“An obituary should be an exercise in contemporary history, not a funeral oration”.
Peter Utley
The media has portrayed the death of Benazir Bhutto as a tragedy and blow to democracy in Pakistan. In times like these that it would be wise to go back to examine Pakistan’s history to get a better understanding and true perspective of her death. Benazir Bhutto’s father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto founded Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in 1967. It was his party that came 2nd in the 1970 elections that eventually led to the partition of Pakistan resulting in the creation of the nation-state Bangladesh.
In 1970, Pakistan was divided geographically in East and West Pakistan. East Pakistan was dominated by one political party: the Awami League. This party won almost all the parliament seats of East Pakistan thus giving them an outright majority in Pakistan’s national assembly. But the politicians of West Pakistan could not bear being ruled by East Pakistan. This fact resulted in a civil war in which Bangladesh eventually achieved independence with the help of India but at a huge cost in terms of lives. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto went on to become President and later Prime Minister of the new diminished Pakistan. In 1977, due to increasing unpopularity, Bhutto was ousted out of power by Army General Zia-ul-Haq, and was later tried and executed. This leads into Pakistan’s role in the defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
As depicted in the recent movie Charlie Wilson’s War, the US managed to help the Afghanis defeat the US by funneling military aid through Pakistan. Much of this helped was conveyed through the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI – Pakistan’s intelligence agency). The ISI provided much of the training and weapons to Afghani resistance fighters. This involvement put the ISI into contact with what would later become extremist Taliban elements including Osama bin Ladin which later developed into a symbiotic strategic relationship. These Taliban elements needed training and weapons to help defeat the Soviets and later take over Afghanistan while the ISI found a proxy through which Pakistan could exert influence in the region. But this relationship came to an end after 9/11 with President and Army General Musharraf siding with the US against the Taliban. This act infuriated many hard-line extremist elements within Pakistan. There has always been a section of Pakistan that has bought into the idea of having a perfectly Islamic government. Most of these Islamists derive their support Wahabbi Saudi Arabia and have recruited popular support among the poor and rural communities where illiteracy rates are very high. The Islamist political parties have always been a force in Pakistani politics. This leads us to more recent history.
In 1998 and Pakistan’s prime minister Nawaz Sharif tried to get rid of Army Chief Musharraf by denying his plane landing rights. In response, Musharraf instigated a bloodless coup and took power. After 9/11 Musharraf was threatened by US Deputy Secretary of State Dick Armitage to support the US against the Taliban otherwise Pakistan would be “bombed into the stone age”. Needless to say, Musharraf complied. Over the course of Musharraf’s term, the Islamist supporters have been increasingly angry at Musharraf for giving into pro-Western demands; his crackdown on certain extremist parties was especially unpopular. More recently, Musharraf created wider opposition by sacking Pakistan’s Chief Justice and suspending the constitution. These actions caused the general public to fear that Musharraf was quickly taking the country down the road of military dictatorship. Sensing this unpopularity, Benazir Bhutto tried to strike a deal with Musharraf to let her return from self-imposed exile and compete in elections. Nawaz Sharif also makes a comeback sensing President Musharraf’s weakness . To satisfy opposition demands, Musharraf stepped down as Army Chief and announces that parliamentary elections will be held in early January. Bhutto and Sharif returned to Pakistan and received great receptions. But Bhutto was under attack from day one; a suicide bomb attack killed more than 100 people at a rally welcoming her return. And now we come to the present.
Bhutto died at a rally on Thursday; the cause of death is still to be determined. Initial reports stated that she had been shot. Recent video evidence shows that a gunman did get off three shots before the suicide bomb. But the Pakistani government maintains that those three shots missed, and that it was the shock of the bomb blast that caused Bhutto to hit her head on a lever and later die. The government has been accused of either perpetrating a cover-up or denying responsibility for a serious security lapse. Is it possible that there was some government involvement behind the attack? Yes, of course. The army and ISI consist of many extremist supporters though it is unlikely that they had the support of the government as a whole. An Al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan denies the group’s involvement in the attack.
So, who benefits from Bhutto’s death? Not Musharraf or the PPP: Musharraf’s credibility has been seriously damaged and he will struggle to win the presidency in a legitimate fashion. The PPP has lost its charismatic leader and may lose influence. The only person who may benefit is Nawaz Sharif. As the only popular civilian leader, Sharif could use his influence to try and unite all opposition parties against Musharraf. But Sharif has been accused of serious corruption, and his leadership could force Musharraf to stay in power no matter what happens. Pakistan is running out of options.
References
Pakistan Dispute Erupts Over How Bhutto Died, VOA News
