Word: bhutto
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...long record of torture, extra judicial custody and killings. She appointed herself head of her political party, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), for life, and her feuding brother was shot dead under highly suspicious circumstances. Her brother’s wife and daughter all held Bhutto responsible for his death...
Shortly before her own tragic death in December, Bhutto was negotiating an American-backed deal with President Pervez Musharraf to allow her to become prime minister again. The lawyer-led, pro-democracy movement in Pakistan saw this as a Faustian pact with a hated dictator...
...feudal manner of Bhutto’s succession lends further suspicion of the kind of democracy that she espoused. Her son, Bilawal Bhutto, is a 19-year-old Oxford student who has never lived in Pakistan. Yet he has been appointed heir to the Bhutto throne as the new chairman of the PPP. But since he is too young, his controversial father, Asif Zardari, will act as regent, making decisions while the chairman grows up. The actual top candidate for the forthcoming elections is another person, party loyalist Maqdoom Amin Fahim...
Aside from her “democratic” credentials, supporters of Bhutto have sought to portray her as both fiercely secular and against terrorism. This too does not stand up to scrutiny...
That she was personally secular—as well as immensely courageous—is unquestionable. However, these views did not translate into policies as prime minister. Her record as an anti-terrorist crusader is murky, at best. While Bhutto was prime minister, the Pakistani intelligence services helped install the Taliban in Afghanistan. There was also a huge spike in Pakistan’s monetary and strategic support for jehadis in Kashmir during her tenure. While Bhutto’s direct responsibility for both these actions is debatable, they were nonetheless incongruous with the simplistic anti-terrorism crusader image that...