Comments on: The Ghost of Bhutto

By: MUSHTAQUE.AHMED.GAAD

MUSHTAQUE.AHMED.GAAD — Thu, 05 May 2011 21:34:24 +0000

The Ghost of Bhutto……..
When he became the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, in 1963, he wanted Pakistan on the forefront of Islamic countries and South Asia instead he stoked the fires in Kashmir. He hated the military but all of his best friends were military men. He was the most trusted man Ayub had but, in 1969, he created the political party [PPP - Pakistan's People Party] which toppled Ayub. He watched Pakistan break into two in 1971 to wait for his moment. The horrors of the military men turned the nation to this dapper bureaucrat who promised land reform and roti, kapra aur makan [bread, cloth and house] for everyone. He became the first elected Prime Minister of the 32 year old nation. He made industrial and land reform but the only beneficiaries were landlords and industrialists. He proclaimed “Islamic Socialism” but the people never saw Islam or socialism. He gave speech after speech on the terrors of landholding exploiters of the people. He courted them as his base. He promised 18 acres of land to each peasant and they got, well, nothing. From 1972 to 1977, he shaped Pakistan in his fractured image. More than anything, it was his death which came to symbolize the realm of political power in Pakistan.

By: Sarfaraz Abbasi

Sarfaraz Abbasi — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:08:38 +0000

It is a pride of Sindh, Sindhi leaders like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Shaheed and Benazir Bhutto Shaheed, have only given but never taken anything, we recall those who sacrificed in getting a state like Pakistan, this family sacrificed to withstand the stature of Pakistan.

A grieved brother of
Miss Bhutto Shaheed

By: Haroon

Haroon — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 20:01:17 +0000

Army was in power when Bangladesh was created. Shouldn’t they get the blame for the breakup of Pakistan.

By: praktike

praktike — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Am I the only one who’s noticed that ole Beanzir is all over the place these days? Aren’t there any quality Punjabi opposition figures to rally around?

By: huma

huma — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hahaha, the Saville Row comment was hilarious!

By: sepoy

sepoy — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

praktike: Like I said in the post, the nation cannot find any alternative because whereever you look a bhutto or zia stand-in looms. I am sure that at the end of The General's 8-9 year tenure we will be faced with the Musharraf ghost. There is more to plumb here but sometime later.

By: praktike

praktike — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

But isn’t the Khan thing kind of obvious? Jemima?

By: Chanad

Chanad — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

It’s interesting that the second/third tier of the PPP leadership seems to contain some very smart, well-cultured and level-headed individuals… but I wouldn’t want Benazir or Zardari to be anywhere near Islamabad. If it weren’t for those two I might consider voting for PPP in the future.

The same thing seems to apply to MQM, with Altaf Bhai looking like a crooked mafia don to me… but with the middle order tiers of the leadership seeming quite intelligent and trustworthy.

It seems that these parties, which have a middle order made up of intellectuals, require a charismatic leader to carry the party…. but why does there exist this relationship between charisma and corruption among Pakistani leaders?

(MMA and PML are made up of jokers right the way through.)

By: dacoit

dacoit — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

As praktike notes, Banzir is indeed all over the place these days. I recently saw her deliver a lecture at a small liberal arts college in central Texas that seemed to be entirely devoted to lauding the Bush doctrine and the ‘war on terror’, the glorious victory of ‘true democracy’ in the place of dictatorship in Afghanistan and Iraq, and ultimately presenting Pakistan as the next logical site for a bit of nation-building.

A political scientist friend of mine remarked that Bush himself could have given the exact same speech, and indeed one can imagine Bush taking a similar line as part of a project to coerce Musharraf to hold elections at some point in future. One cannot be especially optimistic about the prospects of global democracy installed by US/World Bank/IMF-wielded carrots and sticks.

While unapologetic Cold War era US support of dictatorships (or mujahidin groups) is abhorrent on one level, at least it is not quite the wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing we are seeing paraded before us now in the name of democracy. There is not far to go before ‘democracy’ appears to most of the world as a baldly-obvious code word for letting shark capitalism run rampant in the poorer nations of the world. Will a return of Benazir to Pak politics mean anything different from this, especially if it comes along with a Bush-Musharraf brokered democratization of the country? Can one expect the compulsions of the electorate to dictate any kind of significant return to populist rhetoric and action?

By: Ms. World

Ms. World — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

That was hot!

By: Jawad Gaad

Jawad Gaad — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Plz Give me E-mail Adderss For Benazir Bhutto help Me !!!