Adil Najam
News is just breaking that former Prime Minister and head of the Pakistan People’s Party, Benazir Bhutto was killed in Rawalpindi in a terrorist attack.
She was gunned down by an assasin who then blew himself up in a suicide attack. This happened at teh end of her rally in Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi; the same place where Liaqat Ali Khan, Pakistan’s first Prime Minister was assassinated. Major news networks are now reporting that following bomb blasts at Benazir Bhutto’s rally in Rawalpindi, shots were fired directly targeting her. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari says that one of these shots hit her in the neck and killed her.
According to early BBC reports:
Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a presumed suicide attack, a military spokesman has announced on TV. Earlier reports said Ms Bhutto had only been injured and taken to hospital.
Ms Bhutto had just addressed a pre-election rally in the town of Rawalpindi when the bomb went off. At least 15 other people are reported killed in the attack and several more were injured. Ms Bhutto had twice been the country’s prime minister. She was campaigning ahead of elections due in January.
‘She expired’
The explosion occurred close to an entrance gate of the park in Rawalpindi where Ms Bhutto had been speaking. Benazir Bhutto had been addressing rallies in many parts of Pakistan
PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar initially said that Ms Bhutto was safe. But later he told the BBC that Ms Bhutto had died. Another member of the PPP, Wasif Ali Khan, told the Associated Press news agency from the Rawalpindi General Hospital: “At 6:16 pm (1316 GMT) she expired.”
I, like most Pakistanis, am still too numb with shock and grief to think coherently about what has happened or what the implications of this are for teh country and for the world. But this I know, whether you agreed with her political positions or not you cannot but be in shock. Even as I type these lines I am literally shaking. Hers was a tragic life story. So tragic that had it not been real no one would have believed it.
At this point all sorts of thoughts float through the politics of this. Why did this happen? Why was it not stopped? What could have been done to stop this senseless murder? Maybe she should not have come back? Who did this? What will this mean for the elections? What will this mean for the PPP? What will this mean for Gen. Musharraf? What will this mean for Pakistan? But all of these are paled by thoughts about Benazir as a person. The woman. The wife. The mother. The human being. What about her?
I have not always agreed with her politically but there was always a respect for her political courage. I had met her many times, first as a journalist covering her when she had just returned to Pakistan in the Zia era and before she became Prime Minister. Later a number of times in her two stints as Prime Minister and thena few times during her exile. In that last period she toll to referring to me as “Professor sahib” and some of our exchanges were more candid (at least on my part) than they had been earlier.
At a human level this is a tragedy like no other. Only a few days ago I was mentioning to someone that the single most tragic person in all of Pakistan - maybe all the world - is Nusrat Bhutto. Benazir’s mother. Think about it. Her husband, killed. One son alledgedly poisoned. Another son assasinated. Daughter rises to be Prime Minister twice, but jailed, exiled, and finally gunned down.
Today, in shock, I can think only of Benazir Bhutto the human being. Tomorrow, maybe, I will think of politics.
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Every Pakistani should have one issue on priority and that is going after extremists ( Al-Qaeda and Talibans ) and show the world we do not want them to be part of the world. Look at these extremists they are in no doing things under Koran rules I even hate to call them humans.
@jk says “But what I’m most annoyed with is the fact that she was standing out of the freakin sun roof”
“stupidity of standing out of the sun roof”
You Sir, Fear the Fear too much.
Maybe we should all hide in Pakistan, in fear, since, state of Pakistan can no longer protect us under the Sun.
I lived and went to high school in Karachi. Our school Karachi American School had many atlhletic tournaments with the surrounding americans schools in Lahore, Islamabad and also in Kabul. All athletes were housed by sponsoring students families at their homes. I was chosen by Shanawaz as was another fellow student to stay at their compound. It was quite an experience, bullet proof mercedes took us to all sports events along with armed guards,had our own so to speak house and servants. This was back in 75,76. My father made my mother and I leave before I was able to graduate with my class due to the unrest in the city in 1977. To this day people have a real hard time believing I lived in Pakistan. To me at the time it was just normal to be abroad due to my Dads work. I still wonder what happened to all my school mates. And it saddens me to think this family has yet had another tragedy befall them. May Benazir rest in peace with her loved ones.
Some of the postings here are getting a little bit wild, including claiming that Mossad, or the US is responsible for her death. You have to learn to accept that it’s not other countries responsible for suicide bombers, or all the other problems that beset the Muslim world.
Pakistan is the current main source of Al-Queda, World Islamic Terrorism, and the Taliban, you don’t need Mossad , the CIA, MI6, or the KGB, or anyone one else to have major problems. Try looking at illiteracy , religion and corruption to see the causes for most of the muslim worlds problems.
Look on all the other websites, and stop veering off onto the same old tired conspiracy theories about the jews or the colonial west wanting to destroy the land of the pure.
Try asking Why would they? Because its such a shining example to the world? Of what backwardness?
I think not…. no one cares what happens in Pakistan, except for the fact that your main export to the world is terrorists.
I am sick of USA telling Pakistan they gave Pakistan 10 billion dollars . USA itself spent trillion dollars in fight with Al-Qaeda and now they want Pakistan to so same thing with less than 10 billion dollars? Before USA gives money they all know the level of corruption in Pakistan and they should know better rather than later acting like cry baby.
But what I’m most annoyed with is the fact that she was standing out of the freakin sun roof. Two months ago there was an attempt on her life and now she decided to lean out of the sun roof. gosh.
I mean, even the pope who supposedly has god as his personal body guard uses a bullet proof shield at all public gatherings.
Her body guards are guilty as well for letting her do that. The whole of Pakistan, all her family and her friends and fans around the world are in pain right now because of the stupidity of standing out of the sun roof.
Hello,
I hope it is okay to use the comment field on ATP to post a request for input.
I’m writing from Marketplace, the US public radio business show from American Public Media. We’re reaching out to people who have Pakistani family, business or political ties to help us with our reporting on the aftermath of Benazir Bhutto’s death.
If you’re reading this, I hope you might take a few minutes to help us understand how the death of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto will affect Pakistanis and Pakistani-Americans.
Please use this link (http://americanpublicmedia.org/pin/bhuttoquery) to share your insight into U.S.-Pakistani relations, and doing business in Pakistan post-Bhutto assassination.
Thank you for your help,
Joellen Easton
—-
Joellen Easton
American Public Media
jeaston AT americanpublicmedia DOT org
MY HEART GOES OUT TO ALL PAKISTANIS TODAY. THIS IS A GREAT LOSS.