LEADERSHIP BY WOMEN IS ESSENTIAL

At a time when some seek to keep women in chains forever it is important to say something about leaders like Benizir Bhutto who make a contribution to leadership even if it is a leadership tainted with corruption and a pandering to imperialism.

There is something important about a woman on the world stage precisely because it is so unusual. She seemed to be a secular if not progressive voice, a woman speaking in the wilderness martyred by men. That is part of the picture even if it remains largely unaddressed by those who rightly condemn her corruption and service to empire.

At a time when women are being told by a militant few and an indifferent majority that they must not speak in public Benizir Bhutto was a fine example of what they are afraid of, an intelligent woman capable of speaking her mind and seeking to lead in the realm of politics.