Bhuttoism and Kashmir

By Mazhar Iqbal

The speeches of 2nd line party leaders of Pakistan People’s Party and top leadership including former President of Pakistan Asif Zardari and his son Bilawal Bhutto on Saturday 18th October in Karachi gathering spoke volumes of party’s rapidly falling popularity. This was another attempt to cash in on Kashmir’s name and Bhutto’s fame.

A week ago, when Bilawal ranted to take back every inch of Kashmir, he, in fact, was flexing his muscles to enter into the realm of politics, but unwillingly he had to enter into the quagmire of Kashmir. His sudden love for Kashmir has emerged from Pakistan People’s Party’s contingency plan. His full-fledged entry into politics was planned around the next general election in 2018, as he himself had announced it last month. But, it’s the unflinching popularity of new entrants in Pakistani politics and rapidly diminishing posture of the central government that has pulled him to tread upon the mines.

From ZA Bhutto to Bilawal Bhutto, Kashmir remains the favourite jingle of Pakistan People’s Party for crowd gathering. Five decades ago, ZA Bhutto rhetorically presented the issue of Kashmir in the UN General Assembly and questioned the members what language was one supposed to speak when one wanted to bring out the urgency of the situation in Kashmir. The rhetoric worked well and Bhutto started climbing fast on the ladder of politics.

He was the only political leader Pakistan has ever produced who had the power of mass support. He promised almost everything that fell under his socialist agenda. However, his movement for social justice was later hijacked by feudalists. However, his biggest sin, according to his critics, was the insinuating acceptance of the disintegration of his country. Perhaps, he was the biggest loser in the history of politics in Indian sub-continent. The founder of Pakistan People’s Party was also accused of bartering Kashmir with India in exchange of 93,000 Pakistani prisoners of war. This ultimately provided him a chance to rule the remaining part of the country after the dismemberment of East Pakistan.

Bhuttoism and Kashmir’s symbolic love run parallel in Pakistani politics. Bhutto in his second coming (Bilawal) has once again shown preference to leading the crowd by exploiting this symbolic love. Few days ago, in a super-rhetoric, referring to the unsettled status of Kashmir, Bilawal said that had the world listened to ZA Bhutto, today world peace would be more than just a dream. Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairman also terms the Kashmir dispute as one of the biggest failures of the UN.

There are not just mass protests against Pakistani government that forced all major political parties to take defensive positions. After skilfully handling the chaotic political situation in the country, Pakistan’s security establishment has strengthened its position internally and geo-strategically. A military operation that was launched to hunting down some of the deadliest terrorist outfits at Pakistan’s western border is now focused on eliminating extremist elements within the country.

Pakistan’s security establishment has conspicuously elevated itself to a strengthening role in various national and regional issues. An increased level of bilateral engagement with Afghanistan and reiteration of a resolve by Pakistan Army to deal with India on equal terms implies that all political faces, old or new, are to follow the transcription.