RIP, Benazir Bhutto

I couldn’t believe it when I heard it. It was the same kind of reaction I had when I was around twelve and saw on the TV sceen the events of 9/11.
What will Pakistan do for democracy now? It’s either Musharraf or nothing. Plus, this is a nuclear power we are dealing with here too- but I don’t understand why they did it. First the majority of Pakistanis seem to rebel against Musharaf on the grounds that he is ‘un-democratic’, then they rebel against Bhutto. That most learned newspaper (sarcasm most definitely intended), the Dail Mail, stated it was Al-Qaeda who were responsible. Not that they know, of course.
Far be it for me to accuse the last hope Pakistan has ever had of democracy of corruption, but I do think in the last years of life we did attach a bit more democracy to Bhutto than the truth actually states. When she was in office, she knew perfectly well that her father was one of the main reasons for her popularity, and she did use this fact to its maximum advantage- people needed to respect her for who she was and not for her father’s fame. Nelson Mandela also, though of course a great leader and fighter against apartheid and racism, was corrupt in many cases. Chiang Kai-Shek, who the US would have us see as the true face of ‘free China’ was to all intents and purposes a Fascist himself. He didn’t believe in democracy and the Nazis actively supported his regime with Von Falkenhausen before the Japanese complained to them.
Bhutto and Musharraf, even in joint rule, would have had a difficult time ruling Pakistan simply for the fact that one could call it a failed state. The government does not even maintain authority over 70% of its allocated territory and the ethnic diversity of the nation cannot help in any power-sharing agreement.
After General Zia and Musharraf, perhaps one could say that Pakistan, like Russia, could suffer from that evil cycle of having an autocratic centralised government or none at all, leading to Balkanisation and foreign intervention.
Bhutto’s assassination was an act of suicide for the Pakistani who did it in bringing down the entire future of the Pakistani nation. Now, it’s down to Deobandi Islamic Fundamentalism or Musharraf. And the West doesn’t look like its public consensus would prefer either at the moment. I personally will be watching Pakistan very closely over the next few months. And I dare say the Islamic fundamentalists will be looking at its nuclear warheads very closely too during the same period.
Benazir Bhutto would also have been a major help in stopping some of the opression of women which goes on under Islamic Fundamentalism in Pakistan.
I don’t think it’s just India that needs to worry among the international community these days- we all need to. And the domino effect, if it didn’t work with the Cold War, certainly may with the rising tide of fundamentalist bombings and assassinations. Let us just hope that Islamophobia doesn’t rise with the same fervour.
Mehmet12