Pakistan loses its modernist face

Benazir, in her dealings with India, was constrained by the reality of her being suspect in the eyes of the Establishment, particularly the Army.

With Benazir Bhutto's assassination, the restoration of democracy and a return to political normalcy seem suddenly distant as the PPP, Pakistan's largest political party "" indeed the only one with sizeable following in all provinces "" has been rendered headless, robbed of its single most potent vote-getter. For the first time in 50 years, there is no Bhutto to offer hope and promise for a better future. In the process, Pakistan has also lost its modernist face.

At 54, Benazir had done more than what most people would in a much longer life-span, having been the first-ever female head of government in an Islamic country, held office as Prime Minister twice (the first time at the young age of 35), and headed the party she inherited from her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto for over a quarter of a century. There will, inevitably, be differences of opinion about her political and management style as also her conduct of the affairs of state, and even her personal conduct.

But there can be no difference of opinion about her political courage, fearlessness and commitment to democracy in her beloved Pakistan to the extent of putting her life on the line. Having lived in exile of one kind or another at different times, she kept returning back to the motherland, the last time just a few weeks ago.

With the trauma of her father's hanging, successive loss of siblings under suspect circumstances, her own detention under terrible conditions and the insecurity of repeated attempts on her life, one would have thought Benazir had already paid the price for the pinnacles she scaled. Her words at her last political rally at Liaqat Bagh in Rawalpindi on December 27 best exemplify her spirit: "I put my life in danger and came here because I feel this country is in danger. People are worried. We will bring the country out of this crisis."

Benazir, in her dealings with India, was constrained by the reality of her being suspect in the eyes of the Establishment, particularly the Army, to be able to deliver on her optimism for a future of Indo-Pak friendship and collaboration. The Zia-Bhutto feud, which many saw as a 'blood-feud', lingered on after Zia's death. The ISI propaganda material noted that the publisher of the Daughter of the East (referred to by her enemies in Pakistan as "Daughter of the Beast!") was also the publisher of Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses!

In the 1988 election campaign, the ISI-financed Islamic Jamhooriyat Ittehad (IJI) candidates were asked to attack Benazir as a security risk with loyalties to the US, who would give up nuclear secrets and not stand up to India. Her 'failure' to get Rajiv Gandhi to deliver on Siachen was used to reinforce her lack of credibility as a strong leader even though none of the successive Pakistani leaders, including Musharraf, have succeeded, thus far, in the same endeavour.

In India, too, she was viewed as a leader who promised more than she could deliver "" a view that did not accommodate the fact that she was systematically shut out of national security decisions. Benazir herself did little to help sustain her larger-than-life image, her constituency in India by the vitriolic speeches she delivered, particularly on J&K in the aftermath of the commencement of the insurgency in 1989.

Her shrill "Azadi, Azadi, Azadi" on TV and the blood-curdling speech at Muzaffarabad in February 1990 when she said, "Hum Jagmohan ko Jag Jag Mo Mo Han Han kar denge" may have been, according to later accounts, intended to win the approbation of the Army.

It certainly did not win its allegiance; nor did the nod that the Army got, during Benazir's tenure, to send thousands of 'mujahideen' into J&K; to spawn the Taliban; or the praise that she heaped on A Q Khan when awarding Pakistan's second highest civilian award, the Hilal-i-Imtiaz, by saying, "Pakistan is proud to have a man of his calibre ... I hope Pakistan will have more men of such eminence." (Benazir later described him as "stubborn, defiant, rude, insufferable, fanatical.")

Pakistan, Faiz Ahmed Faiz once said, "aisa hi chalta rahega." If, indeed, Pakistan meanders on thus, it should be a major source of worry particularly for its neighbours. Democracy has to be restored; extremism has to be rooted out. The two are linked. As Benazir said in recent weeks, "Dictatorship has fuelled extremism. The extremists need dictatorship to flourish, and dictatorship needs the extremists as a pre-text to continue in place. I believe the solution lies in breaking the nexus, and that means bringing democracy."

Pakistan has to make good on the pledges Musharraf has made repeatedly "" this time for Pakistan's own survival. To recall Benazir's words, "We can't let the militants dictate to us what's going to happen, we have to try and save Pakistan by saving democracy."

If we agree with this view, India cannot remain indifferent to the prospects of democracy in Pakistan. If we agree that the Pakistan Army is itself responsible for nurturing and sustaining fundamentalist elements and organisations propagating extremist violence, the restoration of democracy becomes the sine qua non for combating extremism. The forces of democracy in Pakistan must be assured that India's sympathy and support lies with them and not with the military rulers with whom "we can do business."

This moment of crisis in Pakistan's political life is not the most apposite for resolving the larger issues that have bedevilled Indo-Pak relations. Those will have to wait, including any progress on J&K. But India must be willing and prepared for a grander vision for South Asia that allows for open borders from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, facilitating the free flow of people, capital and goods. This would restore the historic complementarities that were torn asunder by our colonial masters. It has been done elsewhere; we can do it too. A common commitment to democracy, individual liberties and market economy will liberate the energies of our peoples who have proved elsewhere their ability to succeed.

(The author is a Visiting Professor at the Academy of Third World Studies, Jamia Millia University, Delhi. A former Ambassador to Germany and France, he served as Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan during1986-91)