Initial rep
orts are coming in and SM will certainly pass on the message. First, CNN Reports –
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (CNN) — Pakistan former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was targeted in a deadly suicide bombing Thursday. Media reports quote her husband saying she suffered a bullet wound to the neck in the attack.…The attacker is said to have detonated a bomb as he tried to enter the rally where thousands of people gathered to hear Bhutto speak, police said.
Some first guesses at implications..
While President Pervez Musharraf has promised free and fair parliamentary elections next month, continued instability in the tribal areas and the threat of attack on large crowds has kept people from attending political rallies and dampened the country’s political process.Campaigners from various political groups say fewer people are coming out to show their support due to government crackdowns and the threat of violence.
Today’s violence come less than two weeks ahead of January parliamentary elections and as many days after President Pervez Musharraf lifted a six-week-old state of emergency he said was necessary to ensure the country’s stability.
Stay tuned.
<
p>
Updates:
- Getty’s image archive of the event makes for some powerful browsing..
- MSNBC: “A party security adviser said Bhutto was shot in the neck and chest as she got into her vehicle, then the gunman blew himself up.”
- Sky: “Sky News correspondent Alex Crawford said from Pakistan the country’s upcoming January elections would “most likely be postponed or cancelled” because of the attack.”
- “What’s worse, that Musharaff may have had a role in this or that he was powerless to stop it?”
- CNN’s obit on Bhutto
- State Department – “It demonstrates that there are still those in Pakistan who want to subvert reconciliation and efforts to advance democracy.”
- Very informative blog entries from NBC’s correspondant in Pakistan-
But if you are any one of the 99.9 percent of the rest of the 165 million Pakistanis, you hardly notice the emergency law anymore….But most Pakistanis don’t feel it. Musharraf wants it that way…Most analysts here say Musharraf has damaged his reputation, perhaps critically. But so far, he hasn’t pushed people to the streets. Shops are open. Banks are open. Markets are full. Prices are the same as before emergency law. [link]
With her white veil, bejeweled blouses, flawless English and flair for drama and theatrical timing, Benazir Bhutto has painted herself as lady liberty, a lone woman willing to risk all and stand up to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and his emergency rule…. But Pakistan is not Myanmar, and Bhutto is no Aung San Suu Kyi [link]
- Excellent NYT article on Bhutto’s dark side –
Ms. Bhutto, 54, returned to Pakistan to present herself as the answer to the nation’s troubles: a tribune of democracy in a state that has been under military rule for eight years, and the leader of the country’s largest opposition political party… But her record in power, and the dance of veils she has deftly performed since her return — one moment standing up to General Musharraf, then next seeming to accommodate him, and never quite revealing her actual intentions — has stirred as much distrust as hope among Pakistanis.
…”She believes she is the chosen one, that she is the daughter of Bhutto and everything else is secondary,” said Feisal Naqvi, a corporate lawyer in Lahore who knows Ms. Bhutto … her view of the role of government differed little from the classic notion in Pakistan that the state was the preserve of the ruler who dished out favors to constituents and colleagues..
- World Reaction including India –
In India, which has long had a thorny relationship with its neighbors in Pakistan, an Indian Congress Party spokesman told the Press Trust of India, “… we must express our deep concern at anything that disrupts and disturbs the even keel of democratic governance in Pakistan… it is not only anti-democracy but also generates instability.”
- Belmont Club –
…meaningful elections can occur only when the armies — in this case the Pakistani Army and the armed Islamic militants — are committed to the processes of democracy. When every group under arms within a society is determined to settle the question of power by combat the role for the ballot is small indeed. The next few days will show whether the Pakistani Army — for it will surely not be the Taliban — can rededicate itself to electoral democracy. Pakistan needs its George Washington. Unfortunately it only has its Pervez Musharraf.
<
p>
Some of Vinod’s thoughts –
- Both Musharaff and Bhutto are considered Pro-US / Pro-West / Secular leaders
- Especially relative to the Islamists
- And importantly, relative to the general population
- Bhutto moreso than Musharraf
- So, Jihadist forces (who are both anti-Musharraf and anti-Bhutto) are a likely culprit
- To them, Bhutto was a powerful ally to Musharraf (rather than a rival) and potentially more dangerous in the long run
- Knocking out an important ally wins them almost as much “cred” as taking out Musharraf directly
- Bhutto was “more dangerous” because she was even more vocally Pro-West as well as a woman
- “Pro-Musharraf forces” are getting the initial blame by some … but my gut leans skeptical
- The jury is still out on whether this is a net gain or net loss for Musharraf’s interests
- It certainly feeds the perception that he’s not in control of the country
- To them, Bhutto was a powerful ally to Musharraf (rather than a rival) and potentially more dangerous in the long run
- Given their similarities, what are the substantive differences between Musharraf and Bhutto?
- One key difference was their respective views of the general Pakistani population; Musharaff was a bit more of a “realist” ; Bhutto presented herself as an “idealist”
- Musharaff feared that the populism writ large would lead to an illiberal democracy
- Bhutto was more willing to turn to the electorate to ..
- lead the country to more democracy (if you think she has Good Intentions)
- secure more power / perks for herself (if you think she has Bad Intentions despite the lofty rhetoric)
- By contrast, Musharraf feared that Bhutto’s push for “more democracy” would backfire, leading to “less liberalism” rather than realizing her (stated) intentions…
- Perversely, Bhutto’s assassination is a perfect example of illiberality that gives Musharaff the license to enact repressive, authoritarian policy.
- Given these similar goals but different assessments of the starting line, Musharraf sees himself as a Kemal Atatürk ; Bhutto saw herself as Indira Gandhi or Joan of Arc
- Another difference stems from background – Musharraf came up to national leadership via the military while Bhutto through politics
- If you believe the best hope for the country is to follow the “Turkish Model” [more info…] , the Pakistani military is comparatively more professional and a modernizing force relative to the rest of the civil service
- So, arguably, Musharraf is potentially a more effective, less corrupt manager than a career politician.
- of course, a “manager” and a “national leader” are 2 very different things
- … as are “how well” you deploy power vs. “what you do with it”
Steve Coll’s book Ghost Wars is on google books. You can find the two most relevant excerpts to Bhutto, ISI and the Taleban if you google “ghost wars Benazir Bhutto Pakistan sputtering democracy ” and “ghost wars Benazir Bhutto Taleban talbott”.
The conspiracy theorists are out in force already. On Zee News, there’s an article where the author starts asking questions that don’t even really make sense, or that he could answer himself if he took a few moments to think about it, like “why did her security jammers not work?” (uh, maybe because there was no radio involved in this particular bomb, and thus no transmission to jam?) and “why did the rescue team pour water on the fires when they were mostly out, and thereby wash away forensic evidence?” (umm…maybe because any rescue personnel’s primary job is to save lives and not preserve forensic evidence?).
People often seem to go to ridiculous lengths to create mysteries when there aren’t any.
Are you sure that Bhutto was indeed killed? All we know is some explosions and a wooden coffin that was buried. How do you know she didn’t pull the oldest disappearing trick in the movies with a false base to the car right above a manhole?
rahul,
absent a reliable, publicly-available, verifiable, trustworthy coroner’s report, will we ever know? Only the great one’s vibhuti can help us now.
Paging Ere Seshiah.
Thats Pak media for you. Pak media is acting very suspicious. After CNN confirming Al Qaida, Pak claims it is unaware of it. Read the Hindustan times.
Benazir was a role model to many on a world wide stage. How many other Pakistani leaders can that be said about? I know it’s difficult for the short-sighted minds of some, but Bhutto represented things much larger than a simple governor. She brought intelligence, élan, and dignity to a country better known for violence, mullahs, and smelly cabbies.
Those who are mocking her achievements or blaming her for the Taliban ought to look at the effectiveness of others before judging her. As the only leader who tried to take money away from the countries most powerful entity (the army) and give it to the poor, she was wide open to the many spurious and unproven attacks on her character, reiterated in some comments here, again with no proof, just innuendo.
from Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aD5EoZDQIIC0&refer=worldwide
Authorities have a taped conversation of the Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, in which he congratulates a friend for Bhutto’s death, Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema told reporters today. “Very brave boys” took part in the assault, Mehsud said, according to a government transcript of the tape.
The 54-year-old opposition leader was standing in the open sunroof of her blast-proof, bullet-proof car during yesterday’s attack in Rawalpindi, Cheema said. She seemed to duck into the car, possibly to escape gunshots that preceded the bombing or because she was thrown off balance by the explosion. Bhutto’s head hit the sunroof’s lever, causing a fatal skull fracture, he said. She wasn’t hit by a bullet, nor by any shrapnel, he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/world/20071227_BHUTTO_FEATURE/index.html
John Moore for getty images, walks through a slide show of his pics
I guess karma has a way of getting at you. You can only escape it for so long.
Benazir supported the creation of Taliban. Plain and Simple. Her death is tragic no doubt.
But the moral of the story. You reap what you sow.
Just read that Huckabee has made some comment about the need to carefully watch the activities of Pakistanis reccently coming into the United States. I suppose he doesn’t think that some may have decided to visit family & friends this time of year. The man’s lack of experience is frightening. Interested to see how much of the Republican party gets taken over by the evangelical branch. They are really flexing their muscles!
308 · brown sound said
I highly question that particular explanation. Why did they get it wrong the first time? Also, is there a possible collaboration between Musharaff and the Taliban? Or am I sounding like an idiot?
The NY-area NBC news had an interesting story last night about the local Pakistani-American community (in Jersey City, Brooklyn, etc.) and their reaction to Bhutto’s assassination- here’s a link I found online- http://www.wnbc.com/news/14938162/detail.html?dl=mainclick
And why wasn’t the sunroof padded? If there was a shooting, shouldn’t there be a smoking gun, and from the photos on CNN, it didn’t seem like this gun was.
Watson, the game’s afoot.
Making broad, ignorant comments seems to be a pre-requisite for leading that party.
Benazir supported the creation of Taliban
didnt the US also inadvertently support this during the Afganistan war.
It’s kind of bad taste to start quotingkarma for a woman who leaves behind 3 teenage children and husband and is just laid to rest.
AQ/Jihadists/terrorists in general are pretty good at creating chaos and thrive in such environments. They’re opportunistic, just as other political forces are, but in this case a resurgent Bhutto would have galvanized a political base they are (Jihadists) seeking to co-opt. In short, AQ type organizations would have had most to lose in a scenario where Bhutto would reassert her presence in Pakistan. My first comment was trying to relay the fact that it may be more complicated than just “terrorists” western media likes to jump on. I was waiting to see if facts revealed it was AQ. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have been surprised as the list of her enemies is long. That’s all.
Regarding Bhutto/Taliban: the Taliban was definitely, unequivocally, and absolutely the creation of the ISI during the reign of Bhutto. They provided funding and support of all sorts for the Taliban boys as they were conquering Afghanistan, and Bhutto was well aware of it. She spoke on the subject explicitly. My impression is that it was not her initiative by any means – the ISI lobbied heavily for her approval, and she gave it, but I don’t think she knew what the heck was going on, really. Check out this ugly link for details: http://books.google.com/books?id=ToYxFL5wmBIC&pg=RA1-PA293&lpg=RA1-PA293&dq=isi+taliban+tanks&source=web&ots=CzzB8K-He4&sig=41fusyuKGz0tApc_qKaAyQELwr0
” she left three teenage children behind “
Is that some sort of justification to not be critical of a woman, who was responsible for millions of men, women and children getting killed across south asia. Her ” efforts ” have facilitated the current situation that is/will rock the world one day. ” talibinization” of the entire muslim world.
For crying out loud, you got even talibanization of Mauritania.. going on now… of all places.
She knew what she was doing.
Though, The way she died/killed was immoral, unethical, brutal and not justified at all.
p.s. SM intern.. what does handle switchin mean
Mike Huckabee raises a legitimate point. If you look at it this way, the Homeland Security department has repeatedly said, the rise in al-queda and islamic jihadi terrorists, “walking” into america through the american-mexican border is one of the highest security risks today.
If you fly to mexico from karachi, ( via london ).. you can take a cab to the american mexican border. and just walk into texas.
The homeland security department also mentioned, in a general statement, illegal immigration tends to be higher during holidays and when calamities happen such as earhquakes, natural disasters, national emergencies.. etc.
For all those evangelical phobists.. u might better get used to something.. hucakbee will win the republican nomination and speakin as an ignorant american, hucakbee will hands down beat a woman and a black man for president of the united states in the year 2008.
Right. Because all Pakistanis are terrorists. Give me a break. Putting resources into watching all of the Pakistanis who enter the US, instead of putting those resources into background checks and searching whether people have suspicious activity on their record, is an utter waste. Resources should be used where they are most needed.
Excuse me for expecting political leaders to actually be a little competent.
“Agree with Ardy that neither Indira nor BB did anything special for women, but then neither did Margaret Thatcher or Golda Meir or Sirimavo Bandaranaike, though Cory Aquino is said to have accomplished reforms that improved women’s lives, and she left office alive as well.”
Well, according to the The Global Gender Gap of 2007 carried out by the World Economic Forum, Sri Lanka is 15 in the world when it comes to gender equality. The only other Asian country in the top 20 is the Philippines at number 6. In 2006, Sri Lanka’s position was 13. In comparison, Bangladesh is placed at 100, India at 114 and Pakistan at 126. The top three countries when it comes to gender equality are Sweden, Norway, Finland.
(blockquote not working for me today)
Sam,
So you can’t find a firm correlation between the presence of women leaders and gender equality, nor can you attribute any coincidence to any partuclar leader, especially not through the kind of sillypolls concocted by magazines (what does “3/4 of women would rather work for a man if given the choice” mean exactly anyway? They might like being around a guy because women bosses can be bitchy, why not?) Even if you could correlate everything you want to correlate, it wouldn’t establish causality.
In a similar manner, much of what is being said about BB’s death here is completely divorced from the ground realities in Pakistan, and much more focused on trumpeting values that do not translate absolutely or even all that well. One thing not being discussed much over here is how dangerous it was for BB to be so closely allied to Washington and the Western press. I mean, this is not new or even partisan, if you count party values according to what they purport to be. After all, it was Zia who was killed in the company of the American Ambassador and American Military attaché — and that was almost twenty years ago.
319 · Buddha said
It means using different “names” on a single thread. We ask that people use the same handle as a courtesy to those they are conversing with. While in a few cases it’s just benign, done out of boredom or ignorance, and it doesn’t necessarily affect the thread detrimentally, usually it’s a tactic employed by trolls who want to agree with themselves and create the illusion of more support for their “angle”. Or it’s an attempt to get away with saying something nasty which they don’t want to be linked with, lest they be accountable. Point is, it’s unfair to everyone else because unlike us moderators, others can’t tell that Anon Cow1, brownz and de$i are all the same person. We warn and then ban for it, if someone insists on gaming the thread like that.
I just realized that BB ruled Paksitan for only about 5 years!! And in both cases she was shunted out of the psot. Pray, is she really a great Pakistani? The media attentions, even before her death, now seems seems disproportionate to her achievments, if any. I have not seen any list of her acccomplishments anywhere in the last few days.
Latest : New video shows former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto with her head out of a sunroof, then three shots and a blast.
The quality on that video is worse than the supposed hidden camera video of bin Laden’s headquarters. It’s worse than when we landed on a soundstage on Mars that was made up to look like the moon. Was it shot by the same guy who cinematographed Paris Hilton’s teabagging videos? Can’t see how it could be used to reconstruct anything.
Exactly. It’s a cover-up.
pingpong, Try the (Details on how Bhutto died 3:10min) video in this link..it is slightly better. The gun is zoomed in on is that video.
Neale, Check out review of Daughter of the East in Imaginary Homelands. Also BB interview in The Age of Kali. From the Guardian link upthread:
Musharraf is a two faced snake in all this. He is the one that has courted all the jihadist so he can keep Kashmir Boiled up. He is the one who has been cuddling hijackers and murderers. Jihadist being the power hungry by definition want more. Pakistan can put down the jihadist movement if it wants too, just like India put down the Khalistani movement. Its not going to be easy and I doubt if any Pakistani politician or the military leaders is inclined to do this. They rather have the jihadist as they have been sold on the kashmir dream.
Musharraf sold himself to the US as the only alternative to the jihadist. He saw his power threatened by appearance of Benazir on the scene…who was now seen as the alternative. I am sure he was very aware of threats on her life…and conveniently did not help.
What gets me now is that they are doing everything to portray Benazir as a coward who dies because she was trying to duck . Its interesting that there is video of all this and experts are clearly saying that she was shot at almost point blank range, and if there was a brain concussion as the Pakistani generals are describing, it would take several days for her to die. Musharraff and his generals are all bold face liars. History will show that he’s probably the worst thing that happened to Pakistan.
What was she supposed to do? Keep on waving and allow the bullets to hit her? Portraying her as a coward, merely for ducking, reflects even more poorly on the administration, that is, even more poorly than this situation already does.
Looks like Benazir Bhutto had found God during her years in exile. The God within that is. The God of Vedanta, Sufism, the New Age Movement. Or perhaps like most muslim sindhis she was raised a sufi:
http://tiny.cc/ls2rP
“In the front sitting room, where I’m waiting for Bhutto, is a little library with shelves of books labeled by category: not just BIOGRAPHIES, FICTION, SPEECHES, RELIGION and SOUTH ASIA but also COOKING BOOKS, YOGA, SELF-HELP, HEALTH and ASTROLOGY……….Open on a small table next to the bookcases is How to Know God: The Soul’s Journey into the Mystery of Mysteries, by Deepak Chopra.“
The sindhi independence movement is called Sindhudesh showing that they identify themselves as desis, a stark contrast to the sikh independence movement called Khalistan which showed their silly attempt to deny their desiness and identify with a central asian origin like Pakistan. One probable outcome of the current crisis in Pakistan could be the strengthening of separatist movements like Sindhudesh, Pashtunistan, Baluchistan.
Exactly.. a nice video; such a close range shot and all the three bullets miss her possibly coz of inexperience of the gun-man and jostling in the crowd. 40 minutes in the hospital due to brain injury/fracture leading to cardiac arrest. And before that AK-47, sharpnel, bullet wounds on the neck. What a confusion.
There is also the initial statement from doctors that examined her which contradict the genrals on how she died. They don’t want her to be viewed as someone who died by bullets. I am sure now the doctors and genral will get their story to match. What’s the point anyways….the bottom line is she was killed violently by a terrorist.
332 · Dev said
Whatever beef the Sindhis may have with Islamabad, they sure as hell aren’t going to be campaigning any time soon for re-union with India. They’re about as sufi as Punjabi or Baluchi Muslims are. As for Sikhs, they are fully aware of their roots and where they lie, and regard Khalistani myth making to be as loopy as your Hindu fantasising and naievety. the God of Vedanta and New Age Movement? Gimme a break.
It’s astonishing the gloating some Indians have over these misfortunes, what nasty people they are. Praying for a balkanisation and increase in bloodshed. Yuck.
· Dev said
Whatever beef the Sindhis may have with Islamabad, they sure as hell aren’t going to be campaigning any time soon for re-union with India. They’re about as sufi as Punjabi or Baluchi Muslims are. The problem is not what kind of Islam is practised at a grassroots level in Pakistan. the problem is the ideological political extremism allied to nationalism and pan Islamic nationalism that are being propounded across the state and in institutions funded from abroad. As for Sikhs, they are fully aware of their roots and where they lie, and regard Khalistani myth making to be as loopy as your Hindu fantasising and naievety. The God of Vedanta and New Age Movement? Gimme a break.
It’s astonishing the gloating some Indians have over these misfortunes, what nasty people they are. Praying for a balkanisation and increase in bloodshed. Oh how ‘New Age’ and ‘God of Vedanta’ of you. Peace and love eh.
The point is that it tells you how manipulative Pak govt is. Even the oct 18th killings are not investigated to this day. Watch Sherry Rehmans interview on CNN where she clearly tells that she saw clear bullet wounds.
332 · Dev said
Dev,
From wikipedia (so I realize it may be suspect) “Sindh’s population is predominantly Muslim, but Sindh is also home to nearly all of Pakistan’s Hindus, numbering roughly 1.8 million. However, most Sindhi Hindus migrated to India at the time of the Partition. Smaller groups of Christians, Parsis or Zoroastrians, Ahmadis, and a tiny Jewish community (of around 500) can also be found in the province.“
So as Suzzy mentioned, I don’t think a predominately Muslim province is going to want to have any part of Hindustan. Or identify themselves as being part of your desh. A question for you, why the need to call the sikh independence movement “silly”? Does it really fit as part of this thread or did you think you could get in a free shot on Sikhs on the tail end of a very long thread? Maybe the reason why some Sikhs wanted a separate state is the arrogance of some of the “desh” toward minority groups. But don’t you fret, that movement is pretty much over(if it ever really had a chance) and really only exists as a fantastic dream in the minds of a fringe element of the Sikh population and of course in the mind of some Hindu nationalists looking to stir the pot, scare the public to score some votes and exact some pain on another minority group. But keep at it Dev, every time you and people like you try to throw the Sikhs under the bus just for shits and giggles makes more Sikhs wonder why the hell they are part of the desh.
So instead of derailing this thread, why don’t you stick to comments about Bhutto. I’m sure you’ll have an opportunity to speak about the silliness of the Sikh independence movement on another post.
332 · Dev said
Reposting as I couldn’t get the quote function to work.
Dev,
From wikipedia (so I realize it may be suspect) “Sindh’s population is predominantly Muslim, but Sindh is also home to nearly all of Pakistan’s Hindus, numbering roughly 1.8 million. However, most Sindhi Hindus migrated to India at the time of the Partition. Smaller groups of Christians, Parsis or Zoroastrians, Ahmadis, and a tiny Jewish community (of around 500) can also be found in the province.”
So as Suzzy mentioned, I don’t think a predominately Muslim province is going to want to have any part of Hindustan. Or identify themselves as being part of your desh. A question for you, why the need to call the sikh independence movement “silly”? Does it really fit as part of this thread or did you think you could get in a free shot on Sikhs on the tail end of a very long thread? Maybe the reason why some Sikhs wanted a separate state is the arrogance of some of the “desh” toward minority groups. But don’t you fret, that movement is pretty much over(if it ever really had a chance) and really only exists as a fantastic dream in the minds of a fringe element of the Sikh population and of course in the mind of some Hindu nationalists looking to stir the pot, scare the public to score some votes and exact some pain on another minority group. But keep at it Dev, every time you and people like you try to throw the Sikhs under the bus just for shits and giggles makes more Sikhs wonder why the hell they are part of the desh.
So instead of derailing this thread, why don’t you stick to comments about Bhutto. I’m sure you’ll have an opportunity to speak about the silliness of the Sikh independence movement on another post.
I don’t think this is a good time for arguments about Balkanization, you included, Jangali Janwar. I just wish BB had been able to maintain her earlier, youthful political stance, instead of becoming Washington’s plaything. Now Washington will likelyget involved in the investigation into her death, probably never to acknowledge the bald fact that American support both raised her up and put her in the line of fire. I am impressed that Obama has only spoken of condolences, while other candidates rush to claim her acquaintance.
It’s a bit condescending to call her “Washington’s plaything”, which she wasn’t. She used the west to her advantage to get ahead in Pakistan, rather. Bhutto was far from an American puppet. Frankly, Musharraf and the Pakistani Army were/are more dependent upon American funds and support. Everything isn’t the fault of the United States, and in this case, her death wasn’t either. Considering her lineage (Z. Bhutto’s daughter), her rise had everything to do with Zia’s death and the ensuing opportunity to move up, supported by the core of the party.
341 · watching sepia mutiny said
We do. We just don’t allow people who think they know how to talk smack to terrorize us with abuse. Are you mentally challenged? Calling us names isn’t going to get us to help you. Go away with your bizarre threats and off-topic, drive-by-shittings.
341
You got it right, educating low castes – no good. Conversely, Mix breeds of high caste are good. Thanks for giving us a window to peek into your true feelings.
You are ignorantly assuming that desh stands for India alone. Predominantly muslim Bangladesh is not part of majority hindu India is it? Sindhi separatism aka the Sindhudesh movement is tied to sindhi sufism and sees itself as ethnically subcontinental, not as central asian, persian or arab as so many deluded desi muslims imagine themselves.
On the contrary, this is not the time to bury your heads in the sand.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_abdus_sa_071228_benazir_s_assassinat.htm
“Only the time will tell what will be the repercussions of her assassination on national politics in the long term but one thing can be said with some certainly that her murder will foment Sindhi nationalism and provide a new ammunition to the Sindhi nationalist movements with separatist leanings. If this happens, it will not be a good omen for the federation.”
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=88313
“The death of Bhutto will aggravate the insecurity of minority provinces and stroke fires of separatism. Provincial leaders such as Altaf Hussain must resist the temptation to arouse and capitalize on this growing insecurity by hurling opportunistic accusations at Punjab. Further, Nawaz Sharif as the leader of the other mainstream national party — that is identified predominantly with Punjab — will have a role to play in stemming the alienation of Sindh and other minority provinces.”
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20071228_In_divided_Pakistan__not_all_are_mourning_Bhutto.html
“The dividing line between the mourners and the merry is an ethnic one. As the world’s first Islamic republic threatens to implode (again), the most important political divisions to consider are not ideological – democracy vs. despotism, liberalism vs. Islamism – but cultural and linguistic.
Punjabis account for almost half of the country’s population and control its most important institution: the military. Yet Bhutto was a Sindhi, a member of an ethnic minority that accounts for just 12 percent of Pakistan’s 165 million people.
She was also a hero to a Sindhi separatist movement, a decades-old struggle for independence pursued by a people who see Pakistan as a prison. Under British colonial rule, the Sindhis were regional ministers of their own affairs. After partition in 1947, the Sindhis were marginalized by politically powerful migrants, the Mohajirs, who led the drive to split India as two “nations” divided by religion. The Mohajirs, who settled primarily in the capital of the province, Karachi, are now represented in Islamabad by one of their own: Musharraf.
Immediately after Bhutto died, it should come as no surprise that the most violent protests erupted in the streets of Sindh.
Because the Mohajir elite are both educated and secular, the return of Bhutto and her call for democracy should have been cause for cosmopolitan celebration. Yet she was generally loathed by Mohajirs. In Karachi, a popular comedian often played Bhutto in drag and made fun of her uncomfortable accent in Urdu. Rather than a symbol of civility, she was viewed as a chief of the hostile natives, the Sindhis.
In fact, this is not far from the truth. ,Bhutto’s cousin Mumtaz Bhutto is the chairman of the separatist Sindhi National Front (SNF). In a meeting over tea and cookies at his well-guarded home in Karachi, Mumtaz Bhutto once told me the Sindhi separatists are inspired by the secession of East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, in 1971. Just as Islamabad “did not read the signs” warning of what was about to happen in Dhaka, he believes the Musharraf regime is “totally oblivious to what is going on in Sindh.“
The separatist sentiment in Sindh is not unique in Pakistan.
In the neighboring province of Balochistan, a resource-rich but desperately forbidding region, many of the five million ethnic Balochis support the Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist militia that sometimes bombs natural-gas pipelines and government offices.
The BLA’s longtime leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti, was killed last year when the Pakistan Air Force bombed his remote mountain hideaway. And last month, his successor, Balash Khan Marri, was shot and killed by an unknown assailant.
And in the wild, wild northwest, ethnic Pashtuns – cousins of the same people who formed the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan – battle their country’s own army.
In short, aside from an observance of Islam, the Muslims of Pakistan have little else in common.”
Repulsive, selfish, callous casteists like you are by far the worst enemies of India. Whats obscene is that these creatures who are well represented in this forum (Moornam, gujudude, various tambrams et al) have the gall to pose as ‘nationalists’!
This just boils down to linguistics and cultural orientations…in Sindhi, I gues it makes sense to say Sindhudesh…in Punjabi, if you’re trying to coin a word to formulate ‘land of the Khalsa’ you might come up with Khalistan…which is what happened. Central Asian or Perso-Arabic linguistic and cultural elements pervaded Punjab and other parts of northern India, became internalised and quite natural, and manifest thelselves sometimes in the self-expression of the people there. Doesn’t mean there’s a deeper agenda or shift away from desi culture or a deliberate leaning towards Central Asia or anything.
A rather gossipy article about Benazir courtesy Ian Jack of the Guardian
Well said, SM Intern!
GujuDude, I mean that with her leftist family background, she was herself pretty far left of where she came to be in the Pakistani context, once she got caught in the maws of Washington politics and actually became Prime Minister with American help when her PPP had not won a clear majority, so there were two sides to that coin. Why is this subject taboo ?
340 · Amrita said
Amrita, I agree. I didn’t think there was anything in my post that related to Balkanization, rather it was my emotional response to Dev’s post which I perceived as another broadside against Sikhs. My apologies if the meaning came out differently than intended. Thankfully, Amitabh brought the level of discourse back to a more rational level with his thoughtful post at 347.
As for Bhutto and Washington, you maybe giving Washington too much credit and power. They’re not omnipresent or all powerful. Recent history shows that while they have had limited success in Pakistan dictating what happens on the ground, it seems fairly clear that Musharaff while dependent on US funds, will do whatever is in his best interest first and foremost. If that means aiding the US so be it, if it means keeping ties with the more radical elements of his military, so be it.
You do raise an interesting point with respect to American politics. Many of the candidates have used Bhutto’s death as an occasion to improve their foreign policy standing with possible voters. Unseemly maybe. But it is a topic, that American voters are apt to consider; how their prospective leaders believe will deal with a perceived foreign policy crisis.
Nothing Taboo about it. The American context is overstated in my opinion. It’s the other way around the way I see it – she used Washington politics to her benefit, not Americans pulling her strings. Leftist or not, all Pakistani leaders have had a decent relationship with the USA. After all, the military liked its American dollars and toys. Also, from 1990 or so, Pakistan’s relationship with America was on the slide (for example F-16s built for the PAF were never delivered due to sanctions).