Sir: This is with reference to Jemima Khan’s stand on the Benazir Bhutto assassination, published in The Telegraph and carried by Daily Times on December 31. Ms Khan calls her a brave person, but weak politically. She talks about Ms Bhutto’s ‘kotowing to mullahs’ and how she did nothing against the Hudood Ordinance. I beg to disagree. Ms Khan must know that in Pakistan, no law can be enacted unless approved by a majority in parliament. And both the Bhutto governments in the 1990s were politically fragile. Instead of attacking Bhutto’s record, Ms Khan should focus on how conservative elements hindered her moves. Still, Bhutto did as prime minister what she could. Her most notable, and oft-forgotten, achievement was the ratification of the UN’s Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Likewise, she put in place institutions for women such as the First Women’s Bank and women’s police stations. Moreover, the recent passage of the Women’s Rights Bill would have been impossible without her party’s support. Ms Bhutto did all this despite the strong opposition of conservative elements in the political system, she could not have done this if she were a weak politician.
MUHAMMAD ISMAIL KHAN
Islamabad