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Benazir Bhutto: A Script Not Written in Hollywood
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10872 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
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7 / 1986 |
2,484 Words |
| Author
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Nayyar Zaidi
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It seems like a story written for Hollywood. The Harvard-educated young woman returns from years of self-exile to her native Third World country. Her objective: to "liberate her people from bondage" and to topple the "military dictator" who allegedly sent her father to the gallows. The late prime minister, she claims, was sentenced to death on "trumped-up" charges of complicity in the murder of a political opponent. Her receptions are tumultuous. Aided by her loyal supporters and the "masses," she finally prevails. Everyone lives happily ever after.
Those familiar with South Asia must have recognized all the unnamed places and characters in the above story. The country is Pakistan. The young woman is Benazir Bhutto, 33-year-old daughter of the late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. The "military dictator," of course, is none other than general Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq, who has ruled Pakistan since July 5, 1977.
The return of Benazir Bhutto was an anxiously awaited event. The lifting of martial law itself was simply a curtain-raiser for her "grand" entrance, and grand it was in many ways. From London, she went straight to the historic city of Lahore (in Punjab province) where hundreds of thousands of people cheered her from the airport to the park where she addressed a large public meeting.
The pattern was repeated in her appearances in various parts of the country through the second week of May - the beginning of a month-long fast in Pakistan, a country with a 98 percent Muslim population.
The obvious question is whether she can succeed in doing what most have failed to do in the last nine years - remove Zia from power. And if she does succeed, will she be able to seize power herself?
The Western media, her supporters in Pakistan and overseas, and some naïve observers have already declared her the winner in "early projections." Comparisons were made between the Philippines and Pakistan and Corazon Aquino and Bhutto. There was speculation that the United Sates had decided to "dump" the Zia regime in favor of Bhutto's anticipated ascension to power.
However, in reality, the odds are overwhelmingly against Bhutto's displacing the current establishment in Pakistan. Even if that happens, she will not be able to assume control of the country.
A brief review of Pakistan's political scene is necessary for perspective and for the benefit of the casual observer of the South Asian scene. Pakistan was established on August 14, 1947, after the partition of India. The British colonial rulers accepted the demands of the Muslim population of the subcontinent for a separate state.
From 1947-58, Pakistan was under civilian rule. A constitution was adopted in 1956. However, elections were never held - mainly due to palace intrigues. In October 1958, army commander-in-chief General Mohammad Ayub Khan seized power.
In 1962 he gave the country a one-man constitution and restored semi-civilian rule. Street demonstrations and violence in March 1969 forced Ayub Khan to step down. But disregarding the transfer-of-power arrangements of his own constitution, he
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