Letter: Benazir Bhutto: despot or peace-keeper?
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Sir: Jonathan Ford in his article "Fighting Benazir - by fax from Mill Hill" (Section Two, 13 July) says that there are more than 100 criminal charges against Altaf Hussain, leader of the Mohajir Quami Movement (MQM). These are politically motivated allegations and most of them were registered after his departure from Pakistan. In Pakistan it has become a part of the political culture for those in power to register unsubstantiated criminal charges against their opponents.
However, Benazir Bhutto has gone even further. She has amended the legal system to enable her government to use criminal law statutes as a principle instrument of repression against her political adversaries. Recently her government has registered numerous cases including sedition and treason not only against Altaf Hussain but also against Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister, his 75-year-old father, leaders of the Bonded Labour Liberation Front and other human rights activists.
Ms Bhutto presents two faces to the world. The one presented to the West is liberal, democratic and secular and the other, shown within Pakistan, is conservative, reactionary and despotic. Ms Bhutto's main support comes from feudal dominated rural Sind and thus feudal lords have an armlock over her government's policies.
On the other hand, Altaf Hussain is the leader of anti-feudal urban Sind with the people's mandate behind him. Virtually every large city in Sind has overwhelmingly voted for him. The main conflict in Sind today is between those who want to retain feudalism and those who want to abolish it.
Yours faithfully,
Mohammed Arif
Chairman
British Afro-Asian
Solidarity Organisation
London, SW15
19 July
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments