Pakistan
After Benazir Bhutto
By
Dr Shabir Choudhry
28 December,
2007
Countercurrents.org
Benazir
Bhutto is no more with us but her legacy, like that of her father's
legacy, will stay with us for many years to come and will dictate politics
and future of Pakistan. All 'sins', past 'deeds', 'deals' and 'weaknesses'
are washed away, and she will be remembered by majority as a symbol
for resistance, democracy and a champion of human rights.
I hope after
her tragic death she is presented as a popular Pakistani leader killed
by unknown assassin rather than a Sindhi leader killed in Punjab, as
already declared by some Sindhi nationalists. Nationalists in Sind already
use 'Sind card' to propagate against the federation of Pakistan that
a popular Sindhi Prime Minister (Zulfqar Ali Bhuttoo) was hanged and
other Sindhi Prime Minister (Benazir Bhuttoo) was twice deposed, and
another potential leader (Murtaza Bhuttoo) of Sind was assassinated
by the Punjabi dominated establishment.
Rumours are
wild as to who are killers of Benazir Bhuttoo. According to Italian
independent news agency Adnkronos International (AKI), Al- Qaeda leader
Mustafa Abu Al- Yazid from Afghanistan said: "We terminated the
most precious American asset which vowed to defeat the mujahadeen,"
Many will
discard this claim, and there are solid reasons for this. Al- Aqaeda
would like to take 'credit' for killing of such high level target, as
it would boost their power, ability and potential to take out their
enemies. But question is why would Al- Qaeda kill her? People who support
this view will say that she was killed because she was too pro West,
and went there to safeguard their interests. In my view this is not
true.
May be she
was pro West and went there to protect the Western interests, but key
point to remember is that she was not in power, and was not even close
to getting elected. All the assessments before her death were indicating
that there would be a hung parliament in which any one could have been
'chosen' to become a Prime Minister. One has also to remember that under
the 17th amendment to the constitution, made by Musharaf, she could
not have become a Prime Minister third time, and she needed a two third
majority to change that. How could she have got this number of votes
in a hung parliament?
Even if she
had overcome all the obstacles and was elected Prime Minister of Pakistan,
she would not have been much different to Prime Minister Jamali and
Shaukat Aziz. One has to remember that Musharaf Sahib has changed balance
of power, and now most of the powers are vested in the post of the President,
and not Prime Minister which should be the case in a Parliamentary system
of government.
We all know
that Musharaf or his Prime Minister had an army of Ministers and they
took pride in supporting and promoting American interest or 'War on
terror'. They, in order to stay in power undermined the Pakistani or
Muslim interest and have virtually made Pakistan a colony of America?
They were responsible for many policies, which resulted in killings
of thousands of innocent people in mosques, madrassaes and in other
parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. It was not too difficult for an organisation
like Al- Qaeda to take some of them out, especially when they were not
Ministers or Prime Ministers.
So question
is why target a person who had not yet become a Prime Minister, and
have not practically done much to support the Western policy in Pakistan?
How she would have behaved after becoming a Prime Minister was merely
guess or speculation. And question for Al- Qaeda leadership should have
been (and they are clever and thinking people), why not go after those,
who are former ministers now, but nevertheless were responsible for
many tragedies, instead of going after some one who could possibly harm
them in future?
So I would
not waste my time finding killers of Benazir Bhuttoo in mountains of
Tribal areas or Afghanistan, I would look for them in and around Islamabad.
Her killers are embedded in the state apparatus of Pakistan, and aim
of killing has nothing to do with her support for the West, as most
of the government officials and pro government leaders take pride in
what they have done to support the West.
Nenazir Bhuttoo
also knew who her enemies were, and after the first attack on her life
in Karachi, she while addressing a press conference the following day
indicated that Pakistan's intelligence agencies were behind the attack.
She said: " if something happens to me, I will hold them responsible
rather than militant groups like the Taliban, Al Qaeda or the Pakistani
Taliban." She even demanded the removal of the Intelligence Bureau
chief, Ijaz Shah, hinting at Pakistani intelligence agencies' linking
with their desire to take her out.
In an interview
on Venus TV soon after this tragic event I said: No doubt it is another
black day in history of Pakistan. It is a sad day for democracy, justice
and liberal politics. However it would be wrong to get in to blame game
and accuse other countries. Killers of Benazir Bhuttoo are those who
are against democracy, and against Pakistan. They have always hated
and opposed her and have regarded her as a 'security risk'. This is
a turning point in the history of Pakistan, and things will never be
same again. Her death could pose a serious threat to already fragile
federation.
In my view
her assassins have given a deadly blow to the federation of Pakistan.
She was, in view of many, a force that kept the federation together.
Many thought she was symbol of federation and now that she is brutally
killed what challenges are there to Pakistan as a nation state?
One has to
see who will benefit from her killing, and surely it is not rag tag
jihadi groups living in mountains of Afghanistan or in Tribal areas.
Beneficiaries are surely those who were part of the previous government
and take this interim period as holiday or absence from office. The
ruling elite and agencies which did not like her return, realised that
their favourites are not going to win if Banzir Bhuttoo and Nawaz Sharif
are given free hand to contest.
But there was no danger from Nawaz Sharif. He and his brother were not
allowed to contest elections. As the election - day was approaching
closer it was becoming clear that Kings Party known as Q League was
struggling and would not win many seats.
It must be
noted that many commentators think Pakistan is at the brink of a full-scale
civil war, some even say civil war has been going on since March of
this year. And when we view this in the light of what has been going
on in various parts of Pakistan, including Tribal areas, Balochistan,
Swat and Frontier Province then they are not wrong.
Her tragic
death will further weaken already fragile federation, and it will strengthen
all those who are against the present government and against the policies
and thinking of the ruling elite. This will lead to more trouble, antagonism,
extremism and disillusionment. It will strengthen those who feel that
Punjabi or military dominated establishment is treating smaller provinces
unfairly and want to break away from the federation.
This disillusionment,
anger and resentment could exacerbate the political situation of Pakistan,
and could lead to a civil war resulting in more trouble, more deaths
and more destruction. But I hope the common sense will prevail and people
will restrain and learn from this tragedy and help Pakistan to become
a stable, democratic and liberal country.
Writer is
Chairman Diplomatic Committee of JKLF, Director Institute of Kashmir
Affairs and author of many books on Kashmir. He could be reached at:
[email protected]
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