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Musharraf must be stopped: Benazir Bhutto

Ajit Jain in Toronto

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who now lives with her children in Dubai, says that the military regime headed by General Pervez Musharraf "must be stopped from consolidating personal power at the expense of democratic and economic institutions of the country."

In a full-page exclusive article in the Globe and Mail, her frustration with her personal predicament of not being able to go back to her country is abundantly clear.

In fact in a CNN interview when Musharraf was in New York last week, Bhutto had pleaded that she should be allowed to go back to Pakistan.

Bhutto quotes from Musharraf's recent statement in which he said he would "remain the president" and only "the legalities have to be worked out."

According to the Pakistani supreme court's ruling, general elections must be held by October 2002 in Pakistan.

Musharraf's "startling revelation raises concerns that the much-promised return to democracy is little more than a fig leaf for a continuation of military dictatorship," argues Bhutto.

Pakistanis are worried "that Western support (to Musharraf) could translate into support for tyranny" and that is worrisome as "the stability of Pakistan is critical to the stability of South Asia, as well as the Muslim world," says Bhutto.

She believes that this stability "is rooted in a return to a truly representative democratic order."

"The war against terror is a war against those who commit acts of terror and those who harbour them. But it is more. It is a war for freedom and for humanity," Bhutto said.

To her, Musharraf seems to be going the same road as former military dictator Zia ul-Haq.

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