Two-time former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, landed in Pakistan. Her entry into Pakistan was at the cost of 135 lives- Pakistani citizens who became victims of her political ambitions. Whoever is responsible for this heinous crime will once again defy the law and roam free in the country. But the person indirectly responsible for this loss of lives is Benazir herself. She accepted in her interview with BBC that there is a chance of violence in her welcome procession. The question then is that if Benazir knew this why did she allow a large number of people to gather for her reception. The second question is why people risk their lives and participate in these political processions? The third question is the motive and objective of the perpetrators to conduct these crimes against humanity.
There are many probable answers to the first question. One explanation could be that civilian politicians have to rely on masses to show their influence to force the military rulers to give them access to power. Only psychological pressure of mass appeal can force a military ruler to relinquish or share power with people’s representative. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Shaikh Mujeeb-urrehman successfully used this strategy. Or, maybe Benazir saw the treatment accorded to former Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff when, despite claims, people did not turn up for his reception in Islamabad. This lack of public support resulted in his exile back to Saudi Arabia despite clear orders from the Supreme Court to allow him to come back to Pakistan. It is also possible that in her limitless political ambition, Benazir does not care if few lives are lost in the process.It is not possible for any administration to control a large crowd through police presence. Violence has been witnessed in developed countries despite heavy presence of police. Benazir knew that there is a possibility of violence and she decided to use this as a political card to uplift her saggingreputation after signing a deal with General Musharraf. Not once did she warn her supporters to be cautious or stay home until safe arrangements were made to address them.
As to why people turn out in such large numbers for political processions, lies in the social make up of Pakistani society. A large metropolitan cities like Karachi and Lahore have a bigpopulation of poor people who lack access to entertainment. The names and faces of the injured and the dead in the blast show that most of them belonged to poor segments of the society. Those on the lower strata maintain a rural lifestyle where fairs and public gatherings are an important part of life. These powerless people feel that byparticipating in these political rallies they count in the destiny of their nation and feel worthy of their lives. But time and again they are made to give sacrifices for the ambitions of political leaders who have no real interest in their well-being. These leaders use the shoulders of these poor people to ride high, to make themselves look invincible; discard them after getting their votes, and then get busy extorting the nation’s wealth. It is a common pattern.
To understand the people and their motive behind these crimes against humanity, we must reflect on the fact that Pakistan is at cross roads of finding a new order for its society and simultaneously acting as a fighting arm in the US war against terror. During British rule sub-continent soldiers fought along side allied forces against the aggression of German, Japanese and Italian forces. But in this war on terror US isdemanding Pakistan to raise arms against its own people. The US seems not to care about the damage that might be inflict on the fabric of the Pakistani society.
Musharraf’s unwavering support for US war on terror has made him enemies among tribes. These same people were motivated to fight against mighty Russian armies at the prodding of another military ruler General Zia ul Haq with financial support from USA. These people, once hailed as Mujahideen, are now called terrorists who can only be dealt with force. Then there are religious parties who are not happy with the Musharraf and Benazir deal. There is also MQM who could not appear to be weak and could not afford to lose control of their stronghold Karachi by allowing a large procession of PPP to pass through. MQM’s militant element is widely known and feared. If PPP leader’s claim that lights were switched off along the passage of the procession then that implicates MQM who are undisputed masters of the city. Foreignelements are also believed to be widely active in Pakistan. Intelligence elements are also considered to be moving away from Musharraf for orchestrating a deal with Benazir. There could be a combination of all these elements but once again we will never find out who is behind these attacks on the people of Pakistan.
The most important question to answer is what is the solution to these issues? The current situation is a result of decades of bad policies and decisions. It will take us decades to solve these issues so we have to take a long-term view. But some common sense solutions are that the power of the people be restored so that over a period of time people can use their votes to elect sincere leaders. Leadership in all our parties does not exhibit an ideology that they can present to the nation to pursue. New leadership should beallowed to emerge under the umbrella of a well thought out ideology to unite and lead the people in a new direction. Sincerity and commitment to common cause is the most important ingredient for these new leaders.
In the end we have to remember what Quran said, “God does not help those who don’t help themselves”. We have to unite and find a way out of this darkness. Until then all we can do is pray that “God bless Pakistan.”
Benazir has delivered
October 21, 2007 at 6:27 pm · Filed under Political Commentary
Two-time former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, landed in Pakistan. Her entry into Pakistan was at the cost of 135 lives- Pakistani citizens who became victims of her political ambitions. Whoever is responsible for this heinous crime will once again defy the law and roam free in the country. But the person indirectly responsible for this loss of lives is Benazir herself. She accepted in her interview with BBC that there is a chance of violence in her welcome procession. The question then is that if Benazir knew this why did she allow a large number of people to gather for her reception. The second question is why people risk their lives and participate in these political processions? The third question is the motive and objective of the perpetrators to conduct these crimes against humanity.
There are many probable answers to the first question. One explanation could be that civilian politicians have to rely on masses to show their influence to force the military rulers to give them access to power. Only psychological pressure of mass appeal can force a military ruler to relinquish or share power with people’s representative. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Shaikh Mujeeb-urrehman successfully used this strategy. Or, maybe Benazir saw the treatment accorded to former Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff when, despite claims, people did not turn up for his reception in Islamabad. This lack of public support resulted in his exile back to Saudi Arabia despite clear orders from the Supreme Court to allow him to come back to Pakistan. It is also possible that in her limitless political ambition, Benazir does not care if few lives are lost in the process. It is not possible for any administration to control a large crowd through police presence. Violence has been witnessed in developed countries despite heavy presence of police. Benazir knew that there is a possibility of violence and she decided to use this as a political card to uplift her sagging reputation after signing a deal with General Musharraf. Not once did she warn her supporters to be cautious or stay home until safe arrangements were made to address them.
As to why people turn out in such large numbers for political processions, lies in the social make up of Pakistani society. A large metropolitan cities like Karachi and Lahore have a big population of poor people who lack access to entertainment. The names and faces of the injured and the dead in the blast show that most of them belonged to poor segments of the society. Those on the lower strata maintain a rural lifestyle where fairs and public gatherings are an important part of life. These powerless people feel that by participating in these political rallies they count in the destiny of their nation and feel worthy of their lives. But time and again they are made to give sacrifices for the ambitions of political leaders who have no real interest in their well-being. These leaders use the shoulders of these poor people to ride high, to make themselves look invincible; discard them after getting their votes, and then get busy extorting the nation’s wealth. It is a common pattern.
To understand the people and their motive behind these crimes against humanity, we must reflect on the fact that Pakistan is at cross roads of finding a new order for its society and simultaneously acting as a fighting arm in the US war against terror. During British rule sub-continent soldiers fought along side allied forces against the aggression of German, Japanese and Italian forces. But in this war on terror US is demanding Pakistan to raise arms against its own people. The US seems not to care about the damage that might be inflict on the fabric of the Pakistani society.
Musharraf’s unwavering support for US war on terror has made him enemies among tribes. These same people were motivated to fight against mighty Russian armies at the prodding of another military ruler General Zia ul Haq with financial support from USA. These people, once hailed as Mujahideen, are now called terrorists who can only be dealt with force. Then there are religious parties who are not happy with the Musharraf and Benazir deal. There is also MQM who could not appear to be weak and could not afford to lose control of their stronghold Karachi by allowing a large procession of PPP to pass through. MQM’s militant element is widely known and feared. If PPP leader’s claim that lights were switched off along the passage of the procession then that implicates MQM who are undisputed masters of the city. Foreign elements are also believed to be widely active in Pakistan. Intelligence elements are also considered to be moving away from Musharraf for orchestrating a deal with Benazir. There could be a combination of all these elements but once again we will never find out who is behind these attacks on the people of Pakistan.
The most important question to answer is what is the solution to these issues? The current situation is a result of decades of bad policies and decisions. It will take us decades to solve these issues so we have to take a long-term view. But some common sense solutions are that the power of the people be restored so that over a period of time people can use their votes to elect sincere leaders. Leadership in all our parties does not exhibit an ideology that they can present to the nation to pursue. New leadership should be allowed to emerge under the umbrella of a well thought out ideology to unite and lead the people in a new direction. Sincerity and commitment to common cause is the most important ingredient for these new leaders.
In the end we have to remember what Quran said, “God does not help those who don’t help themselves”. We have to unite and find a way out of this darkness. Until then all we can do is pray that “God bless Pakistan.”
Permalink