Pakistan: From turmoil to stability?

“I would have preferred to defeat Zia Ul Haq at the polls, but life and death are in God’s hands” was the very comment expressed by Benazir Bhutto when she first heard the news of Pakistan’s former military ruler General Zia Ul Haq who got killed when the aircraft carrying him exploded shortly after it took off in August 1988.

Pakistan was founded by Mohamed Ali Jinnah despite the plea of Mahatma Gandhi who insisted that India and Pakistan should remain as one country. Gandhi even pleaded with Jawaharlal Nehru to allow Jinnah to be the first Premier of the Indian sub continent without the barriers.

However the bitter experiences of Hindu- Muslim clashes which occurred parallel to the freedom struggle against the British Empire, made Mohamed Ali Jinnah to be firm on crafting Pakistan when the Union Jack came down in the Indian Sub-Continent.

Pakistan that was created by lean and fragile but the determined Mohamed Ali Jinnah, hardly experienced the air of democracy since its independence six decades ago. The nation is in total disarray marred by threats from extremist elements within and outside the country and by poor economic performances. Democratically elected regimes were shortlived in the country.

Therefore in this gloomy backdrop with the brutal assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan is struggling to come to terms with how democracy could be re-established.

Though the present ruler of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Gen. Zia Ul Haq in ruling Pakistan under martial law, the country enjoyed comparatively good neighbourly relations in the region and internationally at large.

With Gen. Musharaff escaping several attempts made on his life, it is clear that until the US remains against al-Quaeda in neighbouring Afghanistan, any leader who comes to power in Pakistan would face a tough time in governing the country.

Therefore with the political parties including the PPP of slain leader Benazir announcing willingness to contest the forthcoming General Elections in Pakistan, there are signs of democracy returning to the country after nearly nine years.

Though Pakistan remains a key nation militarily having successfully tested a nuclear bomb challenging India in 1998, it has to go a very long way in establishing itself economically vibrant on par with India.

India and Pakistan have engaged in several border battles since their Independence.

It was in the early seventies that Benazir Bhutto first came into the limelight as a journalist accompanying her late father Zulficar Ali Bhutto to Shimla, where a treaty was signed between India’s Indira Gandhi and Ali Bhutto over the Kashmir issue.

The Indian media first went to town focusing extensively on young Benazir at that time.

The Indian journals also made comparisons between the Bhutto and the Nehru families.

However, it is pity to note that Bhutto and Nehru families which had several things in common politically as well as intellectually had similarities even in their deaths.

The most recent big blow is the death of Benazir who claimed herself proudly the `Daughter of the East’.

So with the demise of the `Daughter of the East’ her country is now compelled to make a self evaluation with regard to its internal, regional and international politics.

As the political parties in Pakistan prepare themselves for the General Election to be held on February 18 and the Bhutto dynasty’s third generation takes up the leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party, the whole world is watching how the troubled nation is going to come out of the messy political situation.

It is high time for Pakistan to realise that its neighbours India and China are emerging rapidly as economic giants in the region.

Therefore the forthcoming polls in the battered country would be a deciding factor of its future.