tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26432722.post2959094292995642073..comments2023-07-23T05:25:42.688-04:00Comments on IranWrites: Benazir Bhutto's MartyrdomMinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12629803417151933778noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26432722.post-80444333440586192932008-01-13T20:06:00.000-05:002008-01-13T20:06:00.000-05:00OK, let me weigh in on this.The concept of martyrd...OK, let me weigh in on this.<BR/>The concept of martyrdom is Christian. The word comes from the Greek word for "witness." The members of the young church suffered and died as a way of bearing "witness" to the firmness of their faith.<BR/>In combat, a company of troops' <I>esprit de corp</I> can only be maintained if each of its members is firm, even in the face of death. Thus, at the Battle of Midway, American airmen flew their clunky old planes into a swarm of Japanese zeros knowing full well that they were going to die, because to disobey orders would have had the effect of demoralizing their comrades and this would have ended in defeat.<BR/><BR/>Even in everyday life, one makes sacrifices for the good of the group. This is a way of bearing witness to the seriousness with which one takes any group endeavor.<BR/><BR/>I do not hold Benazir in high esteem, and it is questionable whether she poked her head out of her vehicle out of a sense of bearing witness--They are not going to intimidate me!--or simple arrogance or foolishness, but assuming the former, she did indeed bear witness to her cause, and she could then be said to have died a martyr's death, whatever we could say about how she comported herself in life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26432722.post-43350424267598502582008-01-13T16:02:00.000-05:002008-01-13T16:02:00.000-05:00Mina. I am afraid of your ending phrase "“Oh! A ‘m...Mina. I am afraid of your ending phrase "“Oh! A ‘martyr’,” the child might think."<BR/><BR/>I am afraid with its acceptance the suicide terrorism continues.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26432722.post-87879594525376466042008-01-11T19:02:00.000-05:002008-01-11T19:02:00.000-05:00I wrote an article on Benazir’s untimely catastrop...I wrote an article on Benazir’s untimely catastrophic death as soon as I heard the news. Since then, I received many calls and emails form my friends and even relatives regarding my response to the event. Oddly enough, mostly concerned the use of word “martyr.” The objections ranging from the whole concept of martyrdom as an accepting of violence on one hand to not valuing life on the other. My brother in law argued that her death was a deliberated suicide aimed at making herself a martyr. <BR/>As a matter of fact, when I wrote the article, I did not title the article at all. It was my “techy guy,” my husband Evan, who titled the article, appealing to the dictionary definition, and I was convinced. Moreover, since he does have few published article on the theme, I accepted him as an authority to call it martyrdom rather than assassination. <BR/>Calling it a suicide would have sounded a bit cynical if it had not come from someone whom I know was extremely upset by this terror. My brother-in-law’s argument was rather simplistic. She could have been more useful for her country if she had stayed alive, she would have been alive if she had not stood up exposed to the crowed in a convertible car. He argued that her advisors and her body guards should not have let her risk her life. Indeed, he totally dismissed the presence of bombs and suicide bombers. <BR/>I can answer this objection and the arguments given for it simply by telling an anecdote I heard years ago. Once, at a preppy school, the teacher assigned the students to write a composition on poor people. One of the students, who had never known any poor people, wrote: “They were very poor, their house was poor, their garden was poor, their swimming pool was poor, their car was poor…” Though I heard this anecdote while still in Iran, I have no idea why I thought this story must have had happened somewhere in the United States.<BR/>It was much later that I noticed I was right in my assumption: in the United States, everything translates into American’s way of life, as if there is not other life anywhere else in the world. While it seems natural in the absence of information about the other parts of the world to use what is familiar to us, still I feel dismayed to know how far and alien the rest of the world is to us. I’m even more discouraged when I know with a few click on Google we can find out about almost everything we want to know.<BR/>Not knowing about Pakistan does not surprise me at all; but thinking that in Pakistan everything is exactly as it is here only a little less, is a little beyond me. Why on earth should we assume that Benazir Bhutto was equipped with all the crews and cameras and whole range of advisors and bodyguards and managers and so on? Why do we have such a hard time to understand that still many of our “friends” in the world cannot provide the most basic security for their citizens? These American friends in that part of the world have only one duty as the head of the State of their country: to be armed to teeth to exert their power to prevent what the United States considers dangerous. To tell the truth, the way Pakistan is, Benazir was not even safe in her own home. The only problem is, we do not know what Pakistan is like. In her political rally she was surrounded by guns and bombs and suicide bombers. Oddly enough, the scene of the crime was immediately cleaned of all the evidences, and no investigation is going on in spite of her family’s request. And as President Bush suggested, President Musharraf is “continuing his democratic progress!”<BR/>A journalist friend who was in Pakistan when Ali Bhutto was hung said that time there were no riots, no noise, no protests, though this time there was total unrest for a week. It seems that Pakistan and the Pakistanis have started a new page in their history. I hope that when it comes time to revolt and get rid of all this lawlessness, they would forgive us all for our ignorance and our lack of interest in their country. That is the way we are, if there is no oil, there is no American interest. But I promise that in some history book a child will read: Once upon a time there was a brave woman who was not a saint but loved her country and wanted to do good things for it, and someone killed her to stop her good plans. But in spite of her death, people did not abandoned her cause and it took upon themselves to fulfill her cause, and in fact her death gave them more reason to look after themselves and do something for their country. “Oh! A ‘martyr’,” the child might think.Minahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12629803417151933778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26432722.post-37088813676633129152008-01-11T19:00:00.000-05:002008-01-11T19:00:00.000-05:00Dear Mike,Thanks for giving me the opportunity to ...Dear Mike,<BR/>Thanks for giving me the opportunity to address a few things which I thought was inappropriate to discuss in my article for Benazir. <BR/>First, I have mentioned at least in three places that I would not consider her an example of perfection. Sure she had as many faults as we all have. However, as we all judge everyone for what they are and what they claim to be, I found it fair to judge her for what she was, a superb and exceptionally talented politician, a class of people who are not generally saints.<BR/>As for her opportunism, regarding the Pakistani support of the Taliban in Afghanistan while she was Prime Minister, the Pakistani system of government is a little different from ours. The army is a government unto itself, and the tribes on the north where there is the biggest boarder with Afghanistan in another autonomous government. The Pakistani Army has nothing to do with the Office of Prime Minister except if the prime minister is their own man, i.e. has come to power through a military coup, like General Yahya Khan, General Zia and Musharaf of course. Benazir would have been toppled if she had not supported what army was supporting. See what happened this time, she did not even last long enough to be toppled. And of course, the army receives its order, we all know, where they get their arms from! Guess where?Minahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12629803417151933778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26432722.post-50345690131743544382008-01-04T21:34:00.000-05:002008-01-04T21:34:00.000-05:00Thank you for your post on Binazir. She was a brav...Thank you for your post on Binazir. She was a brave woman. <BR/>Also thank you for your other comments and notes about Iran. I wonder if you have seen Persian Paradox: ebtekarm.blogspot.comMasoumeh Ebtekarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05890542877502747183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26432722.post-29815987141978080632008-01-03T15:43:00.000-05:002008-01-03T15:43:00.000-05:00Mina, I read your Blog on Benazir Bhutto and while...Mina, I read your Blog on Benazir Bhutto and while it is very well written and gets at a lot of wonderful things about her, it really overlooks the bad stuff. For example, the paragraph below is taken from Wikipedia free encyclopedia. I had heard this about her many times before in much worse terms and think, on the whole, she was an opportunist with a very large ego. The Taliban are not exactly for women's rights, but nevertheless she supported them and she shouldn't have regardless of the rationaliztion.<BR/> <BR/>Sorry, Mike Delano<BR/> <BR/> <BR/>Policy on Taliban<BR/>The Taliban took power in Kabul in September 1996. It was during Bhutto's rule that the Taliban gained prominence in Afghanistan. She, like many leaders at the time, viewed the Taliban as a group that could stabilize Afghanistan and enable trade access to the Central Asian republics, according to author Stephen Coll.[12] He claims that like the U.S., her government provided military and financial support for the Taliban, even sending a small unit of the Pakistani army into Afghanistan.<BR/><BR/>More recently, she took an anti-Taliban stance, and condemned terrorist acts allegedly committed by the Taliban and their supporters.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26432722.post-35745404112512065782007-12-31T16:01:00.000-05:002007-12-31T16:01:00.000-05:00Point well taken. In my defense, I would say,1) Th...Point well taken. <BR/>In my defense, I would say,<BR/>1) This is probably how Binazir would have understood the event if she could have looked back on it and<BR/>2) Martyrdom also indicates a willingness to die for ones beliefs.<BR/>But given the use (and abuse?) of the term, I can understand what you mean and to some extent agree with you.Minahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12629803417151933778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26432722.post-76674276468884098102007-12-31T14:54:00.000-05:002007-12-31T14:54:00.000-05:00The words "martyr" and "martyrdom" make me become ...The words "martyr" and "martyrdom" make me become very uncomfortable. Using of these words in my view display some acceptance of backwardness, death surrender, savagery, revenge, blood, violence, and killing.<BR/><BR/>Why do we need to use these words in honoring a person and her ideals?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com