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Murtaza Bhutto

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Syrian President's plane and it was not allowed to land in Karachi by the<br />

government of the time. The plane was diverted to Dubai and from there they<br />

came on a Ethiopian Airlines' flight to Karachi.<br />

The witness said Mir <strong>Murtaza</strong> had been elected to the provincial assembly of<br />

Sindh from Larkana while still remaining abroad in exile and on the second<br />

day of his arrival in Karachi he had been produced by the law-enforcement<br />

agencies in custody at Landhi jail to take oath of membership of the assembly.<br />

He said right from those days and until his death in the police firing the<br />

government of her sister had been against him, and the former prime minister<br />

was not happy with his return to Pakistan and a number of cases had been<br />

instituted against him, and one after another, he had been granted bail by the<br />

courts. Mr Bhatti said not only that <strong>Murtaza</strong> was harassed but his associates<br />

were also taken into custody on various fake charges. One of them was Ali<br />

Mohammad Hingoro, a cancer patient, who later died in custody.<br />

The witness said his party leader had been promising the people to get them<br />

their rights so as to relieve them of high cost of living, to provide health,<br />

transport, housing and employment, which was not liked by the then<br />

government, especially by Asif Ali Zardari. He said Zardari had been telling<br />

people associated with <strong>Murtaza</strong> to change their loyalties in favour of his<br />

wife's party, and even warned them to mend their ways or else live the rest of<br />

their life in jail and some of the staunchest allies like Hameed Baloch and<br />

Maula Bux Maulvi were lodged in jail and they are still behind bars.<br />

According to the witness, Zardari had told them that if he could take away<br />

the chairmanship of the party from Nusrat <strong>Bhutto</strong>, he could do many things.<br />

He recalled an incident of January 5, 1994 when the police had opened fire at<br />

Al-<strong>Murtaza</strong> in Larkana when Nusrat <strong>Bhutto</strong> was there and two party<br />

supporters, Ghulam Kadir Jhakro and Shahid Rind, had died in the firing. He<br />

said the police had fired direct at Begum Nusrat <strong>Bhutto</strong> but she escaped,<br />

adding that none of the occupants inside Al-<strong>Murtaza</strong> were armed and power<br />

supply to the premises was later disconnected. After the firing incident there<br />

were celebrations in the municipal garden with fireworks and dances, in<br />

which Benazir <strong>Bhutto</strong> and Asif Ali Zardari also participated. Asif Zardari was<br />

jubilant over the incident wile the entire town of Larkana was grieved.<br />

Mr Bhatti had appeared as a witness and his name was proposed by the PPP<br />

(SB) to disclose facts about the conspiracy to murder Mir <strong>Murtaza</strong>, and since<br />

<strong>Murtaza</strong> <strong>Bhutto</strong>; Copyright © www.bhutto.org<br />

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