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I watched a news report this morning from Sky News vis a vis the upcoming return of the Lady of Larkana, the one and only Mrs Benazir Zardari. Such interest from a British news channel is not surprising given Mrs Zardari return has been fashioned by Pakistan’s erstwhile friends in Washington and London who are set to share with her the loot both political and monetary coming their way. Uncle Sam’s role in governing or ‘influencing’ Pakistanis is now a given; but what can one make of Britain’s designs? Has the East India Company been reincarnated and when did Mountbatten metamorphose into a Milliband?

BB or Bibi, Benazir or Mohtarma, Daughter of the East or even of the West, whatever you choose to call her, one and all await her return to Pakistan with bated breath. Political commentators are in agreement that the ‘BB Brand’ has taken an almighty whack thanks to her deal making with General Musharraf. However her political party paint a pretty picture reassuring us all that this iron lady is still worshipped by the masses across Pakistan. Only time will tell who is right, these are exciting times indeed.

As a proud Pakistani I welcome the return of Benazir Zardari to Pakistan with open arms. However the more discerning of my readership will have duly noted the absence of the ‘Bhutto’ after the Benazir; some of you will be slightly troubled by it and others possibly will be angry at moi for committing such a heinous blasphemy. Yet I have no problem in admitting to this crime for I have made such a distinction deliberately since I believe that the incomparable daughter has forfeited her right to claim the Bhutto name as a result of her actions and inactions.

Love him or loathe him Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto made heads turn; his passionate oratory via his speeches sent shivers down the spines of millions of Pakistanis. Yet Bhutto not only talked the talk, he also walked the walk by making Pakistan a nuclear power, by passing land reform legislation to liberate the masses from the tyranny of feudalism and single handedly brought back pride to a battered and torn country. Yet it Bhutto’s  passion to govern for the poor in life and in death through his Pakistan’s Peoples Party that has forever altered the political, social and moral compass of Pakistan. For millions of Pakistanis Bhutto is much more than a name, it is a living and breathing ideology that sings the song of the poor providing them with a hope of a better tomorrow.

There are numerous conspiracy theories that abound the internet, none weirder than the conspiracy that the former Beatle Paul McCartney is dead and that he has been replaced by a crude double. One can say much the same of the Mrs Zardari PPP, now serving only as a fan club of a party full of spineless sops who bow to every whim of her royal highness the Queen of Surrey Palace. Dr Mubashir Hasan, a founding father of the PPP recently remarked that Z A Bhutto was killed because of his reluctance to share power with the military or usurpers as Bhutto calls them yet compare and contrast this with his daughter ‘Pinky’ who happily makes deals with dying military regimes. Such actions are not befitting the Bhutto name, moreover a news report on Geo yesterday caught my eye that said that the party of the poor; the PPP had spent many crore rupees alone in welcoming Mrs Zardari back to the land of the pure, this at a time when the price of tomatoes has reached 140 rupees a kilo for the wretched of this land. Mrs Zardari’s PPP is a poor double, I rest my case.

The good news for the poor of Pakistan is that the PPP is not and nor can it ever be the party of any Bhutto. It cannot be the personal fiefdom of any Benazir or Pinky for it is and will always be the party of the people. The three P’s represent its covenant with the people namely it is owned by Pakistan only. Secondly it is the party of the People and lastly it is a Party and not a one lady show. So rejoice Pakistan as we welcome home the one and only Benazir Zardari.

 - Originally posted on 18th October 2007, 00.54 PK Time

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