Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Bhutto Book Launched as "Message from Her Grave"

The party of the assassinated former PM Benazir Bhutto launched the book she completed just days before her death. Entitled, Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West, Bhutto hauntingly speculates about her own assassination and discusses the issues currently plaguing the country. The Washington Post's Pamela Constable wrote today, "There are some things only the dead can get away with saying, and some deaths speak more powerfully than anything the living can write. This book, finished just before its author was assassinated in Pakistan in December, sends out an urgent warning to her fellow Muslims and to Western democratic powers -- a warning one hopes may now find greater resonance with both audiences." According to Constable, who reviewed the book for the Post, "Her book argues that Islam is not incompatible with democracy, but that its credo of tolerance and freedom has been hijacked by purveyors of terror. The real 'clash of civilizations' lies within Islam, she asserted, and the West should seek to bolster its moderate center as the best means of countering the radical extremes."

According to the Associated Press on Tuesday, Bhutto's party, the PPP, said today that the book had been planned long in advance, "But its release could give an extra boost to the party's cause in the Feb. 18 vote." PPP spokeswoman, Sherry Rehman, told reporters today, "It is a tragic moment for us, but we feel she is with us in every sense ... She is guiding our election campaign."

Constable's review concluded, "Despite its flaws of self-indulgence and omission, this book contains a larger truth. Islam does need to find its place as a moderate guiding force for millions of followers in the modern world, instead of being stolen by jihadists and written off as the religion of suicide bombers." The Post writer emphasized, "Perhaps, however, Bhutto's destiny was not to rule Pakistan, but to die for the cause of its unfulfilled, fast-dimming promise as a Muslim democracy."

You can order Benazir's book on Amazon.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

The little-mentioned fact is that Islam, as a religion, is inherently democratic. It is also liberal-economics oriented. However, our politicians have refused to acknowledge/promote these truths

Anonymous said...

It's not fair to only blame OUR leaders. Turkey is probably the only muslim society with a proper functioning democratic system in place.