[Marxism] Comments on Alan Woods article

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

(From someone who reads the archives)

1. This romanticized notion of the current "election campaign where,
after years of military dictatorship, the masses were striving for a
change" is quite off-base.  The election was going to be a sham and
that was a foregone conclusion. It was already being referred to in
the streets as a "selection" rather than an "election".  The US had
already worked out a powersharing agreement between Musharraf and
Benazir and that is what was going to be abided by.  Tariq Ali called
it an "arranged marriage" in a recent piece on Benazir "Daughter of
the West" in LRB, and that description is very apt.

2. Several groups, including political parties, religous parties,
lawyers groups, human rights groups etc. had issued a call for
boycotting the elections considering that the jailed lawyers and
judges have still not been released, the courts have been stuffed full
of Musharraf's cronies and the stringent curbs on the press still
remain.  In spite of the congratulatory messages from Bush and co
about restoration of democracy in Pakistan, and western media stories
about lifting of emergency, many activists were trying hard to get the
word out to the international media that "Emergency has not yet been
lifted". Benazir had been asked to support the boycott of the
elections--to highlight this very fact--but she refused.  Had she
agreed, Musharraf would have had a hard time pulling off this election
farce.  Some of the progressive leaders in her own party (PPP), such
as Aitzaz Ahsan--one of the leaders of the lawyer's movement--withdrew
his candidature on the PPP ticket and endorsed the call for an
election boycott, and she publicly rebuked him for not being loyal to
the party.

3. It is true that PPP has some mass base, especially in Sindh.
That's the legacy from her father's time, and also due to the strong
ethnic, linguistic alliances that work well in south asian politics.
However, she was also despised on the streets for being a US lackey.
She had strongly supported Bush's invasion of Afghanistan, giving
interviews all over the US media  in 2001 about how a US invasion
would bring peace to her country.  Earlier this year, she had again
reaffirmed that she would take US help to root out terrorism in
Pakistan.  Her opposition to the Pakistani Emergency was only
lukewarm, her eager participation in the elections was proof positive
that all she cared about was being reinstated in power.

4. While speculation is rife over who is behind her assassination, it
should be kept in mind that the Pakistani Military in all likelihood
had some role to play.  The Military pretty much runs the country, and
has always opposed PPP ever since the military dictator Zia hanged
Benazir's father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.  Earlier this year, in October,
when her rally was attacked and 130 people killed--she had claimed
that the Pakistani military was behind these attacks.  Given that the
carnage happened in Rawalpindi, a garrison city that houses the Army's
headquarters, it is very likely that the military was involved in some
capacity.  This should not come as a surprise considering that many of
the "jihadi extremists" in Pakistan (including elements of Taliban)
are the Pakistani military's creation (with US support and backing, of
course!).

5.All said and done, BB's assassination is a horrendous tragedy for
the Pakistani people.  The country is being torn asunder by political
violence and this latest crime comes as a severe blow.  There is a
good likelihood that this bout of violence will lead to Musharraf
reinstating Emergency, or the Army declaring Martial Law or US or
India deciding to intervene in some way to "ensure stability".  All of
these scenarios are too horrible to contemplate.

-sg


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