News Analysis |
Former President General Pervez Musharraf has come out all guns blazing against Co-Chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Asif Ali Zardari. He has held Zardari responsible for the murders of Benazir Bhutto and her brother Murtaza Bhutto. Benazir was killed in, what was apparently, a terror attack by Taliban in Dec 2007. Her brother Murtaza was killed in a mysterious shoot out in 1996, when Benazir and Zardari were in power; Murtaza before his death had very tense relations with Asif Ali Zardari. General Musharraf, himself accused by PPP for Benazir’s murder, reacted in a video post arguing that Zardari had much to gain from the murder of his wife: Benazir Bhutto.
“There was just one person that had everything to gain from Benazir’s assassination and that was Asif Ali Zardari,” said Musharraf reiterating his famous remark in an interview in 2007 when he said: “Who is the maximum beneficiary?”
“Asif Ali Zardari is responsible for the Bhutto family’s demise and is involved in the deaths of Benazir and Murtaza Bhutto,” the 74-year old said in a message to the Bhutto and Zardari family. Benazir, 54 was shot dead in a public rally in Liaqat Bagh, Rawalpindi on 27th December 2007. The fiery head of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for the attack.
#DunyaVideos: Former President Pervez Musharraf alleges Zardari of killing #BenazirBhutto, Murtaza Bhutto
Read: https://t.co/WpJk3foG7u pic.twitter.com/PkhQRedUnb— Dunya News (@DunyaNews) September 21, 2017
“Zardari was in power for five years, why did he not look into the case, why was the investigation not active? Simply because he was involved in Benazir’s murder,” said Musharraf. It has been observed that neither Zardari nor his children ever attended any hearing of the case in the ATC; the follow-up was feeble and not in-line with the enormity of the case.
“Every time there is a murder, the first thing that needs to be seen is who has the most to gain from the death. In this case, I had everything to lose as I was in power and the murder put my government in a difficult situation,” said Musharraf. The all-powerful Musharraf had relinquished his COAS position a month before the gory incident. He was at the lowest ebb of his power, reeling from the effects of the Chief Justice saga and the Lal Masjid operation. Musharraf could not have afforded even a dint of involvement in the heart-wrenching attack on the former prime minister, with whom he himself had brokered the highly controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance(NRO).
Read more: Did Zardari’s ‘thug security’ cost Benazir Bhutto her life?
“There was just one person that had everything to gain from Benazir’s assassination and that was Asif Ali Zardari,” said Musharraf reiterating his famous remark in an interview in 2007 when he said: “Who is the maximum beneficiary?”
The formal launch of the TTP was a direct result of Musharraf’s Lal Masjid and other military operations in the country; the idea that Musharraf ordained the reprehensible event stands on weak grounds.
“Zardari was in power for five years, why did he not look into the case, why was the investigation not active? Simply because he was involved in Benazir’s murder,” said Musharraf. It has been observed that neither Zardari nor his children ever attended any hearing of the case in the ATC; the follow-up was feeble and not in-line with the enormity of the case.
Musharraf further analyzed the case and stressed that Baitullah Mehsud was out for his blood and vice versa. “The evidence is clear that Baitullah Mehsud and his people were involved in the murder, but who had asked them to target Benazir Bhutto — it could not have been me, the group hated me and the feeling was mutual,” said the former four-star general.
Read more: Will Zardari not save his “elder brother” this time?
The formal launch of the TTP was a direct result of Musharraf’s Lal Masjid and other military operations in the country; the idea that Musharraf ordained the reprehensible event stands on weak grounds.
“The charge they are levying against me is that I did not provide Benazir adequate security, something I was not responsible for, the only question I have is, who took the decision to create a hatch in the roof of a bullet and bomb proof car?”
“It is a known fact that I wanted Mehsud dead and so did the government of Pakistan after his group had attempted to kill me. Zardari, on the other hand, had a great relationship with former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, a link he could have used to influence Mehsud and his people,” he said.
Bringing his vast military experience in the mix, Musharraf questioned what and how things transpired on 27th December. “The charge they are levying against me is that I did not provide Benazir adequate security, something I was not responsible for, the only question I have is, who took the decision to create a hatch in the roof of a bullet and bomb proof car?”
Read more: Husain Haqqani: An opportunist turncoat!
Lastly, General Musharraf raised doubts on why Benazir was asked to come out of the hatch after she had addressed the gathering. There are plenty of questions that surround the attack. The terrorist attack is difficult to be attributed to either of the two. However, it is important to note that Musharraf would have derived no advantage out of it.