Global Intifada

Who benefits from the assassination of Benazir Bhutto?

There are four possibilities: (1) Islamic militants, (2) Musharraf, (3) the US, and (4) MQM

Immediately, the Western media has begun indicting the Islamic militants in and out of Pakistan. They would obviously benefit from such an attack since Benazir had pledged to allow American troops into the country to fight against them. Clearly, the had such a benefit.

However, some supporters of Benazir have begun directing their anger at Musharraf as well, arguing that Musharraf benefited from her assassination by knocking out a potential opponent in the upcoming elections in January. The instability that would inevitably follow such an attack would also enable him to further a state of martial law.

It could even be argued that America benefits in the sense that it creates a pretext to intervene in the country to fight the militants given that Musharraf seems incapable or even unwilling to stop them. Musharraf has been placed in the hot seat for engaging in power-sharing agreements with local tribesmen (the same kind of deals have been conducted in both Iraq and Afghanistan with much success) after he faced some stunning defeats in the NWFP and Balochistan. However, given that the Taliban has attained between 45 to 60% of the terrain in Afghanistan, American troops seem to be sore losers who want to extend the blame to other causes instead of the fighting tenacity of the Afghani people (who have historically had a hard time being conquered by great powers). Then again, if the goal is instability, for all we know, India could have been behind it as well. The instability created by the assassination would support its long-standing assertion that a nexus of interrelationships exists between the ISI and militant organizations, justifying a foreign intervention in the country.

One of my friends has argued that the MQM may have also been behind it since they were excluded from a power sharing deal between Bhutto and Musharraf. MQM has been known to engage in unlawful tactics ranging from rioting, kidnapping, and rough housing, although I am not familiar with any examples of high level assassinations by them.

But hey, its Pakistan. Anything goes.

While it is clear that various entities and states “win” by the assassination of Bhutto, the ultimate loser will, unfortunately, be the average Pakistani who will be caught in a vicious cycle of violence - caught in the crossfire between radicalism and great game power plays.

May Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) forgive Benazir of her sins, grant her jannah, and restore stability to the country of Pakistan and protect them from internal and external aggression. Ameen.

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