Bhutto the enigma

[nairiporter]

Her death caused a political crisis that still echoes today in Pakistani politics. Five years ago Benazir Bhutto was killed in a suicide attack, and even after all that time the truth about her assassination remains a mystery.

The perpetrators remain unknown. But there are countless conspiracy theories about the motives and factors behind the demise

Comments

[abomvubuso]

Quite timely indeed, since 5 years of her assassination were commemorated the other day. And her son has now actively entered politics.

[underlankers]

I'm not entirely sure that a descendant of a family of dictators is a great example of democracy in Pakistan. If anything she seems to exemplify the dual natures of the Pakistani dictatorship: the ultimate source of power is the army and its ability to purge any of the civilians, but what civilians sustain power tend to keep it within particular families. Pakistan, like Israel, is if anything the crowning example of the dangerous idea of making religion the basis of a modern state. She seems more Pakistan's Indira Gandhi than a straightforward democrat to me, the more that I actually read about her and her family. Her murder is nonetheless a horrific tragedy and an example likewise of what a really unstable and violent society looks like.

[nairiporter]

By the way her family is running her party after her death, I am prone to agreeing with you about her being the wrong example of democracy (full-stop). As for democracy in Pakistan, the story might be a bit different from what we are usually used to call "democracy".

[mahnmut]

It's either democracy-full-stop or it's something else that warrants the use of another term that's different from 'democracy'.