I refer to the letter A tribute to Benazir Bhutto . Can the writer tell us why was she a great leader? What exactly had she accomplished to earn ‘greatness’. She had been prime minister of Pakistan twice.

What has she done for her country besides giving speeches about democracy? There were widespread allegations of corruption concerning her and her husband. The only thing ‘great’ about her was that she was her father’s daughter.

In countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, political power and ‘greatness’ are like some kind of heritable as well as sexually transmissible disease. Hence, a progeny of a prime minister (like Indira Gandhi or Benazir Bhutto or Rajiv Gandhi or Sheikh Hasina Wazed or Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga) can be born ‘great’.

Greatness in some Asian countries can also be like an STD (sexually transmissible disease). Hence, the spouse of a leader can also become a leader. Examples? Sonia Gandhi, Khaleda Zia, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Corazon Aquino and perhaps even the husband and son of Benazir Bhutto who were named as her political heirs.

The new leader of Benazir Bhutto’s party is a 19-year-old boy! Wow! What a great country is Pakistan. And I’m sure the writer can now tell us why this teenage boy is so great. Did he inherit her mother’s greatness like some kind of congenital disease? What is he? Another Kim Jong Il?

Incidentally, I’m not a supporter of Pervez Musharraf or any leader of Pakistan – past or present or even the foreseeable future.