Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Did Benazir Bhutto's position help to increase the political power of women?


Referring to South Asia in general, the Indian academic Kamla Bhasin notes that: "When some women do assume important political positions (Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, Khaleda Zia), they do so, at least initially, because of their association with some strong male political personalities, and they function within the structures and principles laid down by men"[4].

In the country that concerns us here, Pakistan, the task for Benazir Bhutto was particularly challenging. Drawing on the popularity in many quarters of her late father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, she no doubt enjoyed a certain aura. Nonetheless, the country had been through a lengthy period of dictatorship that had also deeply marked collective attitudes.

Benazir Bhutto’s opponents, proponents of an Islam without concession, could thus try to criticize her entry into political life as being in a sense equivalent to undermining public morality. Moreover, other issues appeared to be of greater urgency at a time when the fabric of society had been torn apart by sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims in Punjab and NWFP, and the ethnic conflict in Karachi opposing the Mohajir community, Muslim migrants from India at the time of independence, to the pre-existing residents of the Sindh as a whole.

A further dimension is related to the long domination exerted by the military over political life, in which the ISI assumed an ever more significant position. Many officers doubtless accepted the return to barracks only very reluctantly. Whatever she might have wanted, Bhutto was not in a position to address the sensitive issue of the position of women during her two periods in power (December 1988-August 1990, October 1993-November 1996).

"Cut off from the everyday experience of the masses by her elevated social status and prolonged stays overseas, one may wonder to which extent Benazir Bhutto was aware of the condition of women in her country."

Cut off from the everyday experience of the masses by her elevated social status and prolonged stays overseas, one may wonder to which extent she was aware of the condition of women in her country. Her reign was sullied by accusations of corruption made against the husband widely considered to manipulate her, Asif Ali Zardari. The couple’s efforts to rebut such charges convinced few.

It is significant that it was during the rule of another general, Pervez Musharraf, who had come to power through a coup d’état that the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance was, if not abrogated, then at least amended. Seeking to restore the international credibility of his country, he cast himself in the role of promoter-in-chief of ‘enlightened moderation’.

source:/www.exploringgeopolitics.org

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