These days our media, particularly the electronic media, seems to be over stretched, and some what overstressed, on the issues related to the person and politics of Mohtarama Benazir Bhutto, on the occasion of the first anniversary of her assassination. The media seems also to be heavily over burdened by un-suppressible emotion for a person, who until her death was a leader of a political party carrying the 'largest vote bank' (largely of poor and flummoxed people, not much educated, not much interested in national issues and political values, not much exposed to international politics, not lacking in criminal elements, but highly devotional ('aqeedatmand' ) to Bhutto name only) left by her father, whose standing as an indisputable national leader was never a consideration, and who was never a leader of international standing even on the face of her umpteenth western hemisphere trotting, and her delivering lectures in some gatherings of western forums and universities.
The media's unbridled indulgence and advocacy of BB's person is unduly deifying her and pushing her beyond all questions and criticism. This, in my opinion, is very much harmful for our national politics, because her political standing, political views and legacy need thorough and realistic appraisal for keeping Pakistan on right track of politics and statecraft. This deifying of Benazir will only help PPP in maintaining its clutch on popular politics. I hope that, our media would keep a balance in their emotion while rightly trying to find out the cause of and the characters in her assassination.
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