12.28.07

The Daughter of Destiny

Posted in Current Affairs at 11:46 pm by PuneTalks

The slaying of Benazir comes across as a major blow to the millions of people in the sub-continent who have grown sentimentally attached to the four most charismatic and illustrious families in South Asia. The Nehru-Gandhi family, the Bhutto family, the Sheikh Muzib-ur-Rehman and the Kumaratunga- Bhandaranaike family are there, right in the Top bracket, when there is any mention of the political elite of this part of the world. All members of these families were feted and felicitated when alive and mourned collectively by the nation when any of its members met a violent death.
These families have been eulogized in their countries so much that they have become synonymous with their countries to the outside world.

But is this tragedy something which caught us unawares? Well not really so because while we all feel devastated by her killing, every one knew that Benazir had been treading along a path that was full of shrapnels, suicide bombers and stealthily laid land-mines.

Benazir’s murder makes me especially sad since she was a leader who really had to fight her way through the complex politics of Pakistan that so much revels in tribalism, religious bigotry and male chauvinism.

If we must talk of a woman then we must describe her physical beauty which contributes to her overall persona. Benazir was beautiful in a different way that while she didn’t exude the charm of a demure Pakistani-Indian girl,she was rather a strongly-built woman who had oodles of charm and a strange sense of attractiveness, in spite of the way she dressed- from the head-to-toe and the way she spoke with a unique huskiness, perhaps because of the throat condition as a result of marathon rounds of public addresses.

She lived a privileged early life as she went to study at the Harvard, but her comfortable early years could never compensate for the unending hardships that she endured ever since she threw herself into the power play of Pakistani politics.

Quite interestingly she remained till the end the only vote-gatherer and the sole rallying point of PPP, a party that was once called the Permanently Pregnant Party for Benazir delivered thrice after she joined politics. The people of Pakistan simply doted on this Daughter of East. Her style of leadership combined the aristocracy of her father to dazzle the elite and a carefully cultivated image of a mother and a dutiful wife to relate with the masses.

That Benazir was the moderate face of Pakistan is not in doubt but whether she was the greatest friend of India will remain a subject of much debate. What though none can take away from her is that she chose to criticize the fundamentalists so openly, and almost as vehemently as General Musharraf. For a woman with three children in exile and threat to life lurking at every road that she took, this required bravery and guts. Some say that her tirade against the forces of fundamentalism was a well calculated risk as this was the only way to be considered as an acceptable alternative to the United States that remains so much in awe of Musharraf’s ability and determination to fight fundamentalism. While this may be partly true, I think that it still required huge courage to speak so openly against fundamental elements, some thing which Nawaz Sharif hasn’t done half as well so far.

That takes us to another level of discussions. What would have happened if she were to win the elections and be at the helm of affairs of Pakistan? Would she have fought fundamental forces as bravely as Musharraf? Would she have softened her stand in bargain for relative peace and prosperity?

To me the Best man to fight the Al Qaeda remains Gen. Musharraf. The General really hates them and wants to model his country around Turkey, the modern secular republic established by the nationalist leader Kemal Ataturk.

People all over are going for Musharraf’s head as they feel that he is partly responsible for Benazir’s killing. Nothing could be far from truth. In fact, Musharraf and Benazir might have entered a secret pact wherein the latter would have been the one in-charge of trade, commerce, economy and foreign relations on becoming the Prime Minister and the former would have continued to mind the domestic agenda, the agenda of America of eliminating Al Qaeda and its ilk from Pakistan and establishment of democracy in Pakistan.

The vision was good but too difficult to achieve with an expert on CNN saying that a recent survey revealed that 42% of Pakistanis have a soft corner for Al Qaeda.

Perhaps it required a woman like of Benazir’s charisma to wean away the misguided youth from the shambolic state that it finds itself in today.

The citizens of Pakistan want democracy and betterment in living standards but don’t want it be flowing from Uncle Sam’s dishevelled beard. They perhaps find the fundamentalists attractive only because of the anti-American stance of that these groups take.

Where does Pakistan go from here? The polls must be conducted and a democratically elected popular government must be in place and Musharraf must continue to fight the fundamentalist. He is the Best man for the job and the only man who has the guts to do so.

Benazir, the incomparable is dead. May God grant her peace that eluded her in her life. This is my prayer for the Daughter of Destiny.

-Sudhir Bisht is a freelance writer. Reach him at sudhir_bisht@rediffmail.com

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