Opinion April 5, 1979, Forty Years Ago

Bhutto’s second wife, Iranian-born Nusrat Bhutto, and his elder daughter, Benazir, are both under preventive arrest.

Bhutto hanged

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, 51, was hanged and buried this morning (April 4). The deposed prime minister was hanged in the Rawalpindi Central jail at 2 am, flown by a Pakistan Air Force plane to southern Pakistan and buried about 10.30 am in the family graveyard at Naudero (in Sind), the interior ministry announced. The burial took place in the presence of two of Bhutto’s uncles and his first wife, Amir Begum, whom Bhutto had married at 13 and with whom he was seldom seen. President Zia-ul-Haq, the army commander who overthrew Bhutto in 1977, rejected all appeals from Pakistan and abroad seeking mercy for the condemned leader. Bhutto and four co-defendants were convicted on March 19 last year by the Lahore High Court on charges of organising and carrying out a political murder. Bhutto’s second wife, Iranian-born Nusrat Bhutto, and his elder daughter, Benazir, are both under preventive arrest. Many world leaders, including US President Jimmy Carter and Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev, had sent mercy appeals to Zia on behalf of Bhutto.

Three killed in J&K

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The security guard outside the headquarters of the UN military observers’ team in Srinagar fired to disperse angry mourners for Bhutto. Five people with bullet injuries were admitted to hospital. three persons were killed and seven grievously injured in police firings in different parts of Kashmir.

Indira shocked

Indira Gandhi expressed shock at the execution of Bhutto. It was obvious that Bhutto had become “victim of a conspiracy of certain vested interests within and outside Pakistan,” Mrs Gandhi said.

Abu’s cartoon

Abu Abraham’s powerful cartoon depicts a vulture with a military cap and face resembling General Zia crouching on the gallows with blood dripping from its claws.