Bilawal Bhutto is a chip of the old block and destiny beckons him
Pakistan in so many ways is similar to India. Like in India we have Rahul Gandhi who has been anointed as the leader of the Congress Party by virtue of being a Nehru -Gandhi descendant, similarly, Bilawal Bhutto has also been selected as a leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, by virtue of the fact that that he is a Bhutto.
Like in India where the Nehru -Gandhi family has a special place in the hearts of the Indian people, similarly the Bhutto family has a magical hold over the people of Pakistan. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is well known as a very intelligent leader of Pakistan who founded the Pakistan peoples party. It is to his credit that the Pakistan constitution in 1973 was adopted. One of the salient features of the constitution is the protection of minorities which is guaranteed. This is a very significant provision of the Constitution of Pakistan. I am not aware that any other countries have such a provision in the constitution which guarantees the rights of the minorities like the Hindus, Sikhs, and Christians in Pakistan. All credit to Zulfikar Bhutto for this.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his faults. Nobody can deny them. I remember in an interview by General Musharraf to an Indian correspondent the ex-President of Pakistan clearly said that the state of Bangladesh was created mainly because of the folly of Ali Bhutto. Despite this Bhutto remains a very popular figure in Pakistan but the people in Bangladesh ( East Pakistan) do not have any time for him.
Bhutto was done in by the Pakistan army general Zia ul Haq. The Pakistani Dictator knew very well that he is not a match to Bhutto in popularity. He was wondering how to get rid of Bhutto and him along with a few generals formulated a devious plan to murder Bhutto by implicating him in a murder case and asking complaint Supreme Court judge to handover the death sentence.The sad part is that Bhutto was hanged to death like a criminal. There is no doubt that he never killed anybody but general Zia ul Haq committed what we say is "judicial Murder."
The death of Bhutto did not take him out of the minds of the Pakistan people. Many people feel that had Bhutto been alive a lot of the people would have been better. His daughter Benazir Bhutto became Prime Minister of Pakistan after General Zia ul Haq was himself killed in a bomb blast in the aircraft. When the general must have learned that his aircraft was going to crash, he must have wondered that anybody who rides a tiger is also killed by the tiger.
Benazir Bhutto was murdered again in a conspiracy but the people of Pakistan waited for a Bhutto to lead them. When Asif Zardari the husband of Bhutto announced that Bilawal Bhutto, the elder son of Benazir Bhutto would be the leader of the Pakistan People Party cries of " jio Bhutto" rent the air. The younger Bhutto has still to make a mark in politics but I have no doubt that his destiny is linked with the destiny of Pakistan
Bilawal Bhutto has been born with a silver spoon. He is a very intelligent man and has been educated in England . He has a broad mind but in an interview with an Indian journalist, he did mention that he considered the rise of Narendra Modi in India as an impediment too good relations with Pakistan. He mentioned that the perception of the people of Pakistan is that Narendra Modi has his hands dipped in blood because of the killings in Gujarat. Many Indians also feel the same way. Many feel that Modi definitely has something to hide regarding the mass killing of the minority community in Gujarat
From India's point of view, it will be a good idea in case the younger Bhutto can rise up and lead Pakistan because we would be dealing with a person who not only has a modern outlook but is not conditioned by Islamic rhetoric. This is the need of Pakistan who needs such a man. India also needs a man who is not talking about religious dogma.Unfortunately, the BJP and their leader Mr. Modi are talking more about religious dogma like cow slaughter and Ram Mandir and other things than creating jobs and trying to give food to all people in India. The fact that 1000 farmers die every year in India by suicide, is nothing to be proud of. I wonder how much benefit these farmers will get with a agitation for cow slaughter. Mr. Modi must answer on this. To the people of India, Ram Mandir is another issue which is created by the BJP and my grandfather has told me that before partition nobody was really bothered about Ayodhya and Ram Janam Bhoomi. It is the BJP which resurrected this dead horse.
Bilawal Bhutto is thus correct when he says that that in case India and Pakistan have to move forward then they need someone with an open mind and not someone who is dominated by religious dogma and rhetoric
I am a great optimist and I am certain that the younger Bhutto if and when he comes to power will be the best thing for Pakistan and also for India.One can only hope India will see a young Leader who can lead India forward away from the religious dogma of cow slaughter, Ram Mandir, and caste.
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