I have no intention of holding forth on Pakistani politics – my scant knowledge of its affairs is gleaned purely from some of the more striking pieces in our press over the last few years.
Now the horrific assassination of Benazir Bhutto (and numerous of her followers) last week has crystallised world media attention on the knife-edge politics of what is one of only eight nuclear-armed nations, plus a major hub of the Muslim world.
With Gordon Brown espousing the need for Pakistan to not be deflected from the “democratic process�, my thoughts turned to the political science theories on ‘democratisation’ I had to wade through as a contemporary history student. They posit that there are certain universal ingredients necessary for the conception of a truly democratic body-politics – even across profoundly different cultures, as is the case with Western nations and the Muslim world.
Then on Friday, the final comment in a Radio 4 interview of Sarfraz Manzoor, a British-Asian journalist of Pakistani heritage, struck home.
While bemoaning the atrocity of Thursday’s killing of Mrs Bhutto, he said the focus must be on ensuring democratic institutions take root in the country. For all her bravery and charisma, a single figurehead such as Mrs Bhutto – part of a political dynasty and viewed as almost messianic by PPP supporters – could not turn the tide. The country’s most powerful institution, the army, is still imbued in large parts with anti-democratic sentiment; even as it defends its approach as being a necessary bulwark against Islamist radicalism.
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