Body of Son of Hanged Leader Will Be Brought Home : Bhutto Name Poses Another Challenge for Pakistan Ruler Zia

The political magic of the name Bhutto will be tested again in Pakistan this week, when the body of Shahnawaz Bhutto, younger son of the late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, is brought here from France for burial on the family estate.

Shahnawaz, 27, found dead July 18 in his luxury apartment in Cannes, France, was co-leader with his older brother, Murtaza, 30, of Al Zulfikar (the sword), an underground terrorist organization bent on avenging the execution of their father and overthrowing the regime of President Zia ul-Haq.

Zia ousted their father in a coup d’etat in July, 1977, and hanged him in April, 1979, despite appeals for clemency from such world leaders as then-President Jimmy Carter. Zia has ruled Pakistan under martial law ever since the coup.

Shahnawaz Bhutto’s body will arrive here Wednesday, and the political element in that event was described the other day by Hussain Haroon, youthful Speaker of the provincial assembly and a budding political power in Karachi.

“A dead body in Pakistan politics has great appeal,” Haroon said. “Many turning points in political activities have revolved around dead bodies.”

Prime Minister for 7 Years

Historically, Haroon was referring to the moment in 1968 when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto rallied his populist political movement around the funeral procession of a slain party worker. Bhutto later served seven years as prime minister before being ousted by Zia. Haroon was also referring to Bhutto’s execution, which became the rallying event for his outlawed Pakistan People’s Party under the leadership of his widow and children, who have spent most of the time during Zia’s eight-year rule in jail, under house arrest or in exile.

Considerable mystery followed Shahnawaz Bhutto’s death in France. French authorities conducted extensive post-mortem examinations. They did not release the body to the family for nearly a month and have still not disclosed a cause of death.

Benazir Bhutto, 31, the oldest of the late prime minister’s three children, was granted permission by the Zia regime to return the body of her brother for burial on the family’s estate near the Indus River in the Sindh province city of Larkana. Benazir, who heads the Bhutto political party, has been living in self-exile in London.

Political excitement was generated when the impending return of Shahnawaz Bhutto’s body was made public. Thousands of peasants and Bhutto political supporters congregated on the Bhutto clan’s feudal properties and near their second home in the rich Clifton area of this city.

As Hussain Haroon said, funerals are often political instruments here. Three days of mourning at the gravesite and a 40-day formal mourning period are traditionally times for political opponents to mend fences and form strategies.

Banned from Funeral Site

Yet, the long delay by the French in releasing young Bhutto’s body may have cut into the immediate emotional moment here. The delay also gave the Zia government time to plan for the return and limit Benazir Bhutto’s contact with other political leaders, several dozen of whom have been put under house arrest or banned from the funeral site.

“There is a saying we have here,” said Hamid Khurro, a Karachi political science professor and member of a prominent Sindh province political family. “Two things must be done quickly: the burial of the body and the marriage of the widow.”

A Western diplomatic source said: “If the body had returned a week after it was found, I think there would have been significant emotional response. There were a great many people who felt sad for the family, almost the same way people felt for the Kennedy family. Earlier, there would have been a large spontaneous reaction, but the delay has drained a lot of that sentiment.”

The government will prevent Benazir from entering Karachi and leading a long funeral procession up the Indus River to the family home, as she had hoped to do. And troops are stationed near the Bhutto home in Larkana. Nevertheless, Bhutto supporters say that on Wednesday morning, they will try to stage airport demonstrations when the body arrives from Europe.

“A large crowd wants to go to the airport in this hour of great mourning and sorrow,” said N.D. Khan, Karachi spokesman for the Pakistan People’s Party. “But now we don’t know if it will be possible.”

Met By Aircraft

Under plans reported Sunday in Pakistan newspapers, Benazir Bhutto and her entourage will be met at the Karachi airport by a small aircraft, probably an army helicopter. They will be flown to Larkana for the funeral and burial of Shahnawaz.

The Zia government apparently was sufficiently concerned about political fallout from the Bhutto return to make an extraordinary announcement last Wednesday, Pakistani Independence Day. Zia’s hand-picked prime minister, Mohammed Khan Junejo, said in a speech that martial law will be lifted before the end of this year.

The Western diplomat said: “This was the first announcement about the lifting of martial law that has a deadline (for ending the measure). It directly addressed increasing skepticism that the government was serious about lifting martial law. It has effectively upstaged Benazir’s return.”