Analysts wary of aftermath in S Asia

Foreign Adviser Iftekhar A Chowdhury urged Pakistan to contain the aftermath of the killing of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto for South Asia's sake while analysts fear that the act might embolden militants in the region.
"For the sake of South Asia, Pakistan will have to ensure that the aftermath is better managed than the timeframe in which the events led to the assassination," Iftekhar told The Daily Star last night.
"Everything will depend on how the aftermath is managed," he said adding that Bhutto's assassination is a tragedy of "gargantuan proportions".
Meanwhile analysts told The Daily Star last night that the militant elements that killed Bhutto will see her death as a 'crucial' success that would encourage the like-minded forces in the region to engage in similar operations.
They said Bangladesh would have to heighten its vigilance on militant activities in the country or risk an increase in similar attacks, especially on February 21 and on Independence Day on March 26.
Professor Imtiaz Ahmed of International Relations Department at Dhaka University interpreted this killing as a success of militant forces in Pakistan. The rise of militancy in Pakistan poses a serious threat to democracy in South Asia as it undermines mainstream political forces and processes, said Prof Ahmed.
Terming her killing an ideological and instrumental blow to moderate Islam and democracy, he said Benazir's death would strengthen the militants and militancy could spread through the hot spots in South Asia.
Militancy has gone out of control in Pakistan and the situation in Bangladesh is still manageable despite similar militant attacks in the past few years, Prof Ahmed added.
Ahmed sees the radicalisation of Pakistan politics, especially the rise of militancy in the country, as a direct outcome of absence of democracy in Pakistan in recent times.
"Bangladesh has a lot to learn from this. Any effort to mitigate the problem in Bangladesh requires a democratic process," he said adding, "If we don't find new and innovative ways to deal with the problem, we might see a serious rise in violence."
M Abdul Hafiz, former head of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies, told The Daily Star that the death of Benazir has made Pakistan's democratic future even bleaker and would seriously destabilise the country.
He said Benazir explicitly backed a US agenda and the militants will see her death as a victory over US interests in the region.
Hafiz said the assassination will have an indirect effect on other countries in the region, with militants encouraged to strike similar democratic and US targets. He also said Bangladesh's transitional political process may be dampened by the assassination as some 'forces' might look to halt democracy in this country in a similar way.
Former ambassador M Zamir echoed Ahmed and Hafiz's views on militancy, but added that Bhutto's assassination will shroud Indo-Pak relations in greater uncertainty and would worsen the situation in Afghanistan.
Bangladesh urgently needs to heighten its security and vigilance on militants, especially during national celebrations during the Mother Language Day on February 21 and the Independence Day on March 26. Zamir said adding that the risk has amplified with the growing demands for the trial of war criminals.