Shahnawaz Bhutto was not murdered by General Zia

Shahnawaz Bhutto, the youngest of four children of Z. A. Bhutto died under mysterious circumstances in 1985 (at the age of 27). At that time the PPP immediately accused General Zia of killing Shahnawaz. Now, however, Jamsheed Marker who was a very close friend of the Bhutto family has related the actual details of Shanawaz Bhutto’s death.

Jamsheed Marker was a very good radio cricket commentator in the days when TV had not yet arrived in Pakistan. He has also been Pakistan’s ambassador to many countries, besides being a very rich man himself. Belonging to a Parsi family, he donated Rs. 200,000 to Z. A. Bhutto when he founded the People’s Party in 1967. In those days you could buy a bungalow in a posh locality like KDA Scheme No. 1 in Karachi for two hundred thousand rupees. In fact, this amount would be worth more than twelve million rupees today if it had been invested in government securities in 1967.

According to Jamsheed Marker, there was some dispute between Bhutto’s children over distribution of the money given to the family by Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi. After a violent quarrel, Shahnawaz left the family and went to his flat in Paris. He was followed by his elder brother Murtaza, and what happened then was a mystery until now. Shahnawaz Bhutto was found dead, apparently having taken an overdose of drugs. At first Shahnawaz’s wife was detained on suspicion, but when she threatened to reveal the exact circumstances which led to her husband’s death, the family withdrew their allegations against her, and instead blamed General Zia. As Jamsheed Marker says, “General Zia had nothing to do with Shahnawaz’s death.” Now that the facts of the incident are known, the PPP leadership should apologize for falsely accusing the late General Zia.

Read more at Dawn