Bhutto, One More Page of History

Mohammad Hamza

In December 2007 election campaign in Pakistan was in full swing. All political parties were pushing
hard to prove their superiority.

December 27th was one of those days, but the sun of that day was about to bring with it an accident
whose effects spanned decades to come. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Benazir Bhutto addressed a
large rally in Rawalpindi and on her way back from the rally, she got out of the car to respond to the
slogans of her workers and was shot by a terrorist named Bilal and he blew himself up.

She was rushed to a hospital in Rawalpindi where doctors confirmed her death. The scene was washed
away and the most important evidence was destroyed and an autopsy was not allowed.

Justice Athar Minallah, who was on the board of the hospital in Rawalpindi, said this

"The evidence has been washed away and an autopsy or investigation is not allowed. As a lawyer, I can't
come to any conclusions, but it's very serious to believe that the government was not a matter of time."

Immediately after her death, a will came to light according to which Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was made the
party chairman and Asif Ali Zardari the co-chairman.

At the time, the Musharraf government blamed the killing on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader
Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement and was killed in a 2009 US drone strike.

Shortly after Benazir's assassination, the Pakistan People's Party came to power in 2008 and at the request
of the government, the United Nations sent a three-member investigation team to Pakistan.

In a 2010 investigative report, a UN team blamed the Musharraf administration for failing to provide
adequate security for Benazir.

The report said that if proper security arrangements had been made, Benazir's life could have been saved.

At the same time, the police were also found guilty that the investigation was inappropriate and
incomplete and that the crime scene was washed away without gathering evidence.
Senior police officer Khurram Shehzad issued orders to wash the crime scene immediately and another
police officer, Saud Aziz, who was then the police chief of Rawalpindi, repeatedly asked for the autopsy
to be stopped.

The UN report proves that the security establishment was the reason for the delay in the police
investigation. The UN team avoided naming the suspects and shifted the responsibility to Pakistani
agencies.

Many people portrayed Asif Ali Zardari as Benazir's assassin. These words were reinforced when Bilal
Sheikh, a close associate of Asif Ali Zardari and Benazir's security in-charge, was killed by a suicide
bomber. In addition, Benazir's personal bodyguard Khalid Shehnashah was seen making strange gestures
on stage a few moments before Benazir's assassination and a few months after her martyrdom, Khalid
Shehnashah was also shot dead in Karachi.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan People's Party and son of Mohtarma, blamed the
Musharraf government for the assassination and said that Musharraf was the mastermind of the whole
affair.

When Musharraf was asked about the state's involvement in the matter, he said,

It is possible, yes, indeed.

The case went on and Musharraf was indicted in August 2013 but Musharraf pleaded not guilty. And
exiled himself in 2016.

The controversial case in Pakistani history was dropped on August 31, 2017, when former military
dictator Pervez Musharraf was declared a fugitive and ordered to have his property confiscated.

Two senior police officials, Khurram Shehzad and Saud Aziz, were sentenced to 17 years in prison.

And five suspected militants were acquitted on the basis of incomplete evidence