Toronto Star : Triumph turns to tragedy

Triumph turns to tragedy

On her return from exile, Bhutto's fervent support on the streets is shattered by bombings

Sonya Fatah | SPECIAL TO THE STAR | October 19, 2007

KARACHI, Pakistan -- Red, black and green. The colours of the Pakistan People's Party flag flashed everywhere in Karachi yesterday.

Banners hung off hydro poles, flags were strung up on cars and houses, and the faces of two former Pakistani prime ministers, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and his daughter, Benazir Bhutto, beamed from billboards all along the main road that runs north to south, through the city.

Massive crowds greeted Pakistan's populist leader, whose party carries the largest number of the Pakistani voting public, as she returned home to Karachi after her self-imposed exile of eight years. But few expected the turnout to be as large or greater than the million Pakistanis who had flocked to welcome her in 1986, a 33-year-old woman making her first return from exile.

This time around, her supporters didn't disappoint. Yesterday's huge and enthusiastic turnout was a vindication for Bhutto, who was twice turned out of office, and was accused together with her husband of corruption and mismanagement.

But joy turned to despair 10 hours later when two explosions ripped through the city early today – seconds apart and close to a truck carrying the returning opposition leader – killing more than 120 people. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

While hundreds of thousands of people had waited for hours for Bhutto's return, her crowd-pulling abilities may, in fact, be overstated. No doubt, the populist leader has support among diverse ethnic, social and religious groups in Pakistan. But her return was also a well-orchestrated event.

"People were packed in trucks, and mobilized," said Ayesha Siddiqa, author of Military Inc., talking about the massive logistical effort to ensure a huge public reception for Bhutto.

"It's very difficult to run elections in Pakistan where people get accustomed to the military's way of running campaigns," said a former member of PPP's government.

"In Pakistan the military runs campaigns by offering lucrative rewards – land, businesses, that sort of thing. People get used to those kinds of gifts. It makes it very difficult for political parties to operate."

Some end up resorting to similar tactics.

Indeed, many of the people who milled around the mausoleum of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, awaiting Bhutto's arrival had been transported to Karachi in trucks from various parts of the country. Many said they did not have voter registration cards and didn't know what they had to do to get them.

Pathani Begum, 42, came to Karachi the night before Bhutto's arrival, from Mirpur, in interior Sindh. "She's my sister," she said, explaining her reasons for being there. But, like several others, Begum didn't know anything about the party's philosophy or why she supported Bhutto.

"I just came because the headman in my village said we all had to go. We didn't pay for our trip. We just boarded buses and came here. It's more of a spectacle and fun."

Whether these trips were bankrolled by Bhutto's party or by individual members of the party isn't known. But Bhutto's supporters made it clear exactly who paid for billboard ads by plastering photographs of themselves along with those of Bhutto and her father.

It is likely such blatant declarations of support are not-so-subtle requests for power positions in Bhutto's government if and when she comes to power.

"She is a beacon of hope for us," Begum said.

"There is unemployment. We have children to feed and no way to feed them. Even the price of flour has shot up. We can't afford the inflation anymore," Begum said.

That doesn't mean there was a shortage of Bhutto loyalists. Among the massive crowds who milled were thousands of avid supporters like Gul Nissa Baloch.

"I will sacrifice even my children for Benazir," she said. "She has suffered for us. Her father was hanged. Her brothers were killed. She has lived away from her country for eight years. I will do anything to repay her for her sacrifices."