The Struggle Continues Speech at a Public Meeting, Peshawar, November 5, 1968

I am grateful to you for coming here from far-flung areas to attend this public meeting, to hear me today.

We have been touring your province extensively. The people have sincerely accorded a warm welcome to us wherever we went. But then Section 144 remained all along with us.

You must have read about what happened in Dera Ismail Khan. Well, at least there has been some use of foreign aid. Not only were gas bombs thrown at us but we were also fired at. No newspaper reported these events.

My dear friends, I have heard that a grand public meeting will be held in this city on the 10th. Students, rickshawallas, tongawallas, peasants, laborers and the poor will attend this grand public meeting. We are proud of them all. But apart from these people the Basic Democrats will also attend the meeting, the sycophants, and the stooges. The President will be presented with a million rupees. This money will be spent on his elections. I think it would be better to give this amount to the Peshawar University, because it is badly in need of money. It is faced with an economic crisis. It would be advisable not to spend it on such useless projects as Ayub Khan’s election.

We will also do whatever we can in this respect from our own resources. The Government has plenty of money. It has millions and millions. But we have empty pockets. But at least we are doing something. I have given Rs. 100 as a donation to the Peshawar University. Ayub Khan can spend a million rupees and I can only afford Rs. 100, but I will defeat him because you are with me.

Now, if you excite me by clapping and slogans, I will take off my jacket! If I do that, Musa Khan will get angry. I am already very much excited. My blood is already boiling. Therefore, please do not raise slogans but listen to me quietly.

We wanted to hold this meeting at Chowk Yadgar, because it was a central place. But the Government did not allow it. We wanted to hold this meeting on the 26th. The Government did not agree. As a result, the meeting was postponed to the 5th, the day when Section 144 was to be lifted. In postponing the meeting from the 26th to the 5th I made it quite clear to the Commissioner that if we were not allowed to hold a meeting on the 5th, then it will be held on the 10th. When we made this threat, the Government was forced to allow us to hold the meeting today. When we sought the Deputy Commissioner’s permission to announce it over loud speakers, he told my colleagues he would consider the request. This was on the 3rd. Time was running out. So I telephoned the Commissioner. When he picked up the phone, he said, “Commissioner speaking.” I said: “This is Zulfikar Ali Bhutto speaking.” He said: Yes, “yes, what?” I said: “This is Zulfikar Ali Bhutto speaking.” He then switched over from Urdu to English and said; “What do you want, boss?” I said to him “Are you not the same officer who was Commissioner of Karachi when I was a Minister. Have you now changed so much?” On hearing this, the Commissioner allowed the use of loudspeakers and I thanked him.

The heavens did not fall because this permission was given. What will happen if I make a speech here? There will not be any bloodshed or revolution. The Government creates difficulties for its own administration by enforcing Section 144.

I have also heard that all buses coming from University to Peshawar city have been banned. So also those coming from Mardan.

I am not a magician. I have nothing new to say, nothing you may not already know. There will be nothing new in my words. If I say there is poverty in the country, is that a revelation? If I say there is dictatorship in the country, will you be surprised? You know all about your country and the difficulties you are facing. So what difference does it make if we contact the masses and speak to them?

It was not an act of kindness to allow us the use of loudspeakers. These officials have actually been kind to their Government by granting us the permission. They have not done us any favor.

My dear friends, it is said there is democracy in the country. If that is true, then why are the newspapers controlled? Why then Section 144 or the Basic Democracies System? There is absolutely no democracy in the country. Dictatorship prevails here. The majority have no say in the Government. The people have no place in the Government. The military rules here along with Basic Democrats, the capitalists and officials. These are the pillars of this corrupt Government. It is nevertheless a weak Government. It is wrong to think that it is a strong Government capable of facing the opposition. How can it be a powerful Government when all its policies are anti-people? Where can a government gain its strength when 120 million people are against it? How far will it manage to save itself on the strength of its financial position? How long will it be able to run its affairs with the help of the 22 families? How far will it continue oppressing the laborers, peasants and students? It is a weak Government, and we are determined to fight against it with full force.

It is a Government of cannibals. It ate up Khwaja Nazimuddin and Suhrawardy—I do not want to name Madar-i-Millat—it ate up General Azam Khan. It devoured so many personalities, and still it feels hungry. But it will not be able to eat me.

My friends, the bare facts are now before you. Corruption has increased to an extent that the poor cannot move an inch without offering a bribe. Lawlessness and moral degeneration are everywhere. I am not very familiar with the situation here. But I am more familiar with the conditions in the Sindh area where there is a complete breakdown of law and order. Prices are sky-high. None of the basic necessities of life are available. The poor are in a miserable condition everywhere in Pakistan.

Yet, it is argued that the country has made tremendous progress, and that there is stability. What stability? The stability of the graveyard? The Government has only managed to perpetuate misery. If you look at the situation throughout the country—in Sindh, the Punjab, NWFP and Baluchistan— you will see stark deterioration. I know the people are determined to rise against the Government. The situation in Bengal is no less serious. I wonder how our unity can now be maintained. I am very pessimistic about it.

And on top of all these problems there is misrepresentation of facts. The regime says I am supporting the Six Points, while in the past I had opposed them. This is absolutely wrong. In 1966,I had warned the Government that the Six Points were a political problem and that we should take the bull by the horns and prove them to be a misguided programme. A general debate should have taken place to expose the inherent contradictions of the Six Points. I had forewarned that the situation would go out of control if force was used instead. But the Government did not allow the debate deliberately. We could have defeated the Six-pointers politically. We could have got the people’s verdict against the Six Points. But Ayub Khan’s Government insisted on solving this problem through force, through arrests, ‘lathis’ and ‘dandas’. Such problems cannot be solved by arresting people. How can you go on arresting seventy million people? Can you arrest all of them? Even if you manage to do this, please remember that ideas can never be put behind bars.

We see conditions deteriorating from all sides. When we point to these facts we are accused of creating disruption. We are charged with attempting to mislead the students. I regret the misrepresentation of facts by the rulers. I would have put up with that if the charges were made by leaders but I can never put up with misrepresentation of facts by Begum Khaliquz-zaman. She describes me as a frustrated man.

I would say to Begum Sahiba that I alone am not frustrated. The whole nation is disappointed, heartbroken and frustrated.

There was a time when I was Secretary-General of the Pakistan Muslim League. I used to meet her husband, Khaliquz-zaman. Begum Khaliquz-zaman used to be very kind to me; she would serve me tea and biscuits, mixing sugar in my cup. Now she says we are misleading the nation, particularly the students.

My dear friends, what does the Government want us to do? Does it want us to sit idle at home? I know we have to face many odds. It is our duty to face difficulties and defeat dictatorship on all fronts at all costs.

It is said that no opposition can succeed against the B.D, members because they are paid by the Government and are under its pressure. Of course, they will vote for dictatorship. As a result of this gloom some parties have not yet decided to participate in the elections. They think it pointless to fight such rigged elections. Some of them are of the opinion that the elections will not be held. They say that even if such elections are held, the Government will win them through the police, the administration and by the use of other force.

I know there is a world of difference between the elections held under a democracy and under dictatorship. It is true that if elections were held on the basis of adult franchise and under democratic principles, the people would vote freely. Fair elections can be held under democracy. In contrast, under the B.D, system only 80,000 stooges are given the right of vote. I do not agree with the pessimists. We have to face and fight dictatorship whenever we find an opportunity. A dictatorship is hit and weakened gradually, in stages. For instance, if Miss Fatima Jinnah had not fought the elections, the present consciousness among the people would not have risen to this level. The Government would not have become as weak as it is today. Her participation in the elections was the first showdown with the Government. The removal of Kalabagh was the second, while the post-Tashkent situation was the third. Now a final push is needed to topple the monster. So, come what may, we will fight the elections. We will not allow this wicked Government to exist. We will try to make the Government run away from the scene. We will expose its misdeeds, the betrayal of the country and its deterioration. We will not miss this opportunity. We must participate in the elections. We will let the Government know that despite the support of the B.D, members, the 22 families and the officials we will defeat it: we will certainly defeat it because the people are against it.

Our rulers have no birthright to impose a bad government on the people forever. What service have they done to the country and its people? They have only blessed the 22 families. The whole wealth—virtually all the resources of the country, are in the hands of these 22 families. The country’s economy depends on them. How can they know the plight of the poor people? How can they know the difficulties of a poor man when his son falls sick or cannot go to school? The poor man cannot even buy a shroud to bury his dead child.

It is said there has been great development. I ask you where is it? You have put the whole wealth into the hands of the 22 families.

Let the government officials remain on the alert at the time of the elections. They are not personal servants of this Government. They are not paid to work against the people. Governments come and go, but the officials remain. They must not interfere in politics. They are not paid only to say yes to all actions of the Government. They are not paid to do dirty jobs for the Government. They are paid to tell the difference between legal and illegal actions. They should not do everything they are asked to do whether wrong or right. They are not as helpless as they consider themselves to be. I warn them, we will not spare them if they do anything wrong in the elections.

We have a list of all such officers—from Section Officers to the Secretaries—who have been doing dirty jobs for the Government. They have been overdoing things. They need to be checked. We will set them right. This Government cannot reform them. We will do that. A people’s government will bridle them. A government of the poor, the laborers and of the students will bridle them. This corrupt Government cannot do it. The wicked Government has to use them for its dirty jobs. It depends on them. It knows that without their help it cannot win elections. The Government, therefore, depends on them. In fact government officers have been ruling this country. They know the Government has no support of the people.

Corruption is on the increase. There is no fear, for there is no accountability. There is none to catch them. I, therefore, warn such government officers who indulge in undesirable activities—I do not say all of them do so—to mend their ways. We will have no complaint against them if they begin doing things the right way. As I told you earlier, the permission 10 use loudspeakers in Dera Ismail Khan was not given. We have no complaint against the officers who gave us this permission in Peshawar. But I must give a general warning to all of them that if they act as stooges of the Government, and commit irregularities at its behest, we will not spare them. If, however, they remain within the law, and act in accordance with the law, we will treat them as our brothers.

The B.D, members too, are our brothers. We do not intend to end the Basic Democracies system, for it is a good system so far as it is concerned with local self-government, municipalities or union councils. But their participation in the election of a President amounts to usurpation of the rights of the people. The B.D, members should have no such rights. We will take away this right from them, for there has to be a system of Musawat in this country. The B.D, members have been imposed like Brahmins on an Islamic State. The Government has given them the role of doctors to treat us as if all of us were patients. They have been teaching us as if all of us are illiterate. They were 80,000 before, but now they have been increased to 120,000. So they will keep on increasing as we continue to improve through them! Will there be a day when all patients become doctors and write their own electoral prescriptions?

I would like to warn the B.D, members to keep national interests supreme and desist from doing wrong. They have been tempted by financial considerations. If they serve the hated minority Government, they would destroy the country which would be against their own interest. After all who would survive if the country did not remain?

They must realize what would happen if the people turned against them and demanded a change. They must show farsightedness. Since we have come forward as a political force, with determination not to relinquish our political obligations, the Government has begun filing false cases against our comrades. It thinks that by doing so it can deter us from pursuing our objectives. It cannot do so, come what may. We have clean hands. I have been Minister incharge of Commerce, Industry and Natural Resources and of Foreign Affairs. Had I weaknesses I would have had as much wealth as the rulers have today.

Today, I challenge the whole Government from provincial and central Ministers to the President to come forward and declare their assets as they were before their joining the Government and as they stand now. We are prepared to do the same.

It is a shame that for the last two years the Government has been trying to involve me by hook or by crook, in some false case or the other. I was approached two or three times and was offered anything provided I promised to give up politics. But I refused these offers saying I wanted nothing, no mills, factories or ambassadorial jobs. I have to serve this country. It if my foremost duty to arouse consciousness among the masses and to eliminate poverty and misery.

The Government has stooped so low as to resort to instituting false cases against me. Scores of cases have actually been filed in the past two years. Well, they can arrest me, if they like. They can kill me, if they wish. But we are determined to expose them. They should not think they can do anything since they have power. Although we have no power, we are in the right. Justice must triumph for the people are with us, and we have been fighting for them.

We know they have many Ministers, although they are good for nothing. One of them has said that once I was a supporter of the B.D, system, but am now its critic. This is not true.

But my dear friends, let it be known, I am the same servant of yours. I have not changed. There has been no change in my ideas. It is the Government that has betrayed the nation and the country.

When this Government came into power, everybody had supported it, including the Madar-i-Millat and all of you. It was because the Government had made promises. They had pledged to end corruption, to ensure justice, to bring about prosperity and to win the right of self-determination for the people of Kashmir. That is why we supported them. We supported the B.D, system, for all political parties had been banned, and replaced by this system. Even now we support the system, but to an extent to which it can serve the people. But we will oppose it when it changes and causes damage.

I would like to remind the Government of its promise to end corruption. I now ask them: “Has corruption ended or increased?” The Government has backed out of all its promises. And then you will recall that it had disqualified several politicians alleging that they were enemies of the country. But now you see that one such “disqualified” politician is a provincial Minister. Once the Government had arrested Khan of Kalat and kept him in jail for four years, but now he had been made an adviser to Governor Musa. Mahmood Haroon was ousted from the provincial Government on charges of working against a Muslim League candidate in the elections, but now he has been made High Commissioner in London.

All this shows that the Government has changed and not Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. They have been levelling false charges against me. They think the people can be misguided. They insult the people, they bank on their illiteracy. They have been trying to create difficulties for us so that we cannot maintain contacts with the people.

We have to replace dictatorship by democracy, not Basic Democracies. We want a democracy in which the people rule. We do not want democracy merely because we love the word democracy. We want it because through democracy alone a people’s government can be formed. That is why we have been struggling for it. It ensures government by the majority, and administration of justice. It will ensure happiness to the country to the people of both East and West Pakistan.

But democracy alone will not do. Along with democracy we want an end to poverty. Unless poverty is eliminated, workers have a say in their mills and factories, and until more peasants become landowners and big land holdings are reduced in size a truly popular government cannot be established.

We want democracy as well as socialism. Both are complementary to each other, and can be administered simultaneously.

There is no contradiction between democracy, socialism and Islam. No conflict whatsoever. If there were to be a conflict, it could have been with socialism, for we are Muslims first. And we believe in socialism, because it does not conflict with Islam. Islam ensures Musawat; in fact it is based on Musawat. After all what kind of Musawat it is that the 22 families should garner the wealth of the whole country?

On the 10th you may be told not to listen to us, for we are disruptionists; that Family Planning has made big strides and that the Mexi-Pak wheat has done such and such wonders.

You may also be told how difficult it is to end corruption, and be advised not to offer bribes in an effort to end corruption.

Just imagine that! I would say to the rulers: for heaven’s sake take pity on the poor. How can the poor offer bribes when they have virtually nothing to eat or wear?

Well, if the Government cannot end corruption, if it cannot serve the people and is tired of doing anything for them, it should quit.

Let us come to power. We will show you how to end corruption and to serve the people. You will never be able to serve them because you only know how to serve a minority.

The Government has also accused me of being hungry for power. They contend that that is the reason why I want to bring about a revolution and cause bloodshed. But then how could I leave the Ministership if I were power-hungry?

The Government alone is afflicted with hunger for power for it has been clinging to office for ten years and does not seem to be willing to leave it, although it knows that the people have turned against it.

We only want to have the power transferred to the people. That is why we have come forward. The people’s voice has been stifled in this country for too long.

Silence is not stability. We have broken the silence. People can now speak. We are the voice of the people.

I wish there could be a united front to fight the elections, a front based on principles. There should be democracy and socialism in the country. We are prepared to enter into an agreement with the opposition and friends in other political parties to unite. I have told them we don’t want to betray the people. They have been betrayed before. Twenty years is enough. The people must not be cheated now. They are no longer going to put up with miseries; they cannot tolerate any more injustice.

Hats off to the people for living under such great hardships. There is a limit to everything. It is not the law of nature that the poor of this country should always remain so, groping in the dark for bread and butter, for clothing and shelter.

There has been progress in all the four corners of the world. You can see this in Iran. Well, not only in Iran. There are instances of England, U.S.A., Russia—everywhere there has been progress.

Why should conditions be so miserable in Pakistan? Only because an unscrupulous government has imposed itself on the people. Had there been a popular government in office, prosperity could have come to Pakistan.

Now a few words on foreign policy. When I say something about foreign policy it is said why I do not talk about domestic affairs, and when I speak on the internal situation, they want me to say something on foreign policy. I don’t know what I should do.

If I name the Tashkent Declaration and Kashmir, the Government cries hoarse saying that state secrets are being disclosed. Musa Khan alleges that I disclosed state secrets in my Hyderabad speech and that I had thus violated the oath I had taken to guard state secrets. In fact I divulged no secrets and said nothing against the state. But look what the Government did? They virtually desecrated the oath of their offices.

I am a responsible patriot. If I had to disclose state secrets, I would have done so when I was accorded a grand welcome at the Lahore Railway Station following my exit from Government in June, 1966. I would not have kept quiet at that critical time. But I know it would have been against the national interest to say anything at a time when the Indian troops were on our borders.

But that time has passed now. A few days from now we will be able to say things openly, and it will be our duty to tell everything to the masses.

In Hyderabad, Musa Khan declared that the Indians had requested for a ceasefire. It was a significant statement in the sense that, on the one hand, Musa Khan accuses me of disclosing state secrets and, on the other confesses that Pakistan ceased fire at the request of India, because the great powers pressed for it.

Well, you see then how our Government acted to stop the war at the enemy’s request. What logic is it to sacrifice the nation’s fundamental interests because of the big powers? Let them cite a single example of any country having done the same. Had this been a valid reason, the war in Vietnam would have ended a long time ago.

As a matter of fact it was not world opinion, for a majority of the countries in the world supported Pakistan. You will recall Shastri’s statement at one time in which he regretted that India had become isolated, and that the whole world was with Pakistan. You know very well that Iran, Indonesia, the Arab states, the Latin American and African countries, France, in fact the whole world, supported Pakistan.

How then do they argue that they stopped the war because of world opinion? On the one hand, it is said that India had practically begged for a ceasefire and, on the other, it is contended that world opinion demanded it.

We are obliged to ask them why they stopped the war. They committed a mistake in doing so because the whole world was with us. And now when I point out these elementary things, it is alleged that state secrets are being disclosed. Don’t you know the name of the country that gave an ultimatum to India? Indeed the whole world knows it.

My only fault is that I stated in my Hyderabad speech that when I came back successfully after performing an assignment, and informed the President about my success, he jumped from his chair, embraced me saying I had done a great service to the country. My fault lies in his compliments, in his declaration that the country would not forget my services.

Well, now although the country has not forgotten that good deed, the President and his Government have forgotten it, alleging that I disclosed so much that was a state secret. I did not reveal any secrets in my speech. I did not mention the timing and the object of my visit. I did not say how often I went to China. I went to China four or five times. Strangely enough the Government itself has disclosed a secret by saying that I had not gone there alone, that I was accompanied by another person. Moreover, they say that I had gone during the war. I did not give this detail in my speech. I only said that I had gone on a particular occasion. But the Government goes further to say that I was accompanied by another person. Who was he? Well, there were pilots with me.

Stooges of the Government do not know that at Hyderabad I was not referring to that visit. There was another visit, a visit I undertook alone. I have not referred to the visit when another person was with me. It was a different visit. How could the President embrace only me on my return had that other person been with me on that visit?

The Government talks of State secrets while the world newspapers, including those of India, have been publishing reports about how and from where Pakistan gets help. So, in saying these things which are known, I have not disclosed state secrets.

Is it not an irony that Ayub’s son should be allowed to say in Karachi that Pakistan has received aid from various countries, including China, while I am criticised if I do the same?

Who does not know that Indonesia of President Soekarno helped us? The whole world knows except perhaps the ungrateful Government of Ayub Khan.

Despite all this, it is suggested that I should be tried in a court of law for disclosing state secrets. Let it be known then that I am prepared to be prosecuted. But if you tell lies to the people, I am constrained to speak the truth. It is absolutely wrong that my utterances are harmful to national interests.

Take the Kashmir issue as an example. Whenever required, the Government functionaries come here to tell the Pathans that they will continue fighting for the right of self-determination of the Kashmiris. But this is only a political gimmick. They have put the Kashmir issue aside. Behind the scene they argue that an incorrect, rather emotional, policy was pursued by me on the Kashmir issue; that it was a policy of the youth. The Government, therefore, has been tactfully advising the people to be realistic and not emotional on this issue.

But we want to tell the Government we are not emotional. We are only self-respecting. We will never back out of our pledge to the people of Kashmir. Why does the Government wish to frighten us by mentioning all the time the size of the armed forces of India?

We are on the right path and we have a just cause. God helps those nations which fight for their rights and for justice. But then why does the Government keep demoralizing the people on Kashmir? It will Struggle for its factories and mills, it will struggle to hoard sugar, to deposit money in foreign banks but not for the cause of Jammu and Kashmir.

What can this Government do for the people? We will struggle for the people. We will make sacrifices for the people.

It has been propagated that only one person has saved and served the country. He brought about revolution, gave everything to the people—the B.D, system, the Constitution and a respectable place in the comity of nations. Well, if a single individual could perform all these miracles, could an individual like me not frame the country’s foreign policy?

After all they should let others do something. Will they continue doing all the good things by themselves? True, you have been the be-all and end-all. You have given everything to this country. True also, that we all are illiterate, a foolish lot with no rights at all. The only wise man in Pakistan is running the Government. We are nobodies, the good-for-nothing types. Well, if this single individual did everything, including the framing of foreign policy, we too must have been doing something.

Musa Khan quoted me as saying that India was afraid of me. He then went on to ask how could the Indian Government be scared of me? Actually I never said that the Indian Government was afraid of me. It is only the Indian Government itself which says so.

India became jubilant when I left the Government in 1966. You may read the newspapers of those days. It was said that in removing me from the Government, Field Marshal Ayub Khan, N.Pk., H.J etc, etc, had shown great kindness to India. I did not say these words. It was said by the Indian Government. However, if the Indian Government can have respect for one person, it can be afraid of another.

Now, you want me to say something on Tashkent, however little it may be. I would only tell you that Shastri died there. Look, my friends, I have already told you I will do my duty when the time comes. I am here and will remain here. I will not run away to Washington. We all have to account for our doings here. Our generations have to live here. We have to build this country. So when a suitable opportunity comes, I will do my duty. You have already shown patience. I will request you to be patient for a few more days.

Had the Pakistan People’s Party been in power at the time of the Arab-Israel war in the Middle East we would have deprived the Israeli Defence Minister of his second eye. But it is regrettable that the largest Islamic State could not play its role which she could and should have played. And the situation is that while Kashmir is with the Indians, and Jerusalem with the Israelis, we still claim that Pakistan has made big progress. If the Pakistan People’s Party came into power, and it will Insha Allah, then you will see that not only will the lot of the poor laborers and peasants improve, but also no Indian will be seen in Kashmir and no Israeli in Jerusalem. But first of all we have to attack the Government in Islamabad. We will continue this struggle. We will continue moving forward. We are prepared for all sacrifices. We don’t want bloodshed in the country. But we cannot be frightened in the name of bloodshed. It is the Government that is leading us that way. While it objects to our talking about revolution, the Government itself feels proud of having brought about a revolution in the country. Well, if it is proud of its own revolution, there is no reason why it should be afraid of a people’s revolution. If it feels proud of a revolution brought about by the minority, why should it be scared of the one to be brought about by the majority?

The Government will be well advised not to frighten us for we will not feel frightened. We are only afraid of the Almighty. With the blessings of the God Almighty, and the cooperation of our friends, we will certainly succeed. The time is approaching when you will see for yourself that this sterile Government, weary, tired, sick and incapable of doing any service to the country, is thrown out. If it wants to avoid bloodshed, it must quit as soon as possible. With the reaffirmation of this pledge, I now beg leave of you. I promise I will meet you again. In the meantime, I am confident that if the Government sends me to jail you will throw it out of office.