Nailing Urban Legends — Khalid Hasan

Here is veteran journalist Khalid Hasan debunking some myths. What did Zulfikar Bhutto tore up in the UN Security Council Meeting? What did Richard Armitage say? Did Bhutto say Idhar hum oodhar tum? - t

Now the facts. There was no Polish resolution. It was a draft, which was never put to vote. There were many drafts circulating at the Security Council in those days, including the Polish one. Poland, after all, was a member of the Warsaw Pact and a satellite of the Soviet Union, which was India’s principal ally and a declared backer of Pakistan’s dismemberment. How could the Soviet Union circulate a resolution through one of its stooges to save united Pakistan?

As for Bhutto physically tearing up the Polish resolution, what he tore up were his notes, which were mostly doodles — as my friend Iftikhar Ali of APP covering the session has told me. And how does he know? After Bhutto stormed out of the Security Council, Iftikhar Ali took a hurried look at what Bhutto had torn up before rushing out to file his report. The urban legends around Bhutto have continued to swirl thanks to those who continue to hate him. There is nothing that you, I or Charlie’s aunt, for that matter, can do about it. Urban Legends Live.


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