The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) was launched by the third usurper to erase the political legacy of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his PPP. Earlier in the 1960s, another brand of Muslim League was raised under Ch Zahoor Elahi of Gujrat (PML-Convention). The Muslim League House on Davis Road was also provided for this purpose. At that time, it was presented as the political face of the dictatorship that ran the country. Pakistan Muslim League (PML) has always claimed to be the successor of the All-India Muslim League (AIML) the founder party of Pakistan which it is not.
The AIML was founded in 1906 at Dhaka which then moved the headquarters to Lucknow. After the creation of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah as President of AIML tried to steer the new party and even suggested a new constitution but his efforts were thwarted. Finally, he walked out in frustration after severing all links with the new political entity. Soon most stalwarts left the party (Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy, Maulvi Fazal-Ul-Haq, Mian Ifthekar-Ud-Din etc.). Since then, the Muslim League has been a brand name that keeps coming back to hijack the democratic order. It has been the mistress of the dictators.
In 1967, ZAB launched his movement in Lahore. It was the first real political party of the country. He campaigned under the banner of Islamic Socialism, a term introduced by Dr Khalifa Abdul Hakim in his book Islam and Communism that was published by the Institute of Islamic Culture in the 1960s.
Progressives joined him in droves, and very soon the party spread all over the Western Wing with Lahore as its nucleus. ZAB had special affinity with the city and named it the Leningrad of Pakistan. He even willed to be buried here.
Despite the all out efforts of the establishment ‘Bhutto’s Legacy’ survived. According to PML(N) stalwart Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, every election since 1970 has been manipulated. In other words, the PML(N) has never gained power without election rigging. In the famous Asghar Khan case, IJI (Islami Juhamari Ittehad ) was held responsible for the launch of Nawaz Sharif at the federal level. Even money was doled out to the party to contest the election to push the PPP out of the arena
Lahore, the city of intellect remained a PPP stronghold. In the 1970 free and fair elections there was a clean sweep by the party winning all National Assembly seats by huge margins. Dr Mubashir Hasan polled the highest number of votes from Lahore. After being deposed from power in July 1977, ZAB arrived to a hero’s welcome here.
Panic bells started to ring in the corridors of power. It was decided to get rid of Quaid-e-Awam and his political party. He was arrested for the murder of the father of his opponent. Mr Justice K.M.A, Samdani of the Lahore High Court bailed him out. He was then arrested under the Martial Law Regulations. A new bench was created under his arch enemy, Chief Justice Maulvi Mushtaq, to try the Ex-PM. He was kept in the Kot Lakhpat Jail and humiliated in the courtroom yet he kept his poise. Every morning he was driven in a Police Jeep to the LHC premises for the trail. There were no mobs in the court. It was kept as a legal battle. He was awarded the death penalty against which he appealed in the Supreme Court which upheld the decision with a narrow margin of 4 to 3.
While Karachi remained defiant to the first usurper, Lahore remained loyal to ZAB. Zia, the third Military Dictator, desired to take away the city from the stranglehold of PPP. According to Lt Gen Ghulam Jilani Khan, the then Governor of Punjab, he shortlisted three names for the coveted slot of Chief Minister of the province (Nawaz Sharif, Hamid Nasir Chatta, Chaudhry Ghafoor). Nawaz Sharif was chosen by the dictator as he belonged to Lahore. The Shaif family bore a grudge against ZAB as their Ittefaq Foundry had been nationalized during the ZAB regime.
Mian Muhammad Sharif (Abba Ji) the founder of the Ittefaq and Sharif Groups, was known for his unscrupulous business activities. His golden rule was “Everyone has a price; pay it and get the job done “.
Until 1985 the political arena remained relatively corruption-free, but after that it was a free-for-all. Nawaz Sharif was given a free hand to control the bastion of power of ZAB’s party. While Nawaz’s politics revolved around Zia, Benazir followed her father’s footsteps. It was a clear confrontation between the forces of establishment whose political face was the PML(N) and the democratic order led by PPP.
Despite the all out efforts of the establishment ‘Bhutto’s Legacy’ survived. According to PML(N) stalwart Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, every election since 1970 has been manipulated. In other words, the PML(N) has never gained power without election rigging. In the famous Asghar Khan case, IJI (Islami Juhamari Ittehad) was held responsible for the launch of Nawaz Sharif at the federal level. Even money was doled out to the party to contest the election to push the PPP out of the arena.
