Link Banana

In the LA Times, Bruce Wallace takes a look at the (unexpectedly liberal) Pakistani media through interesting eyes:

Most Pakistanis know Saleem, 28, as Begum Nawazish Ali, a middle-aged widow who welcomes viewers into her drawing room on Saturday nights for a little gossip with the guests on “The Late Show with Begum Nawazish Ali.” Ensconced in the set’s chintz and candlelight, the Begum, who hasn’t lost the spark for sex, swaps fashion tips with female guests, flirts shamelessly with the men (even with a mullah on one night), and gets in frequent shots at politicians, including President Bush, for whom she carries a bit of a torch.

(via brijit)

In a NY Times Op-Ed, William Dalrymple takes a small step toward correcting the too-rosy picture that has been painted of the late Ms. Bhutto:

Benazir Bhutto was certainly a brave and secular-minded woman. But the obituaries painting her as dying to save democracy distort history. Instead, she was a natural autocrat who did little for human rights, a calculating politician who was complicit in Pakistan’s becoming the region’s principal jihadi paymaster while she also ramped up an insurgency in Kashmir that has brought two nuclear powers to the brink of war.

Musharref’s regime has decided to delay the parlimentary election, which were to take place this week, until February 18. Since the death of Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif’s decision not to run, the ascent of Benazir’s son and husband to control of the PPP (Pakistan’s largest party), and the continued low-level violence they claim to have seen a situation too dangerous to hold elections in. Now Sharif and other other parties say they will participate despite their dissatisfaction with the delay (they feel it will moderate now boiling anger at the ruling party).