“She has left us, through a gesture which has changed the season
a person who has made all of the city wither away…..”
This is what the poet wrote. Never have verses been so appropriate in describing the more latest frame of the superb life of Benazir Bhutto. A proud woman who, with one hand moves the veil which covers part of her face and, with her head held high, looks straight ahead of her. Then a roar. Darkness. The rush to the hospital. The end. The end of a dream. An image which has by now become an icon. And will for ever be etched in the eyes of all Pakistanis. A woman. Killed like a man. Her electoral victory was sure. And her future power was already frightening. Her enemies were many. Therefore, the verdict: eliminate her. So, just an hour after the assassination, workers from the town hall and the police washed away any trace of blood with water hydrants. In one foul swoop, getting rid of any proof and hope.

After all his transformations with civil clothes, President Musharraf is now even less credible. The elections of January 8th, first confirmed then postponed to February 18th and then perhaps moved again, do not reassure anyone. Not the international community who, in the shilly-shallying of the dates, interprets it as inability and insecurity of a government which does not know what is the “right thing to do”. Not the Pakistanis, fearing another rigging. And now in the bloodiest chaos, insecurity reigns. What will become of Pakistan and its dream of democracy it has come so close to? Of its redemption after decades of coups d’état? But above all, what will become of the overwhelming emptiness which Benazir Bhutto’s assassination has left behind? The move from mother to martyr has now been made. Even those who did not believe in her are in mourning. In general opinion is that she has already represents the best thing about Pakistan. Yes. Because this time, people really believed. They believed in the possibility of change. And then they were betrayed. Betrayed and sacrificed on the boorish altar of games of power.

Musharraf had started his last mandate with good resolutions. Using the game of the carrot and the stick, he had slackened the mesh of censorship. The media had attained more freedom. And so the free press and the circulation of information had helped to strengthen the political conscience and social justice. Then, first a group of lawyers, now a national movement of robes, became self-proclaimed interlocutors of the government. They were protesting a State of law, the first step towards the democratic State. They were the first to demonstrate against the dismissal of the judges of the Supreme Court and against the state of emergency that the President wanted. And they became relentless supporters of the politics of the PPP (Pakistan People Party), Benzir’s party. Now, Musharraf wants to stop them from becoming political figures. To a middle class which is moving forwards, a new bourgeoisie in a country divided between rich and poor, where flour has now disappeared from the market and whose price has reached 400% more on the black market. Attempts at revolution. In a Pakistan which has always been annihilated by its dead weight politicians. The General Staff is watching on, the new General of the Armed Forces. The pro-Western Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is not taking sides, to avoid the split which already exists. Rather, he is keeping the army far away from politicians. It will be an acid test for Kayani to sew up the tear with a part of the ISI, the notorious military intelligence, who are also pro-Taliban. These are moves which definitely isolate Musharraf, who is scowled upon ever more, even by his own party, the Muslim League of Quaid-e-Azam.

The electoral campaign continues. The PPP and the Muslim League of Nawaz Sherif, age-old enemies, move forward with a unique programme against the President and his allies. Certain they will win only in light of the elections, transparent and monitored by the international community. The Pakistani People are sure there will be electoral rigging. Just as the majority of the Pakistani community abroad. It is also for this reason that parties such as Insaf of Imran Khan and Jamat Islami, pro-Saudi Wahhabis, will not tak part in the elections, boycotting this government and demanding new elections accompanied by a transition government. A government which is made up of representatives of all the parties in Parliament. Other smaller parties have also united with them, which together are asking for Musharraf to step down. And the news of these elections which are more or less legitimate, is the absence of religious parties. Jmaia Ulmai Islam of the pro-Taliban Fazal-u-Rehman, whose stronghold is in the North of Pakistan, is now split within. And that space will now be occupied by the PPP and by the Awami National Party, nationalist and close to the Pashtun ethnic group.

From Italy, the Pakistani community, worried by what will come after the events, are asking for the presence of international observers to ward off certain rigging. From Vicenza, Saqib Nazir, President of the association Aman Society, who is sure the elections will be unlawful, is afraid of the possibility of disintegration of the country, like in 1971, with the country split in two and the resulting loss of territory of Eastern Pakistan, today Bangladesh. Shaukat Hussain, President of the PPP in Italy, from Venice, is convinced of the triumph of his party. While from Brescia, Basharat Jazbi, representative of the Muslim League of Quaid-e-Azam, hails Musharraf and hopes he will be able to continue. While, from Milan, the journalist in the Urdu language Yusaf Amin supports Nawaz Sherif, adding that the PPP will lose consensus following the nomination of Asif Zardari, Benazir Bhutto’s husband as co-President of the party, who is already involved in legal scandals. However, the outcome of the elections is still unknown. But one thing is for sure. The Pakistani people is ready and wants democracy.

The author, Ahmad Ejaz, is a member of Italy’s Islamic Council and one of the main figures in the Pakistani community in Italy.

Translation by Sonia Ter Hovanessian