Far be it for me to belittle the extremely serious political situation in Pakistan these days. But though it's shallow of me to say so, I really have been struck by the level of glamour and attractiveness evident in Pakistan's opposition right now. I wonder about the degree to which this may (or may not) be influencing Western media coverage of current events there.
I've followed the fortunes of Benazir Bhutto since I was quite young. I remember when she first swept to power in Pakistan in 1988 and found her to be quite a compelling figure. To be honest, this was not only because of her eloquence and strong political convictions, but also because of her beauty and elegance.
More recently, I've watched with some bemusement as Imran Khan has morphed from cricket star and British society figure (having married the heiress Jemima Goldsmith and become minor UK tabloid fodder during the later 1990s as a result) to a member of the opposition movement against Musharraf. Like Bhutto, he too is strikingly attractive, Oxford-educated, worldly and charismatic. And he seems to have the courage of his convictions too, having been thrown into prison last week and commenced a hunger strike in protest (the BBC reports that he has just been released today).
Scientists tell us that physical appearance is a far greater influence on our estimation of others than many of us would care to admit. So I suspect I'm not the only person to have noticed the likes of Bhutto and Khan in this way.
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