Benazir Bhutto’s triumphal but bloody return home was not that of a head of state who was in exile for nine years facing charges of corruption.

International TV channels showed her return as that of a conquering heroine with ‘several hundreds of thousands’ of frenzied Pakistanis bellowing slogans of support and dancing as her colourful motorcade with hundreds of vehicles packed with supporters was winding through the streets of Karachi.

Benazir before embarking in Dubai had spoken of the restoration of democracy in her country and this was a fitting answer to the advocates of extremist violence who want to enforce their ideology on innocent people.

The charismatic 54-year-old woman stood with her supporters in a well guarded vehicle as the procession wended through but then a suicide bomber struck, instantly killing 126 people, many of whom were security guards and police personnel who were part of the moving cordon protecting the former prime minister. Miraculously she escaped unhurt.

This attempt would deepen the crisis that is gripping Pakistan which is being wracked by violence. The extremists did not hide their intentions about killing Bhutto. Two weeks ago Baitullah Masood, the Taliban commander had vowed to kill her if she returned to Pakistan. Immediately after the assassination attempt another extremist, Hadji Omar was reported saying, ‘She had been in agreement with the Americans. We will carry out attacks on Benazir Bhutto as we did on Pervez Musharaff.’

Benazir was considered a bulwark against Islamic extremism. While in exile in London she had supported the raid on the Red Mosque complex in Islamabad which was being held by Islamic militants.

In an interview given in Dubai she had said: ‘If in a short sighted way some people think that this is not Pakistan’s war but that of America, we will end up with warlordism. Pakistan will end in disintegration, fragmentation and ethnic cleansing.

Indeed it appeared that Bhutto’s return to Pakistan was part of an arrangement backed by the United States and Britain. A deal had been worked out between the two arch foes Pervez Musharaff and Benazir Bhutto to jointly rule the country.

Musharaff, the army commander who seized power on a coup stage against Nawaz Sharif was attempting to be re-elected for a second term as president by the country’s electoral college while retaining the post of army commander, specifically forbidden by the constitution. Musharaff sacked the Chief Justice Ifthikar Choudhry whom he suspected would not play ball with him for his re-election but the Supreme Court reinstated him.

The president appeared to be in dire straits with petitions before the Supreme Court challenging his election by the electoral college citing that Benazir’s party abstained from voting while the entire opposition boycotted the election.

The compromise solution was to get Benazir who heads the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to work together with Musharaff who will give up his job as army commander.

But the question remains whether the Supreme Court will still hold Musharaff’s election as being constitutionally valid and also whether the amnesty granted to Benazir on charges of corruption by a special bill adopted is also constitutionally valid.

If the Supreme Court decisions go against Musharaff’s election and the amnesty for Benazir, the country which is wracked by extremist violence with the al Qaeda and the Taliban making their contributions it could, as Bhutto has said, degenerate into warlordism and even disintegration.

There is much speculation that if the court decision goes against Musharaff, he may dissolve parliament and declare Martial Law which the United States has strongly urged him to desist from. The Supreme Court decisions can save the country from such anarchy but will certainly come under the fire of the extremists.

The Pakistani crisis is part and parcel of the geopolitical crisis concerning Afghanistan. To the United States and the West, a friendly regime in Pakistan is essential in its attempts to defeat the Taliban and end al Qaeda terrorism.

There are moves made in the United States even to deploy US troops in Pakistan to combat al Qaeda terrorists who have sought refuge in the tribal border region of Waziristan where even the much wanted Osama bin Laden is believed to be in hiding.

Even scarier for the West, though it is not openly stated is that if a pro terrorist regime takes control of Pakistan and gets their hands on the nuclear bombs which Pakistan possess. An Islamic bomb has been the nightmare of the West from the mid ’70s.

Will the entry of Bhutto into Pakistan politics help bring about change in the country’s politics? Political analysts say that the army which has been the real power in Pakistan will not surrender their rights but may compromise with Bhutto to bring about stability.

This remarkable woman however will be harbouring grave doubts about Pakistani generals. Benazir Bhutto on completing her studies at Harvard and Oxford returned to Pakistan to find her father Zulficar Ali Bhutto who was prime minister jailed by the military dictator Zia-ul-Haq who hanged her father on a charge of murder.

After that she was jailed for six years and later went into exile in London.

Later she returned to Pakistan, contested elections and became the first Muslim woman prime minister at the age of 36. But 20 months later she was sacked by then President Ghulam Ishak Khan on allegations of corruption but in 1993 she was once again elected as prime minister only to be sacked again by another president also on charges of corruption.

Bhutto and her husband have been accused of massive corruption and money laundering but she denies it all saying that the charges are fabricated and politically motivated.

Now she has retuned and is willing to compromise with President General Musharaff. She obviously believes that politics is the art of the possible.

Asian women clashing with military dictators are a phenomenon peculiar to the region and not seen in other parts of the world.

In Bangladesh we have two former women Prime Ministers, Khaleda Zia and Sheik Hasina locked up on corruption charges by a military backed interim government. In Burma there is the frail and determined Aung Suu Kyi defying a 45-year-old military dictatorship and arousing world opinion despite being placed under house arrest for 12 years.