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| Will Benazir Bhutto be next PM? | | MEN & MATTERS | | B L KAK
Behind-the-scene activity to bring about a compromise between former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, and present President, Gen. Parvez Musharraf, has become an open secret, even as the latter has again said that the former will not be allowed to participate in the 2007 elections in Pakistan.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) vice chairman, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, has said that there would be no deal with the present Pakistan government nor would the party compromise on principles. At the same time, however, there are reports that Benazir Bhutto has given indication that she will support Gen. Musharraf's bid to become President for a second term in the 2007 elections. If these reports were any guide, the Pakistani establishment is working on the premise of two steps back and one forward insofar as the Pakistan Peoples Party is concerned.
It is generally felt across Pakistan that Gen. Musharraf is under pressure from the United States and the Commonwealth group of nations to remove his uniform, and if he believes that the Pakistan Peoples Party is ready to support him, he may just agree to the emergence of two powers "under democracy rule". A report from Islamabad said that a special representative of Gen. Musharraf met Benazir Butto in the USA last month.
Benazir is on record as saying that Gen. Musharraf approached her for a possible patch-up before the 2007 elections, and there were some "back-channel" contacts with the government, but some differences remain. It is also reported that the Pakistan People Party chairperson, Benazir Bhutto, has conditionally agreed to support Gen. Musharraf as President for five years, provided she is assured the post of Prime minister.
Yet another report received from Islamabad says that a mutual understanding has been reached between the government and Benazir Bhutto to allow her to return to Pakistan by the end of this year or in the beginning of 2007. Some say that Benazir will be back in March 2007. The pressure for having a transparent election in Pakistan from the United States of America, has led Gen. Musharraf to give a direction on this line. Should the PPP win the elections, Gen.Musharraf will be given time till 2009 to shed his uniform.
Gen. Musharraf has, on the other hand, undertaken a task of improving his country's image in the West. This, he hopes, can be possible by promoting Sufism. No wonder, Pakistan has set up a National Council for Promotion of Sufism to project its soft power and improve its image in the West. Gen. Musharraf is patron-in-chief of the body.
It is chaired by Chaudhary Shujat Hussain, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid), the party blessed by Gen. Musharraf. Another senior politician, Mushahid Hussain Syed, is a member of the council. The council will project Sufi culture and folklore by organising festivals, national and international conferences, seminars, and workshops. Through these activities the council aims to spread the Sufi message of love, tolerance and universal brotherhood.
This apart, it will also integrate regional diversity with national unity through interaction and collaboration with various scholars and institutions of Islamic and other spiritual traditions both home and abroad. The council will also foster and establish Sufi centres of excellence and patronise research activities on various facets of Sufism. It will confer national and international scholarships for research work on Sufism, recommend annual awards for promotion of Sufism and achievements in the related fields and promote the role of Sufi intellectuals of Pakistan.
The council will glorify the revered Sufi saints and their mausoleums not just as centres of holiness but also as centres of learning and teaching. It would also develop its separate website and strengthen the oral Sufi tradition in the form of poetry, music and folklore. Linked to Turkey and Central Asia, the entire South Asia has a strong Sufi tradition. In India it coincided with the Bhakti cult propagated by Hindu saints and social reformers.
Sufi singers and artistes are popular, performing in South Asian nations despite political differences and tensions. Gen. Musharraf recently said that Pakistan had a serious image problem and do more to project its soft power in the fields of culture, tourism, the arts, etc.
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