Pakistan After Benazir
December 30, 2007 temporal
The Chairperson for Life of the Pakistan Peoples Party is not the Chairperson today. Life cut off its tenuous relationship with her. Some reports indicate it was shrapnel wound, others say shots fired at her killed her. Brigadier Cheema, a spokesperson for the government said she hit the back of her head hard on a lever on the sun roof of the Landrover in the shock wave of the suicide blast and that caused her death. The Xray of the skull he released clearly shows a hole. Either he is incredibly naive or thinks others are.
With the Iowa primary next week, her death has also surfaced in the US local politics. CNN is playing sound bites from Presidential hopefuls against each other. Hilary Clinton in an exclusive with Wolf Blitzer has declared her lack of faith in Musharraf Administration and has asked for an International Commission to probe her death.
Her Roll of Dice
Benazir Bhutto took a gamble when she ended her exile to return to Pakistan. Today she lies buried in Garhi Khuda Baksh next to her father Zulfikar and brothers Murteza and Shahnawaz.
She was admired and despised in equal measure. Admired by the common Pakistanis as the gritty daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a symbol of hope and defiance against former President Zina ul Haq, a young, educated, articulate person from a wealthy family of Sind. She was voted into power twice. She was admired by the West for her ostensible portrayal of liberal and secular values.
She was dismissed twice as Prime Minister on charges of corruption, nepotism and ethnic cleansing. She was also despised for her lack of tolerance within her party, for her autocratic ways when in power, for her arrogance and insensitivity to those in her service. She tolerated no dissent and developed no hierarchy in the party. [more]