iblog

Today marks a terribly sad day for Pakistan and indeed much of the world as Benazir Bhutto, the leading Pakistani opponant and former Prime Minister, has been killed in a suicide bomb attack whilst doing an election rally for next month’s general election in the northern region of Rawalpindi near the capital Islamabad. This event marks a severe blow to any hope in the return of stable democracy in Pakistan as many believe that Bhutto’s liberal views and bid to counter terrorism have now been in vain.

The assassination was sudden as she spoke to thousands of people in the crowd. As Mohammad Zaman, a member of her PPP party, explains:

“The meeting went perfectly well. She delivered her speech, she came down the stage and got on the land-cruiser. She started coming out, we heard three [shots] fired, and after that the bomb blast went [off]. And when I came down the road I saw there was loads and loads of injured. And I really thought that her vehicle was safe and left the place safely. I was hoping she would be OK.”

Though Bhutto was taken swiftly to hospital, she died straight away. It is unclear at present who was involved in the attack and what the motive was, but it is strongly believed that the attack links with Al-Qaeda who, amongst others, were angry at her secular leadership and affinity to the West. The country is in shock and in many parts considered to be a danger after the attacks with curfews in main city areas. Many are understandably emotional and angry, with some blaming the current president Pervez Musharraf for not ensuring that Bhutto received adequate security.

Having studied at both Harvard and Oxford, Bhutto gave much hope to those in the West and in Pakistan who feel threatened by Islamic extremism. As the only woman to have been Prime Minister of Pakistan, she also represented women’s rights in Pakistan which are often suppressed due to Islamic practices. Major world leaders believe that her death has been an attempt to kill democracy in Pakistan, but as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said in his speech:

“Benazir Bhutto may have been killed by terrorists but the terrorists must not be allowed to kill democracy in Pakistan and this atrocity strengthens our resolve that terrorists will not win there, here or anywhere in the world. We will work with all in the Pakistani community in Britain and elsewhere in the world so that we can have a peaceful and safe and democratic Pakistan.”

My heart goes out to all of Bhutto’s family and supporters as we are reminded once again of the dangers extremists pose for those who wish to fight for tolerance. Who knows what lies in store for Pakistan now, and how safe it remains.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 27th, 2007 at 10:42 pm and is filed under Current Affairs, Travel, Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.