Tuesday, September 14, 1993
My dear Rao Rashid
Thank you for your open letter which I read with interest. It was not necessary, at the outset, to devote so much space to introduce yourself. I have for long held you in high regard for your courageous struggle, devotion and painful sacrifice in the cause for which Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto laid down his life.
I sympathise with your plight, I share you grievances to the extent that you will never imagine. I share the same sentiments with equal passion with all those dedicated and brave individuals who have been treated in the same ungrateful manner as your-self. When I return to my homeland, I will enthusiastically approach you and seek your advice and cooperation.
But then, unfortunately, some doubts emerge in my mind. Idealism seems to have been replaced by cynicism (I “seem to be living in the past and seem to be using old rhetoric)”.
Ideology is not a fashion to be changed each time the autumn leaves in Paris turn to brown. Serious political problems must be relentlessly pursued until their objectives are realised. It is not like a young lady who is ashamed to wear the same clothes twice in a row because everyone will “notice”. Revolutions are not a product of fashion. They are the result of deep social and economic exploitation of man by man, of class by class and of nation by nation.
They reality of our nation is one of unmitigated and horrifying poverty over centuries. The basic demand of roti, kapra aur makan is as relevant to our society today as it was twenty years ago or twenty millennium ago. Our teachers do not know how to teach in whatever few schools we have, we have no medical facilities, justice does not exist at all for the poor, our women and young girls are raped with impunity, salt is eating away our soil, drugs are destroying our soul, corruption has reduced our nation’s morals to worse than that of a madam of a bordello. We have no clean water, our people live worse than animals. This is the brutal and shameful reality, the burden with which we are about to enter the twenty-first century, and all you can say is “I am living in the past”. Where are you living, Sir-in Switzerland in the 24th century?
You have furthermore asked me to surrender myself for selective punishment and selective justice.
On July 5th, General Zia and his colleagues waged war on the State of Pakistan. They dismantled the Constitution, an act of treason punishable by death. In all civilised nations, the citizens elect a parliament, the parliament frames the constitution, and these two together constitute the sovereignty of the people in its concrete form. When these two pillars of sovereignty are dismantled by adventurers, then all law reverts to the citizens. Thus it becomes the moral right, constitutional obligation and national duty of all citizens to resist the perpetrators with all means at their disposal. Resistance to evil and tyranny is justified. Thomas Jefferson, the author of the American Constitution wrote, “Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.” I resisted tyranny, I obeyed God.
I do not request amnesty for my people, I demand it. Those who, according to our Constitution, committed treason are conveniently forgiven. Those who fulfilled their constitutional obligation and resisted treacherous acts are asked to submit themselves for punishment. I ask you, Mr. Rao Rashid, if a thief breaks into your house, brutalises you and your family, and you resist, and the police forgive the thief but punish you, will you not speak of other options?
You do not have to speak to me of “grit”. I have had to face death so many times, that sometimes I begin to wonder why it stares me in the face and then always runs away. I am not afraid of death, but death it seems is afraid of me. So let us not talk of grit, let’s talk of justice – something unknown to the poor of our land.
I am prepared to face any trial by court, in any part of our country, provided that all those involved in Zia’s tyrannical Martial Law are also brought to trial. This involves all collaborating army and police officers, judges, bureaucrats and politicians. They waged war on the nation, I and my colleagues did our duty to resist. The issue is one of principles and does not involve questions of “being in no position to demand, living in the past” and so on.
In fact you have said that this is unreasonable because most of those involved in Zia’s crimes of terror and treason have long since retired. So should it be reasonable to try me if I retired? What if I told you that all my heroic colleagues in jail and torture centres have resigned? Would their cases be dropped and they be released? According to your prescription, you do not need a mechanism for justice, you need a retirement centre.
Sir, your legal knowledge is not “rusty” it is faulty, unjust and unacceptable. Justice cannot be selective, discriminating and partial. Your cannot give justice to one class, community or institution and not to others. The Army’s excesses under Zia have been pardoned by the 8th Amendment. Civilian collaborators have been pardoned by default. If only those who upheld the law and resisted, and if only those who obeyed God are singled out for relentless persecution and punishment, then it is unwise to ask our long suffering people not to speak of other options.
Furthermore, I want to assure you that I do not plan to limit myself to Sindh because I do belong to the whole of Pakistan. But for sometime now, Sindh’s grievances have been the most severe, its wounds still raw, its trauma still serious. Sindhis are constantly insulted, humiliated, their villages and crops destroyed, their women raped. Their spirit and soul is near breaking point and you talk to me of cheap publicity. It is this arrogance that has brought Sindh to the threshold of secessionist rebellion.
I want to heal the wounds of my people. I want to bring Sindh into the political mainstream wholeheartedly. Inshallah, I will address the problems of the whole Federation.
In the end, Mr. Rao Rashid , I want to assure you that I do not aspire to some position or office or power. I do not seek permits or plots. My hands are clean, and my conscience is clear. I am neither a moral nor a financial defaulter. I and my people are incorruptible. However, I reserve the right to struggle to solve our problems of poverty, injustice and inter-provincial conflict in my humble personal capacity. I also reserve the right to resist all tyrants. I do not offer quick magical solutions, because they do not exist. I offer my blood and my life to fulfil the dreams of my people. I know their dreams because their dreams are mine too. I share their sorrow, their pain and I also share their dreams of a better tomorrow. Try to sleep as I have many a night on the hard stones of the Hindukush mountains in the middle of its freezing winter, and then you will soon dream our dreams.
My best wishes to you and all other brave and honest men and women.
Sincerely,
Mir Murtaza Bhutto.