Benazir Bhutto's son quoted her, "Democracy is the best revenge!"

01/01/2008

I would think that it would not take too much intelligence for people to realize that a government that is in place because of a military coup does not represent the people that it governs.

There are four major tribal groups in Pakistan and I have learned a lot about them in recent months.  Of course, I can't know Pakistan as a native and I don't speak the language, so I ask the indulgence of the reader as I present the facts to the best of my knowledge.  If I have any errors as to details, context or content, then I trust my Pakistani friends to correct me.

The military rulers in Pakistan are primarily Punjabi and they do not tolerate dissension from the other tribes, even to the extent that they strafe and bomb their own citizens in provinces that support separatist groups.  To me that is comparable to Saddam Hussein's treatment of Iraq's Kurdish minority when he authorized the use of poison gas on them in their own homes on their own ancestral lands.

The group best represented by Bhutto's PPP (Pakistani People's Party) was the Sindhi, who are primarily Sufi Muslims, who are a more pacifist group that has virtually no representation in a military government - one reason that many people seriously suspect members of Pakistan's own government to be complicit in her assassination.

The Baloch are primarily a Sunni Muslim group that is divided between Iran and Pakistan.  Divided as they are, they face persecution on both sides of the border and I have a separate page devoted to them on this web site.

The fourth group is the Pashtun who reside in the northwest of Pakistan where government troops tread with caution.  They are also the group that I know the least about, so I will refrain from commenting on them until I  am better informed. 

This page is an ongoing work in progress and I will add some of my earlier writings as well as comments on new developments, trying to make sense of the changing situation.

Right now, the most recent news that I have heard is that Pakistani elections have been put off until February, if not later.

Jan 2, 2008

Surprise!  Musharaf has agreed to allow an investigation into Benazir Bhutto's death by Scotland Yard!  I hope that they have enough agents that are fluent  in the languages that will be required for a competent investigation.  Of course, after a week of cleanup etc, any trace evidence on the scene is likely to be compromised.  If Muslim custom was followed, then all bodies involved were probably buried within 24 hours and it will be difficult to reacquire them for investigative purposes.

I wonder if it would be possible to use a portable x-ray machine, clearing enough dirt above and to the side of the coffin to enable it's use without actually disinterring the body??? 
At least they might be able to confirm or deny the presence of a bullet wound independently - Hopefully without offending Muslim customs.
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January 4, 2008

A BBC news article has been brought to my attention - written by Mazhar Zaidi of the BBC Urdu service - that relates to two prior murder investigations that Scotland Yard has conducted in Pakistan.  One was the assassination  of Pakistan's first Prime Minister, Liaqat Ali Khan.
The other was an investigation into the death of Benazir Bhutto's brother, Murtaza Bhutto.

The article implies that in both cases the investigators were sent home before they were able to finish their jobs and any conclusions were made public.
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January 29th;
I actually started writing "That's Not Easy" the day before Benazir Bhutto's assassination, then around the beginning of this month, I sent it with the accompanying letter to a respected member of the Baloch community that I communicate with.  Receipt was acknowledged and I'm sure that his intentions are to try to address the questions that I ask, but almost 4 weeks have passed and I know that these are not easy questions to answer, so I am including them here on this page for wider consideration.

I realize that some of these questions may be impossible to answer outright, but I feel that they should represent the goals of any group that hopes to become a self governing entity.

It will take a well organized and dedicated group that needs the active participation of the governed as well as that of their leaders, but I hope that it is possible.
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