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.
My condolences to all the bereaved. What more can one say. Inna lillahe wa inna ilayhe rajeyoun.
Another sad day in Pakistan’s history. May Benazir’s soul rest in peace. I hope the violence and disruption of life that followed her death stops soon.
Really appreciate what you guys are trying. I feel sorry for her as a human being, and for all the people who will pay the price for this ‘jahalat’ with their lives in the violence that will follow. Please don’t give up! You, the intelligentsia, have to stand up and be counted. I’m an Indian, but I can feel your pain. Don’t let the Westerners or others call you a ‘failed state’. I’ve read all the blogs here, and believe me, you’ve got it in you to change the course of history for the better.
Well said Ms.Saima. I totally agree with you. West got another excuse to make fun of Islam.
This is very very sad. Honestly, whole day I was almost in a state of shock. I have no words to explain how sad I am. May Allah rest her soul in peace and save Pakistan. Ameen
For those still not clear about who did this terrible act:
Al-Qaeda claims Bhutto killing
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - ”We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat mujahideen.” These were the words of al-Qaeda’s top commander for Afghanistan operations and spokesperson Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, immediately after the attack that claimed the life of Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto on Thursday (December 27).
Bhutto died after being shot by a suicide assailant who, according to witnesses, also detonated a bomb that killed himself and up to 20 others at a rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. Bhutto, with Western backing, had been hoping to become prime minister for a third time after general elections next month.
“This is our first major victory against those [eg, Bhutto and President Pervez Musharraf] who have been siding with infidels [the West] in a fight against al-Qaeda and declared a war against mujahideen,” Mustafa told Asia Times Online by telephone.
He said the death squad consisted of Punjabi associates of the underground anti-Shi’ite militant group Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, operating under al-Qaeda orders.
The assassination of Bhutto was apparently only one of the goals of a large al-Qaeda plot, the existence of which was revealed earlier this month.
On December 6, a Pakistani intelligence agency tracked a cell phone conversation between a militant leader and a local cleric, in which a certain Maulana Asadullah Khalidi was named. The same day, Khalidi was arrested during a raid in Karachi. The arrest, in turn, led to the arrest of a very high-profile non-Pakistani militant leader, which, it is said, revealed an operation aimed at wiping out “precious American assets” in Pakistan, including Musharraf and Bhutto.
The operation is said to have involved hundreds of cells all over Pakistan to track targets and communicate with their command, which would then send out death squads.
Mustafa referred to a recent address by Bhutto in North West Frontier Province, in which she lambasted Islamic extremism and asked the people to stand against it. Bhutto was the only Pakistani leader who regularly spoke against al-Qaeda.
At the time of her death, Bhutto was vigorously campaigning around the country, following the November 20 announcement of general elections to be held on January 8. She had returned to Pakistan from exile in October, after a US-brokered deal with Musharraf gave her immunity from charges of corruption during her previous terms as prime minister. In return, her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) supported Musharraf’s bid to be re-eleted as president.
Bhutto returned to Pakistan in the face of death threats from Islamist militants. Within 24 hours of landing in Karachi on October 18, she narrowly escaped with her life when two bombs were detonated near her motorcade, killing at least 130 people.
Addressing a press conference the following day, a defiant Bhutto pointed to the involvement of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies in the attack.
Bhutto’s death ignited violence all over the country, particularly in Sindh, her home province. “They’ve shut down all the shops, and there is firing all around,” said Abdul Jabbar, who works as a driver in Karachi, Pakistan’s business capital. “People are just overcome with grief.”
By 9 pm Thursday, violence had claimed at least five lives in Karachi. Protesters evacuated two trains and set them on fire. Angry mobs attacked police stations and other symbols of state authority. Commuters were reported to be stranded in towns and cities all over the province. In Sukkar, a mob broke into the jail and released all the prisoners.
The assassination and ensuing violence immediately threw into doubt attempts to return Pakistan to democracy after eight years of military rule under Musharraf. Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif announced shortly after the assassination that his party would boycott the elections, and demanded that Musharraf resign immediately.
“The holding of fair and free elections is not possible in the presence of Pervez Musharraf. After the killing of Benazir Bhutto, I announce that the Pakistan Muslim League-N will boycott the elections,” Sharif told a news conference.
He urged other parties to join the boycott. If other parties, including the PPP, which is in disarray following the assassination, heed his call, the legitimacy of the January 8 elections will be seriously undermined.
Bhutto’s killing, it would seem, is only the first major incident in al-Qaeda’s war against “American assets”, which is likely to plunge the country into further chaos and divert it from the democratic path.
(Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online. Inter Press Service contributed to this report.)
These are trying times for Pakistan. And for the world. There are too many people in all religions, including my own, who misuse their religion to cause pain and they can bring disrepute to the entire religion. I hope many Americans will read your blog and realize that most Pakistanis are decent people and the propaganda fed to us by Fox News is wrong. Let us all look for the good in all people and not for that which is bad.
I just wanted to offer my condolences at this tragic loss. What a waste of life. There is too much senseless killing all over the world by everyone. I hope people will soon realize that killing does not solve anything. IT only breeds more killing.