Military Government in Pakistan successfully counters pro-Bhutto demonstrations

The military Government in Pakistan has successfully countered the pro-Bhutto demonstrations in parts of the country and Gen. Zia is now in full control of the situation.With the hearing of former prime minister Z.A. Bhutto's appeal against death sentence fixed for May 6 before the Supreme Court, Gen. Zia has made it clear that he would let the process of law take its course. He would not interfere in the work of the judiciary or influence the judges. "Justice must be done," he maintains.Gen. Zia stresses that it was not a political sentence but an unanimous judgment of a full bench of the Punjab High Court which found the case of complicity to kill "proved to the hilt".By avoiding to comment publicly on the judgment until he was questioned by a British TV interviewer, Gen. Zia seems to have successfully countered the mounting pressure from inside and outside Pakistan for clemency for Bhutto.The small-scale demonstrations that were carried out in some cities of Punjab and Sind, the two provinces where Bhutto's People's Party of Pakistan (PPP) enjoyed larger support, fizzled out within few days with the arrest and summary military trial of demonstrators..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}Meanwhile, the Punjab police claims to have foiled a plot by People's Party members to blow up the Lahore High Court and other important government buildings throughout Pakistan. The police arrested those said to be the plotters and seized explosive material.The plotters, according to the police, included three former ministers, a reporter of the People's Party Urdu daily Musawat, published from Lahore, and some other PPP workers.Begum Nusrat Bhutto's claim that her husband was being poisoned in jail was denied by the Pakistan Government. Karachi's largest Urdu evening paper, Aghaz, however, has disclosed that in one of his meetings with Nusrat Bhutto in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail, Bhutto had asked her for poison to end his humiliation. Since Nusrat Bhutto was opposed to the idea, she issued the statement that forced the authorities to further tighten the security in the death cell.With many of the PPP leaders either in jail or confined to their residences, the overall situation in Pakistan has returned to normal.There is also a rumour about the formation of an-all party national Government under Gen. Zia for which Azad Kashmir leader Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan is negotiating with various parties. Sardar Qayyum's mission is believed to have been initiated by the military ruler - though he denies it.Three of the components of the eight-party Pakistan National Alliance which brought about the downfall of Bhutto on July 5 last year have refused to join the national Government under the martial law administrator. Former air force chief Air Marshal Asghar Khan's Tehrik-e-Istiqlal, Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani's Jamiat Ulemae Pakistan, and Sardar Sherbaz and Wali Khan's National Democratic Party have shown their complete reluctance to join the proposed national Government.Meanwhile, People's Party's former secretary and Bhutto's minister for information and religious affairs, Maulana Kauser Niazi, who was expelled from the party by acting chairman Begum Nusrat Bhutto, has formed a rival People's Party of like-minded liberals.The Maulana, however, maintains that they should not be called the 'liberal group of PPP' because "we are the real People's Party and I can even expel Begum Nusrat Bhutto from the party".Maulana Niazi's group has expressed willingness to join the proposed national Government while Nusrat Bhutto group has taken to a policy on confrontation and non-cooperation with Gen. Zia's Government. Maulana Niazi enjoys the support of a large number of senior PPP members, most of whom are ready to join any party to remain in power.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Apr 17, 2014--- ENDS ---

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Military Government in Pakistan successfully counters pro-Bhutto demonstrations

The military Government in Pakistan has successfully countered the pro-Bhutto demonstrations in parts of the country and Gen. Zia is now in full control of the situation.

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