Shahidul Alam is in my opinion a very talented, mind big-hearted and clear-minded photographer, storyteller and citizen media activist.
Over the past two years or so, he has moved into a blogging format an email newsletter he and others in Bhangladesh built into a 20,000-plus member network. The subtle beauty and brilliance of the photos alone are worth a visit. The storytelling is equally good.
In this most recent post titled The Game of Death, he offers a moving and clear-eyed perspective on the complexities that are political life in Pakistan in the times defined by power, death and uncertainty.
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The extra-judicial killings during Benazir’s rule are well documented. The fact that no investigation was done when her brother Mir Murtaza was killed outside Bilawal House, the family home, fueled the commonly held belief that her husband Asif Zardari had arranged the killing. Even Edhi’s ambulances had not been allowed access. Not until Murtaza had bled to death. Anyone who witnessed the murder was arrested; one witness died in prison. Benazir was then prime minister.
Murtaza had been vocal against the corruption of Zardari. Benazir defended her husband stoically throughout. Despite the Swiss bank accounts, she assured people that he would be seen as the Nelson Mandela of Pakistan. With Zardari now tipped as the new chief of PPP, Pakistan’s Mandela and his Swiss bank accounts might well be the new force. Whether Pakistanis will see this polo-playing businessman as the saviour of the day remains to be seen.
Supported by the US, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had been largely responsible for the break up of Pakistan and the genocide in Bangladesh. The current string pulling by the US has hardly made Pakistan a safer place. The western support of militarisation in Bangladesh and the growing importance of Jamaat is an all too familiar feeling. If Pakistan is an omen, it is a sinister one.
Perhaps Mrs. Packletide would have known how the former prime minister of this nuclear nation died. But the government’s attempts to cover-up will do little to quell the conspiracy theories. Like the Bhutto family, the military too have burned a lot of bridges in getting to where they are. There are too many skeletons in their closet. There is no going back, and no price too high.
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Tags: Shahidul News, Shahidul Alam, Benazir Bhutto, Asif Zardari, PPP, Pakistan
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