Bhutto clan unite to their legacy back from Zardaris

Members of the Zulfikar Ali Bhuttos family have reportedly come together, and are also learnt to be enjoying the support of some of the senior PPP leaders, demanding the Bhutto legacy from PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, alleging that they were the real heirs of the Bhutto clan.

Islamabad, July 4 : Members of the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's family have reportedly come together, and are also learnt to be enjoying the support of some of the senior PPP leaders, demanding the Bhutto legacy from PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, alleging that they were the real heirs of the Bhutto clan.

Senior PPP leaders Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Dr Ghulam Hussain and other senior leaders have assured Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, the paternal uncle of Benazir, of their support in the Bhutto family's endeavour. The decision of uniting the Bhutto family was also discussed at a dinner hosted by Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi on June 28 at his residence, which was attended by Mumtaz Ali Bhutto and Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who was shunned from the race of prime ministership after February 18 polls.

According to The News, the Bhutto family, feeling sidelined by the emergence of Asif Ali Zardari as the main power player after Benazir Bhutto's death, is now bringing together many old PPP stalwarts to regain the Bhutto legacy.

Former premier Benazir Bhutto's niece, Sassi Bhutto is learnt to have arrived in Pakistan from abroad and holding crucial meetings with party workers holding allegiance with the Bhutto family.

On the condition of anonymity, a Bhutto family source said that Fatima Bhutto, another Benazir's niece, had traveled all the way to London to persuade Sassi to return to Pakistan to stake the claim for Bhutto legacy.

"Sassi Bhutto is on a mission here in Pakistan - to get the politics, wealth, and property's possession back from the Zardaris. Fatima Bhutto has taken the initiative to bring Sassi back and she had herself traveled to London for the purpose to unite the real Bhuttos. The real Bhuttos have a feeling that their ancestors and party loyalists have rendered sacrifices while the Zardari family has swept away the fruits," said the source, adding the family thinks that the Zardaris had hijacked the party, property and the love of party workers, which were all assets of the Bhutto family," The News quoted the source as saying.

Other family sources said the stage was being set for the emergence of the PPP with the young Bhuttos spearheading a drive against the Zardaris. In this regard, Sassi Bhutto is going to lead a rally to Bhit Shah, the shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, only a few kilometres from Amin Fahim's hometown of Hala on Saturday. "Sassi would reach Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto on Sunday to pay homage to the four great Bhuttos - Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Murtaza Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and, of course, Shahnawaz Bhutto, the father of young Sassi," the paper quoted another anonymous Bhutto family source as saying.

The source added the decision to wage a war against Zardari and stake the claim for Bhutto legacy, was finalised at a meeting of the elders of the Bhuttos along with party leaders and workers at 70-Clifton, Karachi, while the portraits of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Murtaza Bhutto and Shahnawaz Bhutto had also been displayed at the main gate of the building.

ANI