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This book has two strands. In the first strand, BB outlines her political world-view, arguing that Islam is not incompatible with democracy, women's rights, and religious tolerance. This element of the book is cobbled together from other scholars - I suspect it is largely the work of her collaborator, Mark Siegal, although it bears BB's authorisation. It reads like a fluent undergraduate essay, providing selective summaries of the available scholarship but not adding anything new. It is only of interest because of who BB was.
The other strand of the book is a defence of BB's own political record, which stands in stark contrast to the values she espouses in this book. I don't doubt that BB would prefer not to have supported the Taliban's rise to power in neighbouring Afghanistan. Or that she would have liked to overturn the Hudood ordinances, under which so many Pakistani women have been jailed for adultery (many of them having simply fallen victim to rape, or to vindictive reports by their former husbands). And BB would probably have prefered not to have been engaged in power-sharing negotiations with president Musharraf, even as she passionately denounced him in the pages of this book. But she valued power above all of those things. Now she is gone, and it is a tragic loss for Pakistan. But it is even more tragic that Pakistan has been reduced to the point where BB was its last best hope.
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anarkali, March 15, 2008
This book has two strands. In the first strand, BB outlines her political world-view, arguing that Islam is not incompatible with democracy, women's rights, and religious tolerance. This element of the book is cobbled together from other scholars - I suspect it is largely the work of her collaborator, Mark Siegal, although it bears BB's authorisation. It reads like a fluent undergraduate essay, providing selective summaries of the available scholarship but not adding anything new. It is only of interest because of who BB was.The other strand of the book is a defence of BB's own political record, which stands in stark contrast to the values she espouses in this book. I don't doubt that BB would prefer not to have supported the Taliban's rise to power in neighbouring Afghanistan. Or that she would have liked to overturn the Hudood ordinances, under which so many Pakistani women have been jailed for adultery (many of them having simply fallen victim to rape, or to vindictive reports by their former husbands). And BB would probably have prefered not to have been engaged in power-sharing negotiations with president Musharraf, even as she passionately denounced him in the pages of this book. But she valued power above all of those things. Now she is gone, and it is a tragic loss for Pakistan. But it is even more tragic that Pakistan has been reduced to the point where BB was its last best hope.
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By posting your comments you are granting the good people of Powells.com the right (but not the obligation) to make your comments available to others over the Internet, and to copy and distribute your comments via other media, in each case on a royalty free basis. These terms govern the rights and obligations of the person posting comments and Powells.com; there are no intended third party beneficiaries of these terms. Posted comments are subject to monitoring, editing, and removal at any time. Please see our Terms of Use for our complete terms and conditions.Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
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