Hope springs eternal

Jul 25 2008 by Val Javin, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

“THERE has been enough pain. It is time for reconciliation.” These are Benazir Bhutto’s poignant last words in a book completed just days before her assassination in December 2007.

This is an angry, passionate and well-argued analysis of why her beloved Pakistan has struggled to establish a viable democracy. She blames not only US policy and interference, but also colonialism and manipulative Muslim elites.

Yet, even a country, which she described prophetically as “the most dangerous place in the world” and which is generally acknowledged as the critical battlefield in the so-called war on terror, is not without hope.

A belief that a democratically-elected government could give Pakistan a chance of tackling extremism did not die at an election rally in Rawalpindi. Her words of tolerance and justice live on in this compelling book.

CHRIS BURGESS