Like the Nehru-Gandhi family of India, the Bhuttos is another tragic political dynasty in the sub-continent. Her father, a former prime minister of Pakistan during the rare times when the country was not run by the army, was accused of murder and then executed by Gen Zia ul-Haq in 1979. Then her two brothers (also politically active) were killed in mysterious circumstances. And today, it was Benazir's turn.

Looks like the country is going to the dogs. Political killings, assassinations, suicide bombings, military coups, repressing the independence of the judiciary, etc. Another "failed state" in the making? Scary thought considering they have the nukes too.

I wonder if the 1^st Earl Mountbatten of Burma would roll in his grave if he could see how bad things have turned out ever since the partition of 1947.

• BBC News - Benazir Bhutto 'killed in blast'
  
• BBC News - Obituary: Benazir Bhutto
  
• CNN - Benazir Bhutto assassinated
  
• The New York Times - Bhutto Assassinated in Attack on Rally

Meanwhile in an island south of the sub-continent, the henchman of a Sri Lankan labour minister by the name of Mervin Silva assaulted the news director of a television station. All this because the station did not broadcast a footage of a speech he made on Wednesday during the re-opening of a bridge destroyed by the 2004 tsunami.

Enraged employees then locked them up pending an apology from the minister, which of course was not forthcoming.

In the end, commandos had to be called in to resolve the standoff and he was finally allowed to leave with red and pink paint splattered on him and jeers from the journalists.

"If my action is considered as a wrong act, I would like to apologise to the employees," said Mr Silva in front of cameras.

Now this would have been quite a sight, bully politician getting a taste of his on medicine. Oh! The humiliation of it.

Incidentally in 2005, his son and his son's bodyguard pulled out pistols on the police when they went to a club to conduct a drug raid.

Labels: pakistan, politics, sri lanka

What a sight. Lawyers on one side, riot police on the other. Both clashed and some were obviously injured.

It's quite unusual to see this as lawyers are generally known to be rather civil, and sometimes cooperative with the law. After all, they are law-yers.

But apparently, things got ugly in Pakistan when President (General) Pervez Musharraf decided to suspend the Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry on Friday, allegedly for misusing his authority. But many believe that he was suspended because he often took an independent stance from that of the executive (Musharraf) in pursuing high profile cases against the government.

Chief among these was a petition to recover missing persons, allegedly abducted by intelligence agencies. He also overturned the recent sale of Pakistan's state-run steel mills. *

One thing I can say, these Pakistani lawyers truly believe in their calling and in the separation of the executive and the judiciary. The obviously believe it enough that they are willing to put themselves on the line and protest this obvious interference of the judiciary by the executive.

As it stands, all lawyers are on strike.

I wonder if this will happen here, Singaporean lawyers striking if the government tries to muzzle the independence of our judiciary. Then again, the independence of our judiciary... err... never mind. I don't want to be hauled in for contempt of court.

Meanwhile over the seas, an important ally of Pakistan is starting to see the beginnings of a controversy over the decision to dismiss some federal prosecutors late last year, including some who had been criticised by Republican politicians. This was a decision which the White House was apparently deeply involved in.

Of course I am not surprised by it. After all, Bush and his ilk have tried to rein in or criticise "activist" judges for their independence in defending the constitutional separation of church and state. So what's new?

Religion and politics, a very dangerous and volatile mix. And the recent statement by the National Council of Churches of Singapore (representing Methodists, Anglicans and Presbyterians, among other mainstream denominations in Singapore) is strong evidence that the Christian establishment in Singapore is getting very influenced by their American brethren and is trying to influence politics here. I guess the IR is an acceptable evil then.

Hypocrites.

(* Text in italics are quoted from this BBC article)

BBC News - Lawyers protest against Musharraf

BBC News - Pakistan panel quizzes top judge

BBC News - Judge row prompts Pakistan democracy questions

Labels: law, pakistan, politics