NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Fakir Hassen in Johannesburg
In a surprise revelation, former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto has blamed the ruling Taleban militia in neighbouring Afghanistan for her downfall.
Bhutto, who was on a fleeting visit to South Africa, said, "I have been thrown out of government by Taleban forces. They deny people freedom and discriminate immensely against women and minorities."
"People like (Saudi renegade) Osama bin Laden bankrolled the moves for the vote of no-confidence against my government in 1989," she alleged, adding that the Taleban tried to crush her party and family because they 'are the most popular threat to the Taleban politics and aspirations'.
Bhutto, who lives in self-imposed exile in Dubai, was the chief guest at a Women's Conference attended by 100 top South African women on the eve of National Women's Day on Thursday, a holiday to commemorate the role of women in the struggle against apartheid.
She said South African women had advanced far on the political front and the constitution had special provisions to protect their rights. She lauded former president Nelson Mandela and President Thabo Mbeki for having the largest representation of women in national government anywhere in the world.
"South African developments are an inspiration to other parliaments and something for women in other countries to strive for," Bhutto told the daily Citizen.
Bhutto called herself 'a modern gypsy', drifting from one country to another to drum up support for the removal of Pakistan's military leader and President Pervez Musharraf, who had ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharief in a bloodless coup two years ago. Sharief's Pakistan Muslim League party had earlier ousted Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party from power.
Elaborating on the Taleban angle, she said, "They are very powerful and an entrenched institution with armed people. They go to any extent to crush their opponents. However, the welfare of Pakistan is too important to shy away from."
On her self-imposed exile after being charged with corruption, on which charges her husband Asif Ali Zardari is still in a Pakistani prison, Bhutto said, "I did not want to be silenced through improper imprisonment, otherwise they would have succeeded to break up my party and the democratic forces."
"In Pakistan, we have institutionalised perjury. People are being tortured to tell lies and my husband has been repeatedly tortured instead of being prosecuted in a proper legal way," she alleged.
Indo-Asian News Service
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
