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.
Mr Bilawal , I hope and I pray that you will be a different leader. The leader who is endued with the qualities which Pakistan need, the people of Pakistan need, our freedom, our land and even our souls need. Please do think of poor people before taking any decision. Always do good and inshallah you will have good. Take care of yourself and Good Luck
ALLAH IS GREAT
sad. very sad , bad for her good for others , rest in heavens………
Hey Aroosa,
I think at ‘June 9th, 2008 5:39 am ‘ you have a long quote from me! Anyway, I appreciate your appreciation of Benazir Bhutto.
Meengla
to mrs bhutto
In contrast, I (and probably most other in this Blogspace) remember the funeral of Zia ul Haq. To gain the maximum political milageage (but ostensibly to have a ‘proper State Funeral’), Zia’s burial was postponed against Islamic rules. Many came. Some say 500,000. Many did out of grief, no doubt. But it was also a well orchestrated event where our would be Amir -ul-Mominoon (Nawaz Sharif) vowed to continue Zia’s ‘mission’ (whipping and hanging in public, I hope not!). But I digress.
In contrast remember the funeral of ZAB. In the dead of night. There is only one picture of that ‘Namaz e Janaza’ that I am aware of.
In contrast the funeral Benazir Bhutto. The State of Pakistan was absent. But the people of Pakistan were present, from Karachi to Khyber.
Truly, the people of Pakistan are not so easy to be fooled, contrary to the elitist leanings of the expat and the so-called educated communities of Pakistan. The people of would want their real leaders, however flawed, versus the hoisted ‘leaders’. Today Zia’s son can best hope to win 1-2 seats. Musharraf’s son will probably never settle down in Pakistan (no fault of Bilal Musharraf though), and who speaks of Gen. Yahya anyway? Ayub Khan’s son is a hanger-on for semi-elected regimes. But ‘Bhuttos’ live on because they let themselves to die and that, in the Information Age, gets noticed pretty quickly.
fromyour child aroosa bhutto
Miss BENAZIR BHUTTO was a magneficent lady .she was the symbol of DEMOCRACY as many of her lover’s say’s seems to be true . daughter of a hero died like hero’s leaving the nation mourning in grief .the great leaders like her are born in centuries it is the biggest un fortunate of pakistan to lose her .