A violent end to a volatile career. It was in store since she took a U-turn, accepted the US invite to become the General's face for democracy. In Pakistan, playing leader's role evokes sympathy as well as revlusion. Benazir, with her fillip-flops, a suspected hand behind the killing of her two brothers, went on to amass wealth and properties, which will put even dictators to shame. Buckling under US pressure, Parvez Musharraf signed a decree which gave her and her dreaded husband infamous for receiving kickbacks during her tenure as premier 'immunity' from any persucation in any court of law! what a way to return, for a lady who went into self-exile to avoid persecution.
Just as media followed wherever she put her feet in her life, the mushrooming of News channels has meant that each and every detial related to her death and life are detailed. No wonder, all then, we have several theories coming up in newspapers , each adding a new side to the story. Facing with little option, and buying his time, Musharraf relented under pressure, and had announced of an enquiry by Scotland Yard. It is to be seen, if the British elite investigating team is able to unearth, what Pakistan knows.
Meanwhile the miseries for Pakistanis contine, as a 19-year-old-son of Benazir is anointed to succeed her throne! What a irony for a party which was founded by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1960s to provide platform to the students, peasants and poor of Pakistan. That even a die-hard loyalist like Makhdoom Fahim Amin could not get the post, speaks volume about the so called democracy in Pakistan and inside political parties in South Asia. So, the syndrome of sub-continent, where political parties behave in feudal manner and treat democracy as an extension of their personal business continue.
Death evokes sympathy from one and all. So, it was not surprising to see a sea of mourning messages coming for Benazir. Dubbed as Kleptocrat of public money, by Jemima Khan in her column for a UK Newspaper, Bhutto was not a saint living on charity, or a democrat fighting for Allama Iqbal's democracy. She was a shrewd politician who did not miss any opportunity to garner personal wealth and fame. While trying to do so, she made more enemies than friends, and was trusted by very few and selected ones. India, for example was always in fix as far as dealing with her was concerned. A lady who was darling of west, who spoke against extremist forces, or a Premier who eliminated her two brothers from any possible power struggle, who made Kashmir a heaven for militancy, who laid out olive branches to the unemployed Mujahideens of Afghanistan. A democrat, or a lady-killer, as port city Karachi became hell for Muhajirs, and Sindhis and Punjabis were given free hand to clean the city of Muhajir Qaumi Movement activists. No wonder then Indian Security Advisor M K Narayan said that India could not trust her. Her stints as Prime Minster of Pakistan was of no help for India, as she sent militants to the peaceful Jammu & Kashmir, and started a proxy-war against India. Though, she claimed to havel helped Rajive Gandhi in ending the militancy in Indian Punjab, it is subject to scrutiny, whether she kept the word. As she was not such one lady, who could be trusted.
Her death is not be good for her party and family, but if it brings out some new faces from Pakistan politics, it will well herald a new beginning for the Pakistani feudal society. And if springs no surprises, then it is back to square one as Pakistan struggles to find a meaning in its democracy and grapples with the threat to its existence from forces within and outside.
