Avert Clash of Civilizations through Justice and Human Rights
Desert Forum – Indian Wells – California USA
24 January 2005
Islamabad, 25 January 2006: “My country Pakistan is an example of a Nation where the forces of tyranny, terrorism, proliferation and a marginal, yet militant interpretation of Islam mingle to create an extraordinarily dangerous challenge. The democratisation of Pakistan is important to the war against terror, to the interpretation of Islam as a message of freedom and enlightenment as well as to the empowerment of the people of Pakistan”.
This was said by the former Prime Minister and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto while addressing a distinguished gathering at Desert Forum attended by intellectuals, academics, policy strategists and opinion makers in Indian Wells California, USA today.
She said that the question before the world is whether the path to catastrophe and the clash of civilizations is reversible. “The Pakistani military dictator, General Pervez Musharraf, has made a choice. And his choice is to stand by and let terrorists operate freely the territory of Pakistan. These terrorists may actually control territory where Bin Laden has sanctuary. And the West too has made a choice”
She said that by acquiescing to the Musharaf dictatorship, they have empowered him to defy the world and cooperate with the forces of terror. As in all governing, choices have consequences. The choice to sustain dictatorship in Pakistan has consequences both in the short and long term that threaten the interests of the West as well as the values of democracy in the East. Much of our ability to avert the clash of civilizations lies in learning the lessons of history.
She said that Islam is a religion of moderation, tolerance and equal right for all. “Central to the issue of religion in modern society is the treatment of women. In the post September 11th environment, the true nature of Islam has been so distorted by those who would politicise it, that Islam has become not only something foreign to the rest of the world but also something feared”
She said “There is no religion on earth that, in its writings, is more respectful of the role of women in society than Islam. It is this tradition of Islam that has allowed me to battle for political and human rights, and strengthens me today.
Our religion is not only committed to tolerance and equality, but it is committed to the principles of democracy. The Holy Book says that Islamic society is contingent on “mutual advice through mutual discussions on an equal footing.” In Islam dictatorship is never condoned, nor is cruelty. The Q’oran, in its very essence, is an anti-terrorism doctrine, she said.
About the nexus between the extremists and the military dictatorship in Pakistan she said, It is well known that there is sympathy for Bin Laden, the Taliban, and the insurrectionists in Iraq among Pakistan’s military and clerical class. These were the two entities used to train the Mujahideen against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. They were armed and supported by the United States, both overtly and covertly. Following the withdrawal of the Soviets, the Mujahideen went on to become in large part the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
She said that Pakistan’s military dictatorship has resulted in the domination of the country’s political, financial and social class by the military. It has led to the rise in power and importance of fundamentalist religious parties. These religious parties are public supporters of Bin Laden and Mullah Omar of Afghanistan. They have filled the vacuum caused by the military regime’s determination to sideline the genuine representatives of the people of Pakistan. Extremism has replaced moderation in a despotic Pakistan, she said.
Regarding the fast diminishing image of the lone Superpower the United States she said, “Sadly, the world’s only superpower may have missed a precious opportunity, may have squandered its unipolar moment to truly lead the world socially, economically, politically and militarily. Those who have cautioned the developing world to be responsible and restrained in our fiscal and budgetary priorities have not practiced what they have preached. And mounting Western debt threatens the stability of the interconnected global economy. A problematic intervention in Iraq has lead to tens upon tens of thousands Iraqi deaths, more than 2300 American and British deaths, and an increase in the U.S. national debt of 300 billion dollars, with no end in sight to the human and financial costs of this tragic miscalculation”.
Regarding her achievement during the two tenures in the government and the fear of fundamentalists by change in the society she said, “The extremist’s greatest fear, wherever they live, is the spread of information, social equality and democracy. These three principles choke off the oxygen of terrorism. Information leads to change. Change is something that many fear and will not tolerate. I am proud that we methodologically implemented change in Pakistani society. We heralded the information age by introducing fax machines, digital papers, fiber optic communications, cellular telephones, satellite dishes, computers, Internet, e-mail and even bringing CNN to Pakistan”.
She said that under her government Pakistan integrated into the global economy and it became one of the top ten emerging capital markets of the world, attracting over 20 billion dollars in foreign investments, particularly in power generation. We eradicated polio in our country. We dramatically reduced infant mortality. The World Bank held up our economic program as a model to the entire developing world. Despite institutional and social constraints, when I became prime Minister of Pakistan I used my office to try to reverse centuries of discrimination against women. My tenure was a textbook affirmative action program against gender discrimination. We increased literacy by one-third, even more dramatically among girls. We built over 30,000 primary and secondary schools, targeting rural Pakistan. We brought down the population growth rate by establishing women’s health clinics in thousands of communities across our Nation.
She said that her government outlawed domestic violence and established special women’s police forces to protect and defend the women of Pakistan. “We appointed women judges to our nation’s benches for the first time in our history. We instituted a new program of hiring women police officers to investigate crimes of domestic violence against the women of Pakistan. I systematically appointed women judges to the courts of the land for the first time. I condemned the so-called honor killings by members of their own families against women. I encouraged women’s and girl’s participation in sports, both nationally and internationally by lifting the ban imposed on their participation. We believed that the best way to guarantee literate children is to educate literate mothers, and thus my government targeted adult women for remedial education programs. I refused attempts by reactionary forces within my country to turn Pakistan into a theocracy. We have all prayed for a world of reason, of abundant resources, of equality and above all, of peace”.
Regarding terrorists threat and the US policy Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto said, “In the closing days of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, during a State visit to America, I cautioned that US policy to defeat the Soviets had empowered and emboldened the most fanatical, extremist elements of the Afghan seven-faction Mujahideen at the expense of the moderates, creating a “Frankenstein” that could come back to haunt us in the future. Yet the early decisions by Western nations with the then-Pakistani regime counterpart to arm, train, supply and legitimise the most extreme fanatics sowed the seeds for the 21s century terrorism that is now swirling around us, she said.
She said that just as the Pakistani dictator Zia ul Haq played the West like a fiddle over Afghanistan, the Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharaf plays America like a fiddle over the war on terror. The fundamental mistake that lead ultimately to the creation of Al Qaeda out of the remnants of the Afghan Jihad and thus contributed to a long-term historical calamity, was that we were not consistently committed to the values of freedom, democracy, social equality and self-determination that ultimately undermine and belie the basic tenets of terrorism.
Regarding the double standards displayed by the West she said, “Unfortunately, we do not always view the world — its peoples, its cultures and its religions — with a single moral standard. The West chooses to apply human rights standards when politically expedient, not as a central and universal principle of policy, she said.
She said that only electoral process can not guarantee human liberation and prosperity. She said that liberty and freedom depend on social and economic justice, and above all on the universal, non-selective application of human rights to all citizens of the world. She said that democracy is not just about elections. It is equally about governing.
“Justice is economic independence. Justice is social equality. Nations make choices. And choices lead to consequences — political consequences, economic consequences, social consequences. And these consequences are intertwined. They are difficult to separate. The child who is starving has no human rights. The girl who is illiterate has no
future. The woman who cannot plan her life, plan her family, plan a career, is fundamentally not free — irrespective of constitutions and elections. Economic development and political development are surely linked, but both are predicated on guaranteed human rights. And the cause of human rights must begin within us, within our individual communities and within our own nations”.