in committing grave acts of violence against India. She also unequivocally condemns the Pakistan's Tortuous Political History presence of terror outfics inside Pakistan and censures frequent holding of bra.zen militant S Samuel C Raj iv rallies under the watch of the Pakistani state (p. 212). BORN TO BE HANGED: POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF What could be considered unconven­ ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO By Syeda Hameed cional but rather pleasing turn in the India Rupa Publications, New Delhi, 2017, pp. 337, "500.00 section is that apart from quintessentially mentioning the Kashmir issue, the section SPECIAL STAR: BENAZIR BHUTTO'S STORY on India extensively alludes to Tarar's innate By Syeda Abida Hussain Oxford University Press, Ka rachi, 2017, pp. 140, "999.00 fondness of Indian Bollywood megastar, Amitabh Bachchan. The auchor passionately he blood-strewn saga of the Bhuno The only describes herself as a diehard Bachchan fan clan exemplifies the tortuous politi­ son (apart and her obsession and praise for his work in Tcal history of Pakistan. The books from three movies during his decades-spanning career. under review are political biographies of sisters) of an · Besides an unabashed admiration for Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his equally illustri­ aristocratic Bachchan, Tarar also warmly reminisces ous daughter, Benazir Bhutto, by an Indian zamindar about her travel to New Delhi. and a Pakistani author respectively. Benazir from Sindh There is little doubt that contemporary became Pakistan's as well as the Muslim and his sec­ literature on Pakistan is overwhelmed by ex­ world's first female Prime Minister at the dra­ ond wife Lakhi Bai (a Hindu who was a cour­ cessive focus on geopolitics. With the matically young age of 35 in 1988, within a resan prior ro marriage), Hameed notes tl1at country's key geographical location as the decade after the brutal hanging of her father Bhutto had a 'virulent hatred of Hindus', bedrock and resultant crucial ties with pow­ in 1979. In both cases, buoyant political calling them 'the deadliest enemies of our erful countries like the United States and journeys were cut shore by tragic deaths dur­ Koran and our Prophet', in a letter to China, contemporary narratives, inrention­ i·ng the time whc;n military dictatorships Mohammad Ali Jinnah in 1943 from ally or unintentionally, have ensconced im­ held sway over Pakistan. Mussourie, as a I 5 year old. portant aspects and challenges that beset Pa­ The authors bring attention co the var­ Hameed notes that Bhutto's political kistan as a nation. At times when Pakistan is ied hues of the complex subjects and the com­ journey began when he came to che atten­ being incrementally perceived as a country plica.tcd times they lived in. Syeda Hameed tion of then President lskander Mirza (who that provides sanctuary to terrorist gro11ps, though could be guilty of being uncritical was of Bengali origin) while on a hunting be it co serve its strategic objectives vis-a-vis in her reading especially of the foreign policy crip near his hometown of Larkana in the India or its wider geopolitical ambitions, it ofZulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), the first demo­ mid- l 950s. While Hameed brings to atten­ is quite essential that narratives such as this cratically elected President of Pakistan. tion the friendly relations between President arc written and disseminated more often. Hameed bases most of her work, which took Mirza and ZAB's father Sir Shahnawaz Such non-security centric works have the close to two decades to finish, on the insights Bhutto as the common glue that brought ability to refresh popular perceptions on Pa­ and research material provided to her by them together, the Pakistani aurhor Syeda kistan-a country doomed as failed and un­ ZAB's long-time political associate and co­ Abida Hussain in her book Special Star on stable. founder of che Pal<istan's Peoples Parry (PPP), the other hand reveals chat ZAB's political On a critical note, structurally the book Mubashir Hasan. This is especially so when career was greatly helped by his second wife could appear disjointed and, at times, abrupt Hameed accuses Stanley Wolpert of bias in Nusrat Sabunchi/lspahani who became close to the reader. This is probably because the his famous work, Zuifi Bhutto of Pakistan to Naheed Begum, Mirza's wife, given that narration follows a journalistic pattern/tra­ (OUP, 1993), as he dedicated that book to boch of them were Shias of Iranian extrac­ dition of storytelling. Despite this, it is nor Ardeshir Cowasjee, che Parsi columnist for tion. as difficult to gather the significant strands the Dawn newspaper, who is described by Bhutto shot to domestic attention with running under the entire account. The lan­ Hasan as an 'invecerace Bhutto hater'. Hasan his 'l 000 year war' speech at the UN Secu­ guage is lucid and certain sections are en­ himself is the author of a well-received book, rity Council in September 1965. This speech gaging. The work deserves some credit as a The Mirage of Power (OUP, 2000), which and the December 1971 speech ac the UN collection of experiences and travails that or­ deals primarily with the developments dur­ are described in glowing cerms by Hameed dinary people in Pakistan contend with and ing 1971-1977, when he served as Bhutto's as one whose each and every argument took their tryst with tough sometimes harsh re­ Finance Minister, among other responsibili­ Pakistan 'a notch higher in world acclaim ... ' alities of the times. Ir must also be applauded ties. Hasan in fact acknowledges Syeda and as 'iconic'. Bhutto as the Foreign Min­ as an attempt to reflect upon the social ills Hameed as one of his Indian friends who ister during the 1965 war was deeply resent­ that ail Pakistan's society, for instance high­ went through that manuscript prior co pub­ ful of the Tashkent Agreement, given that lighting a dec;ply patriarchal social order thac licarion. Ayub Khan did noc agree to a discussion on has reached unimaginable proportions wit­ The title of the book, Born to be Hanged, the Kashmir issue with Prime Minister Lal nessed in a spate of honour killings and a is taken from a dispatch written by Sir Mor­ Bahadur Shastri, as insisted by Bhutto. The pervasive practice of concinued suppression ris James, United Kingdom's High Commis­ 'Tashkent betrayal' proved to be a useful of women. sioner to Pakistan during 1961-65, in which theme in Bhutto's political srruggle against he describes ZAB 's many strengths as well the military dictatorship of Ayub Khan. Priyanka Singh is Associate Fellow, Institute for as his 'ruthlessness and a capacity for ill-do­ Hameed describes the founding of the Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. ing which went far beyond what is natural'. PPP in November 1967, with its socialist 12 The Book Review I June 2018 orientation and Islamic foundations. She '' The poignant political history OXFORD brings to attention Bhutto's strong condem­ nation of the statement of the Pakistani For­ of the most dominant political SYEDA ABIOA HUSSAIN eign Ministry on December 15, 1967 to the family of Sindh is a cautionary effect that Pakistan had no claim on Indian territory, when its attention was drawn to a tale of the long road to Special Star declaration by Bhutto at a party forum that genuine democracy that Benazir Bhuttds Story Assam must have a special status with Paki­ stan. Bhutto later in a letter to the Foreign Pakistan has to essential ly still Ministry clarifies that he was not talking of traverse for the benefit and any territorial claims but 'a relationship with Assam of the kind that France has with Que­ uplift of its teeming millions. '' bec in Canada'. Hameed oddly cites the same letter as reflective of Bhutto's 'statesmanship' when he calls attention to the 'struggle of Benazir, initially as someone who opposed the Nagas and the Mizos against Indian ag­ her politically to someone who became a close gression' and says that Bhutto was the first confidante in later years. As such, the book South Asian leader who 'spoke for the Mizos does contain nuggets of information relat­ and Nagas .. .' ing to private conversations among others that Hameed describes the Shim la Agreement is not published elsewhere. Hussain states as a 'victory for Pakistan' and a 'miracle', given that the 1965 war was part of the effort by that Pakistan got back its more than 90,000 Ayub Khan to 're-establish his standing' with prisoners of war and India withdrew its the Pakistani people, having won the 1964 Interior Minister allegedly sharing a list of troops 'without any vital concessions' from presidential· elections contesting against Khaliscani insurgencs wirh his Indian coun­ Pakistan. She further cites Field Marshal Sam Fatima Jinnah, sister of Mohammad Ali terpart in che aftermath of Rajiv Gandhi's Manekshaw as stating that the Pakistan Army Jinnah, very narrowly. The role of other ac­ visit. She also flags Bhutto's 'reluctant' trip 'held back' though it was 'fully capable of tors who helped Ayub make his decision, to Pyongyang at the behest of the Army co fighting the Indians ... ' and adds that the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto among others, is not deliver American equipment in exchange for Pakistani general Niazi had not 'received or­ flagged. missile technology co irs North Korean bene­ ders to confront the Indian Army com­ The author's narrative highlights the factors. pletely', without bringing to the attention interplay of the foreign with the domestic in Pakistan's tumultuous political system of the readers the sources of her astonishing Pakistan's political history, as highlighted by continues to be buffeted by weak leadership statements.