Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) leader Firdous Naqvi extrapolates Z A Bhutto’s 1970 slogan ‘Roti Kapra Aur Makaan’ (bare necessities & shelter for all) –with the dire strait in Sindh post-floods. The province for the last 14+ years is being ruled by Bhutto’s party PPP. According to Naqvi, most of the kutcha homes (80 percent) were razed during the recent floods –these homes (Makaan) would probably have withstood, according to the politico from Karachi, if Bhutto’s dream of providing homes was progressively implemented by his successors.
Bhutto’s slogan of “Roti, Kapra aur Makaan” (Bread, Cloth and Shelter) is as popular as it used be in the 1970s. Because of his efforts, today millions of Pakistanis are abroad working hard and sending remittances to Pakistan, contributing heavily to the national economy.
Bhutto was hanged in the summer of 1979. Independent observers call his hanging ‘judicial murder’. Many liberals and progressives, and left-wing activists who considered Bhutto a visionary, fell in a shock & awe state subsequently. In early 2000s many of them joined Imran Khan’s PTI slogan for Insaf (Justice), sensing Khan’s platform could pull all together to struggle for a social welfare State — one of the planks of Bhutto’s vision which to-date remains a pipe dream.
Irshad Salim, Karachi
