With the charismatic opposition leader Benazir Bhutto forcibly removed from the scene, what would be the unfolding scenario in turbulent Pakistan? There are several theories floating around.
Robin Wright and Griff Witte of The Washington Post report that the Bush administration is now depending on two politicians — one accused in the 1990s of being a crook and the other still viewed as almost powerless — to help prop up President Pervez Musharraf and stabilize volatile Pakistan, according to U.S. officials, regional experts and Pakistanis.
If this analysis is correct then the road ahead would be extremely bumpy and Pakistan would be moving fom one crisis to another endangering peace and stability in the Indian subcontinent.
Wright and Griff continue: “Asif Ali Zardari, who has assumed the regency of his wife’s Pakistan People’s Party, is nicknamed ‘Mr. 10 Percent’ for alleged corruption by profiting off government contracts when Bhutto was prime minister in the 1990s, charges for which he spent 11 years in prison. He will remain caretaker of Pakistan’s largest opposition movement until their 19-year-old son finishes studies at Oxford and is ready to assume party control — potentially many years away.
While the other potential leader “Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who led the party during Bhutto’s eight-year exile, is the party candidate to become prime minister if the PPP wins the largest vote in the Feb. 18 elections and forms a coalition government. First elected to parliament in 1970, he lacks both charisma and clout, according to U.S. officials and Pakistani experts.
“Although the United States has contact with an array of politicians, Washington is still hoping that the deal it tried to broker between Bhutto and Musharraf last fall — to forge a new moderate center and work together after elections — remains the way to salvage Musharraf’s government. But the personality and political dynamics have changed dramatically with Bhutto gone, especially within the PPP, U.S. officials said.
” ‘Sharif will not rest until Musharraf, who toppled him in a 1999 military coup, is ousted. And there’s such a strong feeling now in the PPP that Musharraf is just like Zia ul-Haq, just another Islamist-loving military dictator who had a role in the death of a Bhutto.’ Former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir’s father, was hanged during Mohammed Zia ul-Haq’s rule.”
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Then there is an interesting article “Bhutto Family at War With Itself” in The Times of India written by Ishtiaq Ali Mehkri, a senior journalist in Karachi. “The Bhuttos share a history — fighting political battles with the establishment and squabbling among themselves for personal glory and family property. The Bhuttos’ is a tale of power, politics and death. One of the richest and influential families of the subcontinent, the family has lived under the shadow of violence…”
The US administration tends to forget that Pakistan is no Saudi Arabia…where you could back the rulers to the hilt and overlook the local public’s hostility towards a repressive regime. Pakistan has a powerful middle-class with an impressive chunk of population educated in the universities abroad, and who has imbibed a taste for democracy and an open society. You just have to read Pakistani newspapers or interact with a local journalist to get a feel.
Even in recent times the Pakistan’s judiciary maintained highest standards, that is until the mindless support extended by the US administration to prop up an unpopular General, thus emboldening him to stuff the jails with democracy-loving professionals/the middle-class/members of the judiciary/politicians, while maintaining a questionable relationship with militants/terrorists who reportedly roam freely in Pakistan.
Once a wellknown Pakistani journalist told me: “We fear the US administration and a section of the Pakistani army, who work hand-in-glove, and have been able to effectively stifle democracy in Pakistan. In fact the militancy and terrorism is an outcome of this nefarious partnership that exists more for geo-political and suspect reasons rather than fighting terrorism per se.”
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.