A new twist to BB’s murder

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

By Saeed Minhas

ISLAMABAD: Finally the federation has transferred majority of its burden to the provinces by getting the nod of the Upper House on the 18th Amendment, and now the ball is in the courts of the four federating units to deliver.

What comes on the heel of this achievement is not only the burden of getting rid of NAB and bringing in a proposed accountability commission with the same “botched up” consensus, but also the burden of dealing with the UN commission’s report on Benazir Bhutto’s murder.

It has already been stated how all-encompassing the accountability commission would prove when from Ziaul Haq to Musharraf, the Sharifs to the Chaudhrys and the PPP to the JUI, everyone would come clean, claiming whatever they did in the past had been done in “good faith”. Since anything done in good faith does not fall under the purview of the proposed commission, our bewildered masses would find nothing but the same old faces rubbing salt in their wounds.

The case of the UN report, however, is likely to create ripples because the government is yet to initiate even an FIR over the murder of the same leader, whom Raza Rabbani considers his “political mother”, premier Gilani his “guiding light” and President Zardari “a beacon of light”.

Contradictory statements from the PPP leadership is something that’s making it more troublesome as the president has claimed in the past he knows who killed his spouse, Gilani claims Baitullah Mehsud has already been eliminated to avenge Benazir’s murder, while other leaders prefer to keep mum or wait for the UN report.

Now, the report will hit the road and all of them might have to come clean on their claims, as no matter how much time has elapsed, several mysteries still surround her murder, ranging from circumstances to the autopsy, the conduct of Rehman Malik and Babar Awan to the placement of a Bahria Town ambulance outside BB’s house by Malik Riaz. Things are really sketchy and scattered, but one can hope that after the UN’s presentation, the government would take it further instead of losing it in reconciliatory efforts.

Chaudhry Aslam, the protocol officer accompanying Benazir during the fateful moments – revisiting his agony in the midst of a cluster of MPs and journalists in the cafeteria – thinks otherwise. He believes that Baitullah Mehsud’s theory is rubbish because BB had spoken to Baitullah just days before her murder and the telephonic conversation was arranged by Gen ® Naseerullah Babar when she was at Arbab Alamgir’s residence in Peshawar. He recalls that Baitullah had conveyed to BB that certain agencies were spreading rumours about the Taliban, whereas he said the Pashtuns would never harm women, especially ZAB’s daughter.

Aslam said it’s a conspiracy hatched by certain agencies, some Sindhi and Punjabi leaders, and some insiders to get rid of not only BB, but also Nawaz Sharif. Nawaz had escaped an attempt in Rawalpindi’s Koral Chowk just minutes before the attack on BB where seven of his party workers died. He said Brigadier Ejaz Shah, then Intelligence Bureau DG, was certainly involved in this and so were Gen Musharraf and Chaudhry Parvaiz Elahi.

As Aslam mentioned the names of two incumbent federal ministers, even those considering it just another conspiracy theory wanted to find out who they were. He said as per the plan, BB had to take the Gawalmandi route to reach Islamabad for another important meeting and her personal and official security vehicles, along with a Mercedes, were supposed to accompany the Pajero she was travelling in with Naheed Khan, Amin Fahim and Safdar Abbassi. But as BB’s car left, we got to know that neither the Mercedes nor the official and personal security vehicles were there because the two incumbent ministers had rushed them out, leaving BB’s vehicle all alone.

He said as BB’s vehicle moved forward, a horde of approximately 35 people came from no where, who were visibly not jiyalas, and surrounded BB’s vehicle, at which her bodyguards roughed them up to clear the way. As the car moved ahead, a gunshot was heard, followed by a laser boom and some sniper shots. “I saw BB’s headscarf and her hair flying in the air and moments later a roadside timed-device exploded. That’s when I lost consciousness because both my legs were severely injured and burnt,” he told the stunned audience.

He said BB was aware that her husband had arranged a meeting in Dubai in which Rehman Malik, Zulfiqar Mirza, Agha Siraj, Asim Gujar, Bilal Sheikh, Faisal Abidi and others had devised a security plan besides all the security already provided.

He left the cafeteria in tears wondering that the UN committee spent almost three hours with him, but would they include all this? “Even if they don’t, I would lodge an FIR mentioning all the conspirators,” he vowed.

This leaves the government with a huge responsibility to deliver after the UN mission reveals its report, and whoever is responsible certainly needs to be booked.