Throughout history, kings were put to death for opposing democracy; however Benazir Bhutto, like her father has been slain for democracy. Alas, the only true representative of the people is no more, writes Syed Jawaid Iqbal
Truth, it is said, is stranger than fiction. Sometimes it is so unbelievable that it is almost impossible to reconcile with. How can one accept, for instance, that Benazir is no more with us? How can one bring oneself to reconcile with the fact that this universal charmer, who electrified mammoth crowds only till the other day, now lies buried under a mound of earth? Yet, the truth stands starkly staring everyone in the face.
That reality has to be grappled with and plans made for the future. Her supporters must move on, forward on the trail she blazed, with calm determination and a sense of commitment. Only that would be the fittest tribute to her memory. Any display of passion must be avoided because that would harm the cause she held nearest to her heart: democracy. She had chosen the uphill road to democracy in the best tradition of her illustrious father.
But the path of democracy is not only bumpy, but also pocked with dangerous. It also demands sacrifice; sometimes, even in human blood. It claims its victims from both sides of the aisle. In the past it sent King Charles I of England and King Louis XVI of France to the gallows. Now it claimed the lives of the Bhutto, father and daughter.
But Charles I and Louis XVI were absolute monarchs. They claimed to rule by ‘divine right.’ The word ‘democracy,’ did not exist in their lexicon. Zulfikar Bhutto and Benazir, on the contrary, were dedicated to democracy.
The kings were done to death for opposing democracy, but ZAB and his daughter suffered death for exactly the opposite reasons. The former pair was dispatched by the supporters of ‘liberty, equality and fraternity;’ the latter by those for whom democracy is anathema.
Zulfikar Bhutto was the first popularly elected prime minister. He was the one and only, who brought glory to Pakistan, such that none else did either before him or since. He gave the country the unique gift of nuclear power. He recovered ninety thousand Pakistani POWs from India’s prisons without yielding any ground. And he hosted an Islamic summit that not only washed away the disgrace of Pakistan’s military debacle in the 1971 war but also put it at the top of the Muslim world.
ZAB was also dauntless to a fault. He could look even the Henry Kissinger, the crafty planner of the assassination of Chile’s president Salvador Allende, straight in the eye. He could even mock at Kissinger’s threat to make a ‘horrible example’ of him.
ZAB derived his support from the masses. The ‘infatuation’ was reciprocal, each being devoted to the other, totally. They might not understand the implications of having a ‘nuclear bomb,’ but they understood ‘Roti, kapra, makan.’ It was no idle slogan; ZAB he was sincere in his purpose. Therefore, even though he could not implement his pro-people programmes fully during his brief, problem-riddled tenure, yet, the concrete benefits that accrued from whatever he did, were such that their impact on the hearts and minds of the poor has remained indelible to this day.
Some of these traits were inherited by his most favourite child, Benazir. She, too, was plucky, overflowing with adrenaline, determination as well as an immense store of stamina. Benazir could chair marathon 12-hour long cabinet meetings and sometimes manage with just about four hours of sleep. Even in peace time she worked on war footing. For sheer courage, indeed, she deserved more points. For example, she visited Siachen, where few even among her male counterparts have dared, not only being a woman but even during her pregnancy.
Benazir went about addressing crowds ‘essentially unprotected’ even after the 18 October tragedy. When Gail Sheehy, contributing editor of the Parade magazine, during an interview in November, asked her, ‘How do you do it?’ her answer was, "From the day my father was hanged—I was 25—whenever there is a crisis, I go into a kind of detachment. ‘What should I be doing?’ I just start ticking off steps. I don’t feel."
Benazir also had dreams and a burning desire to do her father proud by fulfilling his vision of a vibrant society, with equal economic opportunities for all citizens, political and religious toleration, respect for human rights and freedom of expression and association.
To achieve those dreams, she persevered under persecution and the torments of a tyrant. She faced every odd, every pressure, but would not relent in the single minded pursuit of bringing democracy to the country.
People had therefore accepted her as the true incarnation of Zulfikar Bhutto. She was perceived as the glue that held the restive federating units of the country together. Consequently, her support extended from not only the proverbial Khyber to Karachi, but far beyond to the more remote areas of Gilgit and Chitral.
The spell that ZAB had cast was already very strong. Benazir gave it further boost by holding the standard of democracy aloft even under the Zia dictatorship. She had shown promise and people acknowledged it by submitting wholeheartedly to her leadership. They did not care that English was her first language, that she spoke Urdu ‘like a well-groomed foreigner: fluently, but ungrammatically,’ and ‘apart from a few imperatives, she was completely at sea’ in Sindhi, as William Darlymple wrote in the Guardian. People ignored these flaws in the same way that they had ignored them in the Quaid-e-Azam. What mattered in both cases was trust in their capability to lead and in the promises they made.
Quaid-e-Azam promised an independent homeland for Muslims; the Bhuttos promised freedom from poverty. The masses saw her as the personification of their hopes and aspirations as reflected in the deafening countrywide chorus, ‘Benazir ayegi; rozgar layegi’ that rent the air on her homecoming. They did not know how, but such was their trust in her that they believed she was the messiah, the saviour that held the key to their problems.
And she responded with full heart. Yes, she would solve their problems. For that she had decided even to stoop and shake Musharraf’s hand. She would also bring peace in a tormented land. She was certain the so-called extremists and terrorists would not hurt her because it would be un-Islamic to attack a woman.
Benazir had certainly not forgotten Ramzi Yusuf. She was too clever to make that mistake. But she thought that her Muslim credentials were strong enough to head off any religious zealot from attacking her.
No doubt she critiqued madrassas and berated fundamentalists, whom she called ‘fundos.’ She had never even for once been inside the Ka’ba; perhaps she had not even performed a Hajj. Benazir was also avowedly secular. She received liberal education and was closely association with Western culture. Yet, withal, she adhered to the core values of Islam, more strictly, than those who have done Hajj and repeated Umras and flaunt their repeated visits to the interior of the Ka’ba. For example, she never appeared in public without a head-scarf.
These factors, she believed, countervailed her anti-‘extremist’ rhetoric. What she had actually in mind was not so much to declare a bloody war on them as is now being waged, but to win them over. Diplomacy and not bloodshed would be the key to handling the Taliban problem in the northern areas, which, in view of her countrywide popularity, she was best equipped to achieve. But without any communication with the other party she appears to have been taken at her expressed word. For instance, when she spoke of ‘cooperation’ with the US in hunting down the terrorists, she may have meant only ‘technical cooperation,’ because, it would be unbelievable for Zulfikar Bhutto’s daughter to allow alien forces to operate freely inside Pakistan. But if so, it was too heavily nuanced for the other side to grasp. Consequently she was misperceived as a US ‘agent.’
Alas, she is no more. The voice that was a clarion call of hope will never be heard again. The mesmeric charm of her charismatic persona, her right hand waving to the welcoming millions will, never more, be seen.
But, Benazir lives in spirit, which is immortal. It can and will inspire those who are dedicated to the cause she struggled for. In their hearts she will live forever as a beacon. But the testing times for the PPP are ahead. It remains to be seen whether its new leadership can sustain the glory the party attained during the ‘Bhutto era.’
Syed Jawaid Iqbal is the Editor-in-Chief of Southasia Magazine. He is also the Founding Chairman of Moderates - a private sector think tank committed to strengthening tolerance, interfaith, harmony and democracy.
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