Capt.Popeye
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Z. A. Bhutto in my young first hand experience was a corrupt, arrogant, and self assured fellow who thought the Indian military of the 1965 era would be a "push over." Z. A. Butto had a now deceased dear friend of mine (much older), now deceased, retired RAF Air Vice Marshal P. G. K. Williamson, then Group Captain P. G. K. (Pete) Williamson, the RAF Advisor to the Government of Pakistan at the British High Commissioner's Office in Karachi...had Pete declared Persona Non Grata for daring to tell Bhutto to lay off his plans to attack in Kashmir and elsewhere, that no useful purpose could be served and that the people of Pakistan needed basics, not the propaganda distractions which Kashmir has been used for among the poorest, least educated, most needy of the national population throughout all parts of Pakistan.
But, not to be self-contradictory, I favored his daughter, Mrs. Bhutto, who I think could have done some real good as the PPP President had she lived to be elected...and she surely would have been elected. Her husband, the stand in for her after her murder, now the President of Pakistan, does the best he can and the PPP among all political parties seems still to me the most moderate and future oriented...but Pakistani elitists, which includes some elements inside the Pak military, particularly in the ISI, still use Kashmir as a distraction from the real needs of all the people.
It is easy to be an after the fact, arm chair quarterback, but in my humble view religion has been the curse, not the salvation of the nation of Pakistan. Jinnah meant to keep an objective nation with freedom for and representation of all sects, ethnicities, and religions in the Pakistani Parliament. The 1950 Constitution of Pakistan was about as good as Pakistan has ever had. Amendments to and changes to it in the early 1970s, particularly by Z. A. Bhutto, now by the current Parliament of Paksitan regarding the Blasphemy Laws, are an abomination to and further destruction of any hope of a sane governance system for Paksitan, and another major nail in the coffin of democratcy and free speech inside Pakistan.
@ American Eagle,
Thank you again for your post.
About your reading of Mr. Bhutto; its interesting. I had an opportunity to speak with two persons (now sadly deceased) who had some very close exposure to Mr. Bhutto. One was a teacher in the Cathedral and John Connon School in Bombay (where Bhutto schooled as a boy) and a school mate of his (who happened to be known to my father). And I can see many areas of overlap.
About the second point, I tend to agree with that assessment. Tinkering about with democracy and especially with the first Constitution did not help in setting up the 'pillars of democracy' in Pakistan.