French Revolution: At the beginning of the eighteenth century, France was a monarchy ruled by an autocratic king. The French society was divided into three Estates, or classes. The First Estate consisted of the clergy. The Second Estate consisted of the nobility. The Third Estate consisted of the peasants and the bourgeoisie, which included professionals and the wealthy merchants. The First and Second Estates enjoyed many privileges, and paid almost no taxes. Wealth was concentrated in their hands. The Third Estate had no privileges. This Estate bore the burden of taxation. The peasants had to perform unpaid compulsory services. Tax default was punished with imprisonment in the state prison called the Bastille, which became a symbol of oppression. Inspired by the democratic ideas of French philosophers like Rousseau, Voltaire and Montesquieu, the bourgeoisie demanded political rights and government by the consent of the people. Estates-General France had an assembly called the Estates-General, meant to represent all the three Estates. The Estates-General, however, was never summoned between 1614 and 1789. Benazir Bhutto: Benazir was assassinated on December 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi by the Islamic terrorists, when she was addressing one of the election meetings due to be held soon afterwards. Her death postponed the elections; the Pakistan People’s Party triumphed at the polls thereby shattering the dream of Nawaz Sharief of the Muslim League to occupy power. Zardari, in his earlier avatar as Consort of Benazir, earned nickname of Mr. 10%. Lo & behold, Mr. 10% now becomes head of the State. Zardari has visited a number of countries in his quest to seek foreign financial assistance and military assistance to defeat the Taliban. The monster created by Pakistan refuses to vanish and is now determined to destabilize the country and bring down the entire superstructure. The Swat Valley in early 2009 was occupied by the Islamic militants before they were ousted by a determined army action.