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Asia's exiled begums set to return
Published on Mon, Apr 30, 2007 at 09:08, Updated on Mon, Apr 30, 2007 at 09:20 in World section
Tags: Pakistan, Bangladesh , London
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London: The begums (queens) of South Asia look set to return home and fight back.
Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina and Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto have been fighting their battle from foreign shores for sometime and are now looking to stage a comeback despite odds being heavily stacked against them.
A triumphant Hasina made her intentions clear immediately after the military backed caretaker government lifted the ban on her return to Bangladesh.
“I am eagerly waiting to go back to my people my soil. That’s what (it is). I don't know what reception and I don't bother for that (sic). I’ll be leaving in the first week of May,” she said.
From the other side of the subcontinent, Bhutto is all set to make a comeback too. Bhutto told students in London that a deal with Musharraf could hurt her credibility, but was good for Pakistan.
“Such a deal would be good for the country's democratic, constitutional and development interests as well as to prevent the country from falling into extremist hands," she said.
But going back will not be easy.
While Hasina faces charges in murder and extortion cases and a government that is not promising elections before the end of 2008, Bhutto has cases of corruption against her and a military president in no hurry to relinquish his uniform.
The similarity doesn't end there. This will be the second homecoming for both begums (royal queen) who last went into exile when their fathers- Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were killed decades ago.
London has been a safe haven but now these two women of South Asian politics are raring to return and fight elections, even if it means trying to work along with the military-backed governments in their respective countries.
Hasina might be back as early as next week, while Bhutto might still be a few months away.
One thing is for sure, they will both have rather dramatic homecomings.
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