Bhutto Yesterday, Martial Law Today
Filed under: Pakistan
No sooner did Benazir Bhutto arrive back in Pakistan than she faced an assassination attempt. No sooner did it fail than martial law was declared and mass arrests began. Rumors began to circulate that, after likening himself to Abraham Lincoln (that's right, he's Lincoln and Putin is FDR), President Pervez Musharraf had been deposed in a military coup (he's too liberal for them, if you can believe it). Now, writing for CNN, Bhutto stands up for democracy. Here's an excerpt:
On my return to Pakistan last month, throngs of people turned out to welcome me back home. The demand to ban grassroots political activity is a suspicious prelude to what could be an overt attempt to rig the upcoming elections. All people who believe in the process of democracy should reject this attempt to undermine public participation in the campaign and set the table for what I believe would simply be a fraudulent election. It has now been more than two weeks since the horrific assassination attempt against me and the police have still not filed my complaint. They filed their own report without taking statements from eyewitnesses on the truck targeted for the terrorist attack which resulted in the death of more than 158 of my supporters and security guards. Soon thereafter, I was asked by authorities not to travel in cars with tinted windows -- which protected me from identification by terrorists -- or travel with privately armed guards. I began to feel the net was being tightened around me when police security outside my home in Karachi was reduced, even as I was told that other assassination plots were in the offing.
Talk about a protest babe! You go, girl! Ms. Bhutto is an classic example of the fact that if one is willing to stand up and fight for democracy, massive changes can be achieved. All those who struggle for democracy around the world should be inspired by her amazing courage and devotion to her country.
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