A history written with gaps of silence |
HISTORY is not merely a chronological list of events; it is also a repository of unanswered questions, lingering doubts and suppressed truths that, instead of fading with time, grow deeper and more complex. World history is replete with incidents that, despite the passage of decades, have failed to yield any final or universally accepted conclusions. Investigations were conducted, commissions were constituted, books were written, films were made—yet the truth proved repeatedly to be a mirage: clear from a distance, but vanishing upon closer approach. Pakistan’s political history, in particular, is marked by such enigmas, where the deaths and accidents of individuals occupying the highest offices of the state continue to remain shrouded in uncertainty.
In Pakistan’s national narrative, three tragedies stand out with singular prominence—events that not only shook the very foundations of the state but also created a lasting atmosphere of suspicion in the public mind. These tragedies are associated with the country’s first Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan; the first woman Prime Minister of the Muslim world, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto; and President General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. Ideologically distinct and politically diverse, these three figures became united by a shared calamity: deaths whose true causes have never been fully and conclusively revealed.
The 27th of December 2007 stands as a dark day in Pakistan’s political history. On that day, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, after addressing an election rally at Liaquat Bagh in........