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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

The real choice before Pakistan, Islam and Politics, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Politics
The real choice before Pakistan
By Beena Sarwar
On the other hand, there lurks the danger of a 1977-like situation when all those opposed to Z.A. Bhutto and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) — right, left and centre — came together in the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA). Many of their complaints were entirely justifiable. There were good reasons to suspect that Bhutto was taking the country towards autocracy (Nawaz Sharif made similar moves in his second term). Many PNA activists, although they were clearly for democracy, allowed their dislike of the PPP and Bhutto to cloud their judgment, creating conditions for a military takeover. Their argument that Bhutto was equally or even more responsible for the situation bears weight, but after General Zia overthrew and hanged him, many of the same PNA activists had to join hands with the PPP in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) to oppose Zia. But by then the damage had been done.

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