Pakistan's culture of violence

Only when Washington needed her as a front for democracy in Pakistan did she re-emerge as a political force in the international media. She stridently defended the war against militancy and al-Qaida and seldom referred to the many other urgent problems facing the people of Pakistan.

Pakistan is a country of 170 million people and they have never been allowed to have a say in shaping their destiny. Without their active participation in national affairs, stability and democracy is not possible. Two fundamental conditions for creating stability and democracy in Pakistan are critical. First, the country needs the rule of law, and second, it must become a functioning democratic state.

Without reinstating the sacked justices of the Supreme Court and formation of a national government able to conduct free and fair elections the rule of law and democracy can not take hold in Pakistan. To tackle the militancy and violence in Pakistan restoring the legitimacy of the Supreme Court and installing an elected government in Islamabad are critical at this time.

The death of Benazir Bhutto and the current violence in its wake provides an open opportunity for the ruling elite in Pakistan and their international backers, to rethink the real issue of a stable and democratic Pakistan. The need to make these necessary evolutionary changes is ever more urgent.