces fighting on the Western Front during the First World War. On 31 October 1914, at Hollebeke, Belgium, 26-year old Khudadad Khan performed an act of bravery for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross during the First World War. Khudadad Khan retired as a Subedar. He died on march 8, 1971  and is buried in Chak No. 25, Mandi Bahauddin.

The Tribune, Edition of March 24, 1931 Announcing the Execution of Bhagat Singh. Bhagat Singh (28 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian socialist considered to be one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement.
Seeking revenge for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai at the hands of the police, Singh was involved in the assassination of British police officer John Saunders. Together with Batukeshwar Dutt, he undertook a successful effort to throw two bombs and leaflets inside the Central Legislative Assembly while shouting slogans of Inquilab Zindabad. He was convicted and subsequently hanged on 23 March 1931 for his participation in the murder of John Saunders.

Inauguration of Lloyd Barrage at Sukkur (The Daily Gazette, Edition of 14 January 1932). This rare edition of The Daily Gazette (later became The Sind Gazette) shows the Viceroy of India, Lord Willingdon, who inaugurated the Lloyd Barrage (built over Indus River near Sukkur) on 13 January 1932. It was later named as the Sukkur Barrage. The scheme had been launched by the Governor of Bombay, Sir George Ambrose Lloyd for whom it was named. It was the largest irrigation project ever undertaken and some of the canals are larger than the Suez Canal.

Rare Supplement of Daily “Inqilab”, 21 April 1938, Announcing the Death of Allama Iqbal. It seems to be some evening edition of 21 April 1938, the day of death of Allama Iqbal. One can see the word “Zameema” (supplement) next to the name of the newspaper. The one deficiency of this rare newspaper is that the supplement has no date written on it.  Ghulam Rasool Meher and Maulana Abdul Majeed Salik were very close to Allama Iqbal and it seems they were stunned by his departure to yonder and did not attend to the get up of the paper. In the old days they used blocks to reproduce the mast-heads of the newspaper unlike today that it is made on the computer every day. The report appears to have been written by Maulana Salik as this  was his particular style of prose.
The layout of the front page  is worth examining, particularly the way the editors wrote their names with their degrees and also the subscription fee.

Edition of July 1939: The Sadiq-ul Akhbar, Bahawalpur. It was a weekly newspaper issued from Bahawalpur.

First Edition of Jang Newspaper in Early 1940. Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman began publishing of Jang as a daily evening newspaper in the early 1940 from the then capital of the British India, Delhi. To keep the Jang’s production cost very low and to ensure a big circulation for it he sold his newspaper at a paisa per copy. Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman was able to leash the expenses of publishing the Jang to the barest minimum by doing many chores of newspaper himself including editing, composing and reporting. He even cycled scores of miles to deliver copies of the Jang to the hawkers and advertisers.

After the Partition, Mir saheb shifted to Karachi, capital of the new Muslim State, and started publishing the daily Jang from Karachi. Pakistan’s Governor General, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was delighted due to this move.

Weekly Jhang Sial, 28 June 1940: Abdus Salam Broke Record of Matriculation Examination of Punjab University. Dr. Mohammad Abdus Salam (29 January 1926 – 21 November 1996) was a theoretical physicist who, when he shared the 1979 award for his contribution to electroweak unification, became the first Pakistani to receive a Nobel Prize in Physics. At age 14, Abdus Salam scored the highest marks ever recorded for the matriculation examination at the Punjab University.

Quaid-e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah on Cover of Time (Edition of April 22, 1946)

Rare Edition of Daily Dawn, August 15, 1947, Announcing the Independence of Pakistan.Quaid-e-Azam assures minorities of Islamic tolerance and regard.

Dawn Newspaper Front Page: Birth of Pakistan an event in History, August 1947. Looks like it’s some special evening edition.

“India and Pakistan Become Nations – Clashes Continue”. The New York Times, 15 Aug 1947.

End of British Rule. The Hindustan Times’ edition of 15 Aug 1947.

The Hindustan Times, October 28, 1947, Kashmir Accedes to India. Plebiscite soon on Ruler of Kashmir’s decision. Sheikh Abdullah to form Interim Government.

Dawn Newspaper, Edition of December 25, 1947.  Birthday of  Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Pakistan’s First Independence Anniversary on 14 August 1948. Rare edition of Dawn, 14 August 1948.

Daily Dawn, Edition of September 12, 1948. Announcing the Death of Quaid-e-Azam

Quaid-e-Azam Passes Away on 11 September 1948

The Jang, 13 September 1948: Quaid-e-Azam Buried. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah died on 11 September 1948 and was buried in Karachi on 12 September 1948.

Daily ‘Morning News’ Announces Death of Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Pakistan’s Second Independence Anniversary, 14 August 1949. Rare edition of Dawn, 14 August 1949.

Martial Law Declared in Pakistan, Constitution Abrogated – October 7, 1958

President Eisenhower in Karachi, December 1959. Life magazine cover of December 21, 1959 showing Presidents Eisenhower and Ayub Khan in Karachi.

Pakistan Becomes World Hockey Champion in Rome Olympics 1960. On 9 September 1960 Pakistan beat India in the final of hockey in Rome Olympics and ended their 32 years supremacy. Left-in Naseer Bunda scored the only goal of the match and Pakistan won the first ever gold medal.

Death of Allama Mashriqi (August 27 1963). Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi, also known as Allama Mashriqi, (25 August 1888 – 27 August 1963) was a Pakistani mathematician, logician, political theorist, Islamic scholar and the founder of the Khaksar Movement.

Indo-Pak War, September 1965 (Dawn, Karachi: Rare Newspaper)

September 1965: The Daily Dawn. Enemy halted at new fronts. Tactical gains at Lahore area.

Indo-Pak War, 06 September 1965 . Daily Jang, Karachi, edition of 8 Sep 1965.

03 September 1965, Three Indian Planes Shot Down. Three more Indian fighter aircraft shot down. Daily Jang, Karachi, edition of 5 Sep 1965.

Headline of ‘The Australian’ Newspaper,13 September 1965 Edition. The huge tank battle.

The Australian Newspaper, 14 September 1965 Edition. Pakistan wins the biggest tank battle since World War II.

Ayub Khan and Shastri on the Cover of Time Magazine, September 17, 1965 Edition

Yahya Khan and Indra Gandhi on the Cover of Time Magazine, December 6, 1971 Edition 

India Attacked West Pakistan at 7 Points on 03 December 1971. Daily Dawn, 04 December 1971 edition.

On 3 December 1971 India Attacks West Pakistan. Daily Jang, Karachi, 05 December 1971 edition.

49 Indian Jets Downed on 04 December 1971. Daily Dawn, Karachi, 05 December 1971 edition.

Indian Land Captured by Pakistan on 05 December 1971. Daily Dawn, Karachi, 06 December 1971 edition.

Dawn, 16 December 1971. UN a Farce, Bhutto Walks Out from UNO on 15 Dec 1971

Dawn, December 17, 1971, “War Till Victory”, Yahya’s Pledge. General Yahya pays tribute to Pakistani Armed Forces and people of East Wing.

20 December, 1971: Yahya Hands Over Power to Bhutto. Daily Dawn, Karachi, 06 December 1971 edition.

2 January 1971:  Sheikh Mujib Released by President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Owosso (Michigan) Argus Press, 3 January 1972 edition.

05 July 1977: General Zia Proclaimed  Martial Law. Election announced to be held in October 1977. Daily Dawn, Karachi, 06 July 1977.

 Bhutto’s Exile Planned by Zia, Newspaper of 17 June 1978

 Bhutto Refuses to be Exiled, Newspaper of 17 June 1978

Pope John Paul II Visits to Pakistan, 16 February 1981. This is the front page of (now defunct) The Muslim, edition of 17 February 1981. It has a photo and story on the Pope’s first ever visit of Pakistan on 16 February 1981. The Pope also addressed mass at Karachi’s National Stadium.

 Black Storm Plays Havoc in Karachi on 31 May 1986. The daily Jang, edition of 01 June 1986 gives details and death toll and damage to the property.

General Zia’s Plane Crash on 17 August 1988. General Zia-Ul-Haq, President of Pakistan, died in a plane crash near Bahawalpur on 17 August 1988. On board the plane was total of 31 people, including the US Ambassador, the Military Attache of US Embassy and a number of senior officers of Pakistan Army.

Zia Died in a Plane Crash on 17 August 1988 : Rare Nawa-e-Waqt Newspaper

Dawn, November 4, 2007, Chief Justice of Pakistan, Suspended. Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan, was suspended by President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, on 3 November 2007. He was finally restored on 22 March 2009.

The News, December 28, 2007. Giving news of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination on December 27, 2007.

Dawn, December 28, 2007.  Giving news of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination on December 27, 2007

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Daily Times, December 28, 2007. Daughter of East Slain, Benazir Bhutto’s assassination on December 27, 2007.

Benazir Bhutto on the Cover of Time Magazine, 14 January 2008 Edition