The Hindu : International : A new mood of confidence in the party

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 18, 2007
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International

International

A new mood of confidence in the party

Nirupama Subramanian

KARACHI: 'Shahzeb "Sunny" was only 17 years old when Benazir Bhutto left Pakistan, but the pharmacy shop assistant in Layari, a vast Dharavi-like neighbourhood in this city, is in no doubt the Pakistan People's Party leader is "the best".

"She gave Layari water, she gave us roads. Whenever she has been in power, unemployed people have got jobs, there has been more happiness in the country" said the 25-year-old, who comes from a family of PPP supporters in a neighbourhood of Bhutto worshippers.

PPP flags and banners with Ms. Bhutto's picture alongside her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto hang from every building in Layari. On its streets, vehicles are all flying the red, green and black party standard. Even Sunny's cellphone ringtone is a popular PPP song about Ms. Bhutto in four the four main languages of Pakistan - Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtun and Baloch.

The song is also blaring from loudspeakers under tents where PPP supporters gather to celebrate Ms. Bhutto's arrival in Karachi on Thursday after eight years of self-imposed exile in Dubai and London. "Arrows will pierce the hearts of your enemies, Benazir, Benazir," goes the catchy number.

Layari and neighbouring Sadr Town have been celebrating her arrival for the last three days, with all night singing and dancing. "Please note it's not songs from Bollywood. These are all PPP songs," said Asif Jojey, a PPP organiser in Kharadar.

For PPP activists and supporters, Ms. Bhutto's return will herald an era of prosperity, the end of unemployment, terrorism, extremism, militancy and of every other problem that Pakistan is facing. Her alleged corruption is a non-issue.

Pack of lies

"It's a pack of lies to malign her name. Nothing has been proved against her," said Jojey.

Sunny was more matter-of-fact. "She ate, but she also gave others something to eat," he said.

Both will be among the thousands who will pack into buses, trucks and vans, or ride motorbikes from Layari to the airport to receive herwhen she arrives. The welcome procession that will escort her from the airport will take a projected 18 hours. Ms. Bhutto, who is to travel in a bullet-proof glass fitted truck, is to be felicitated at each of the reception tents that have been set up en route to her first stop in the city, Mohammed Ali Jinnah 's mausoleum.

Outside Bilawal House, her Clifton home a few metres from Sea View, Karachi' s equivalent of Marine Drive, a "Benazir protection force" made up of party workers from remote corners of Sindh, is awaiting instructions from PPP leaders.

"We are her commandos. She commands, we obey. We are ready to lay down our lives for her. We set out from our homes in shrouds," said Asif Ali Chachar from Ghotki.

With her arrival confirmed, there is a new mood of confidence in the party, and a new body language among senior leaders.

Even the legal challenge to President Musharraf's withdrawal of corruption charges against her is not seen as a big hurdle.

"The litigation will continue, but in a few months, Pakistan would be at a crucial juncture. Elections will come and the litigation would not be that material," said Safdar Abbasi, a PPP Senator, as he directed operations for Thursday from Bilawal House. "We in the PPP believe that people of Pakistan should decide."

But a stone's throw away, at Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's historic 70 Clifton residence, his daughter-in-law Ghinwa, wife of he late Mir Murtaza, and Murtaza's daughter Fatima, think differently. They believe that Ms. Bhutto, or "Mrs Zardari" as they want her to be known, fled the country to escape from her cases, and would never have come back but for the guarantee of the amnesty, which they describe as a "pardon".

"By asking to be pardoned, she has admitted her guilt. She has insulted the people's intelligence. Her coming back will be a catalyst but only to trigger a political reaction against her," said the Lebanese-born Ghinwa, who believes that her sister-in-law must take "at least moral responsibility" for Murtaza's 1996 killing.

Fatima Bhutto said the welcome for her aunt would comprise only "rent-a-crowd" people.

"We were the first ones to say, way back in 2002, that all secular, moderate forces must come together in a working relationship to combat militancy and fanaticism in Pakistan," said Farooq Sattar, a senior MQM leader. "We do not have an iota of fear that we will be marginalized by PPP. It is the [ruling] Pakistan Muslim League that needs to fear this," he said. Even the legal challenge to President Musharraf's withdrawal of corruption charges against her is not seen as a big hurdle.

"In 1986, she boarded a plane and arrived here, and people came out to welcome her, because they believed in her. Now, we have a month of preparations, so many posters, so much money spent. Obviously this is to cover up for something, the lack of support for her," she said. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which considers Karachi its stronghold and has a historic rivalry with the PPP, said it welcomed Ms. Bhutto back. "We were the first ones to say, way back in 2002, that all secular, moderate forces must come together in a working relationship to combat militancy and fanaticism in Pakistan," said Farooq Sattar, a senior MQM leader. "We do not have an iota of fear that we will be marginalized by PPP. It is the [ruling] Pakistan Muslim League that needs to fear this," he said.

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