Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Recollections and remembrances

occasions was positioned in the middle of the ground. We saw no parallel orcommonality between this occasion and those precedents but orders fromsuperior quarters had to be followed. A new stage was erected in the middle of awide open ground and that is where the ceremony was held. Those present thereand others who saw it on the television would remember what a massive chaosthe whole thing ended up in. A large crowd charged with frenzy and euphoriaoverwhelmed all the arrangements. Use of force on an occasion like that was outof the question. It was with great difficulty that the President could be escorted.Evidently a fiasco of that magnitude could not have gone unnoticed. FederalGovernment constituted an Inquiry Committee to look into what had happenedand to fix responsibility. Four of us i.e. Commissioner, Deputy InspectorGeneral of Police, Deputy Commissioner and S.S.P. Rawalpindi were summonedto explain matters. The Committee that we faced comprised some familiar facesfrom the previous Supervisory Committee. Having over-ruled us then, they nowsat to find fault and indict. I reminded them that instead of asking questions someof them should be accepting responsibility for what had happened. In theircollective judgment the fault lay with us. We could anticipate our fate. However,within a couple of days or so what we received from the Federal Governmentwas not a condemnation but commendation for the services of the districtadministration. How come, we were asking in disbelief, but we learnt before longthat the letters of appreciation had been issued upon the intervention of thePresident, who had made independent inquiries into what had happened anddrawn his own conclusion. That was at once so inspiring and reassuring; becausein situations like that truth is quite often submerged and when it surfaces it isalready too late.Mr. Bhutto was hard taskmaster, very competent and result-oriented. AsCommissioner Rawalpindi I often found the going rough. I seemed to beincurring his displeasure rather frequently. Mercifully, however the mode ofcommunication remained one to one and verbal. Out of desperation I wasseriously contemplating long leave. I confided in my wife that the Prime Ministerseemed unhappy with me and the way out lay in quitting the job. She made avery pertinent observation that put my apprehensions at rest. She said if he wereall that displeased with you, would you still be around? How true!Mr. Bhutto got very offended with a Pakistan Peoples Party MPA from Taxilawho had failed to show up at the given time for an appointment with the PrimeMinister. I was told that he should be made to answer for his deliberate defianceand affront. My immediate inquiries revealed that it was a matter of party in-fight.He and a MNA from Gujar Khan versus another MPA and MNA fromRawalpindi city, we tried but could not locate him as he was reported to havegone to Lahore. Mr. Bhutto asked me the progress and I had unfortunatelyprecious little to report. He was very angry, to put it mildly.Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Recollections and Remembrances; Copyright © www.bhutto.org 134