Why was BB called a security risk?
The ex-servicemen involved in rigging the 1990 elections are preparing a defence not only for their distribution of funds among the IJI leaders but also for the earlier removal of Benazir Bhutto’s government.
The dismissal of the BB government, maintains Hamid Saeed, was undertaken in “supreme national interest”. If the argument is accepted, keeping her out of power too would have been the requirement of the national interest. The reason why Benazir was considered a security threat was her commitment to improvement of relations with India which was an anathema to GIK and the military leadership. The help extended to the Khalistan movement by Pakistani agencies despite its use of terrorist methods, including hijacking a plane, brought no credit to the country and had to be abandoned. Benazir supported the crushing of the movement by India because she wanted to reduce the tensions. This presumably was the reason for her criticism of holding the annual military exercise in Sindh. Later, Nawaz Sharif also went all out to improve ties with India which was resented by the army. To foil Nawaz’s efforts in the direction, Musharraf launched the ill-considered Kargil adventure. History bears testimony to the fact that improving relations with India was the correct policy.
BB’s stand on uranium enrichment was presumably dictated by the concern that crossing the red line might invite sanctions. Gorge H W Bush was at the time under pressure from the Congress to clamp the sanctions which was done soon after BB’s removal in 1990. The general perception of the common man, we are told by Hamid Saeed, was that the ruling party had got the votes but lacked the vision to run the country. The fact that rigging was considered necessary to get the “visionaries” of the IJI elected shows that those propounding the notion were themselves not convinced of it. The quarters who now support bringing the banned outfits involved in attacks on innocent civilians to the mainstream, considered giving jobs to Al-Zulfiqar men desirous of returning to normal life another unpatriotic act by BB that justified her removal. There was violence in Karachi, yes, but did it stop under Mian Nawaz Sharif?
Politicians often commit mistakes. These are however easier to rectify as a result of criticism from the opposition and media. Policies by the establishment which is not responsible to anybody are much more dangerous for the country as hostility to India and support for militant outfits indicates. Benazir was called security risk simply because she differed with the establishment’s outdated policies that were not in Pakistan’s interest.