Benazir Bhutto is Dead
See Updates Below
Benazir Bhutto, a leading democratic leader of Pakistan, is dead. WaPo. Suicide bombing in the city of Rawalpindi. 20 others dead. Like her or not, very sad day. Deepest levels of hell for those organizing such bestiality.
I suspect there are going to be riots like crazy. Actually, from what I’m hearing they’ve already started.
Apparently her car was shot at before the suicide bomber killed himself. When the guy started shooting he was apprehended, then he blew himself up. (Geo TV). It was the shot to the neck that killed her, say her people.
Its very important to see what Musharraf does. If he does not arrest any terrorist sympathizers in the military, that’s a problem. Musharraf did kill Akbar Bugti, the Balochi leader, a few years ago.
Rawalpindi, incidentally, was the city where Benazir’s father, Zulfiqar, was hung by General Zia ul Haq in 1978. One of my relatives reminds me that Pakistan’s first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was also killed in Rawalpindi, circa 1950. The place Benazir was killed is called Liaquat Bagh — Liaquat Garden.
I wrote about the previous attack on Bhutto, which killed 150 in October, at Huffington Post.
Additionally, there were sniper shots at a Nawaz Sharif — the other democratic leader and former prime minister — rally as well, killing four people. He was not there. Nawaz Sharif is ineligible to run for elections. Benazir was eligible.
BBC is showing firefighters just washing the street clean with jets of water, pushing the debris from the bombing into the sewers. I think that is very odd, and irresponsible.
Update I: Ayman al-Zawahiri has claimed her killing.
I have put the text of the news about Al-Qaeda in the comments.
Update to Update I: I am now skeptical of this.
Update II: A preliminary article of mine is up at Huffington Post. Entitled, Behind Bhutto’s Assassination.
Update III: My article about recommendations in changes to US policy towards Pakistan.
Update IV: Cartoon about Musharraf’s Sympathy
Yeah, crazy riots, burning cars + banks + anything that comes in their way
This is unbelievable….
Ali, this country’s sunk. If it’s the fucking maulvis then they’re going to get a boost. apparently it was 5 shots after the blast shattered the windows of her car. At Nawaz Shariff’s rally there was also some firing. 5 people killed, I think.
may her soul rest in peace.
b.
It reminds me of our own Time of the Assassins in the 1960s. It was like earthquakes; you can’t trust the ground under your feet. Very bad stuff.
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What a total shock. And a sad day for politics and pakistan.
[...] are the implications of the assassination? Ali Eteraz suggests: Its very important to see what Musharraf does. If he does not arrest any terrorist [...]
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May Allah grant her and the country she loved so much peace.
Sad, sad day.
Inna lillahi wa inna ilahi rajioon.
May Allah forgive her sins an dgrant her Janant ul Firdaus and grant harmony to the state of Pakistan.
[...] Benazir Bhutto has been killed in Pakistan. Blogistan is already on it (SepiaMutiny also links to Getty’s image archive of the [...]
“Its very important to see what Musharraf does. If he does not arrest any terrorist sympathizers in the military, that’s a problem. Musharraf did kill Akbar Bugti, the Balochi leader, a few years ago.”
Very important observation there. God only knows. Shocking.
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.1710322437
Al-Qaeda claims credit:
Karachi, 27 Dec. (AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - A spokesperson for the al-Qaeda terrorist network has claimed responsibility for the death on Thursday of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
“We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat [the] mujahadeen,” Al-Qaeda’s commander and main spokesperson Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid told Adnkronos International (AKI) in a phone call from an unknown location, speaking in faltering English. Al-Yazid is the main al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan.
It is believed that the decision to kill Bhutto, who is the leader of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), was made by al-Qaeda No. 2, the Egyptian doctor, Ayman al-Zawahiri in October.
Death squads were allegedly constituted for the mission and ultimately one cell comprising a defunct Lashkar-i-Jhangvi’s Punjabi volunteer succeeded in killing Bhutto.
Bhutto had just addressed a pre-election rally on Thursday in the garrison town of Rawalpindi when the bomb went off.
She had come to Rawalpindi after finishing a rapid election campaign, ahead of the January polls, in Pakistan’s volatile North West Frontier Province (NWFP) where she had talked about a war against terrorism and al-Qaeda.
Reports say at least 15 other people were killed in the attack and several others injured.
As news of Bhutto’s death spread throughout the country, there are reports that people have taken to the streets to protest the death of the leader of the PPP, which has the largest support of any party in Pakistan.
In the southern port city of Karachi, Bhutto’s hometown, residents reportedly threw stones at cars and burnt tyres.
This is amongst the gravest days in Pakistans history I think everyone of Pakistani origin or who has some affiliation to the land cannot but be apprehensive about the future of Pakistan. Acountry cannot function as a state if its political and civil leaders are the targets of contant murderous acts like this.
I did not like Benazir Bhuttos style of politics or what she represented, one who perpetuated the soul and people crushing feudal system. I argued against the pundits who lionised her as some sort of messianic leader who will restore Pakistani sovereignity, she was not an example of good governance. HOWEVER I had and still have immense respect for as a human being, she was a brave and formidable woman who conducted herself well and was loved by millions, it is for them and her family I mourn and offer my condolences, may she find the peace in death she never found in life. I hope this will serve as a lesson to pakistanis that the intolerance that is bread in that nation towards other peoples views can only lead to destruction and the deaths of its brightest son and daughters. Peace to her and Pakistan.
[...] Via Eteraz updates - Ayman Al-Zawahiri (Al-Qaeda) has claimed responsibility. [...]
so sad & shocking - indeed, may she rest in peace. such trying times all around for the pakistani ppl. think i’ll go read some qur’an now…
Very troubling days ahead for the Pakistani people. After the shock and disbelief that follows such a traumatic event, comes anger. The next week will be quite prognostic of the long term direction of Pakistan. It seems to me that two factors are important-the response of Musharraf’s government and the response of the leadership of the PPP. A likely scenario in a totalitarian state such as Pakistan is that fear and force will win the day. A harsh clamp down of the leadership of the PPP is llikely to follow any prolonged rioting by the PPP. The real possibility also exist that elections will be postponed, ushering Pakistan into a very dark period in its short history.
A more important point remains- Is there any future role for a Modernist inclusion in Pakistani politics on a large scale that Bhutto had represent. Musharraf’s outlandis ploy that truly lacks judgement- sacking the Supreme Court Justices and replacing it with skeletons, purges of government and military institutions, mass arrrests of lawyers and others from their homes and in the street provides a disturbing glimpse into the near future.
Pakistan seems to be ripping at the seams, and sadly may actually require a strong autocratic leader like Musharraf to provide stability and security. But then again, Pakistan is a country where military coup is the norm. How secure is Musharraf?
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Son of the mountain, thank you for expression of solidarity.
Could I just add: intolerance is not only bread by homegrown factors but ALSO by military dictators backed by western powers. As B.B. never tired of saying: military dictators are not the solution to the lack of security-they are a cause of it! As the well-known writer from here, Khaled Ahmed, writes: there has always been a military-mullah nexus. The extremists have been the pawns of the ISI for quite some time now (think Afghanistan, Kashmir). Now these fuckers are taking root here, backed by their Saudi pimps (America’s great ally!)
I too was skeptical of the AlQaeda connection, but ARY just reported the same thing so I’m more inclined to believe it now. But I’m reserving final judgment until I get confirmation from other sources as well.
i dont understand pakistan. They want better for themselves and they want to be able to be free, but when time is about to come. they dont stand up for the goverment. They let the government do whatever. They dont fight for themselves, and blame others, when in reality, its the uneducated citizens that get brainwashed by terror groups to fight. Education is the key, the people need education
may allah forgive ms Bhutto, and forgive her soul…amen
I just want to offer deepest sympathies to you and your Pakistani readers, I was a fan of Bhutto and was very moved by this tragedy. May her soul rest in peace.
May Allah bless her soul. Its really very sad to loose a big asset of Pakistan.
May the Almighty give the family courage and strength to carry on. Despite Benazir’s faults at various levels, she did demonstrate some intent to remedy ailments that plagued the politico at large.
Lest Benazir’s death go to waste, I wish Pakistan and her people galvanize and root out subjects against the country’s progress.
Rahul Chandran.
Al- Dawha, Qatar.
Can I ask you guys a question.
When politicians , especially American ones.. like Barack Obama say things like this:
“In comments to reporters after Barack Obama’s first speech Thursday, his chief strategist David Axelrod seemed to link Hillary Clinton’s vote on Iraq and the death of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s former prime minister. “Barack Obama had the judgment to oppose the war in Iraq. And he warned at the time that it would divert us from Afghanistan and Al Qaeda, and now we see the effect of that,” said Axelrod. ”
What are your reactions?
I’m an American white guy. What I see in that statement is an incredible amount of arrogance and condenension.
Whoever committed this crime, I’m sure they have some method to their madness.. some ultimate objective they seek to achieve over time. The statement above says to me that the politician acts as if everything that happens in the world happens because of something the US does… or something the West does… that had it not been for such actions, then the attack in Pakistan would not have happned.. It says to me that it’s not even possible for the people who did this to have done it from their own will… i find it the ultimate in disrepect.
Your ideas?
Vince, agree with you to a large extent. Ultimately, the nihilists are responsible for this act. And Pakistan has to look at why and how conservatism and extremism have grown without all the time “blaming” other people.
But, having said that, I still think we can look at political factors that have led to the growth of extremism and , therefore, the likelihood of such despicable acts occuring.
One such reason is, in my opinion Saudi funding (a more prosaic one is urbanization); and I don’t think we can ignore the backlash from funding and supporting the Taleban in the first place. Blowback. So, yeah, it might still have happened, but if America had realised that Iraq had very little to do with 9/11 or terrorism then the so-called war on terror might have taken a different turn. If instead of backing a military dictator it had realised that the only real soultion to the problems are democratic governments (even third-rate ones like Nawaz’s or B.B.’s) then I think we might have seen a different picture. Anyway, that’s all too late now.
To say that is not to make excuses for our own failings. It’s just trying to put it in some perspective.
Rahul, thanks for your comments.
Khalid: I understand your comments. Thanks.
I view all this as inevitible. I think there’s things that are done that speed it up or slow it down, but I think with time.. the trend is only for things to get worse.. much much worse.. and that it is unavoidable.
WOW, so much stuff here, an excellent blog, I like it. Thanks guys, and wish you good luck!!
I’ve been trying to compile stories and links about her death and the circumstances surrounding it because it’s good as a tribute to show thoughts about someone after she dies and it helps those left behind to understand what is going on. I feel rather disheartened that I am finding out more about Bhutto after her death than while she was living, but I suspect that the coverage has been framed that way for a reason.
The links and information provided here are much appreciated. And like many others, I wish peace for Bhutto as she rests and peace for Pakistan.
Bhutto was terminated because she was perceived as a U.S. stooge. Now, her image is blanketing our airwaves. How many foreign presidential candidates get this type of coverage? The U.S. government and the media are working in concert to generate sympathy and support for further Pakistan entanglement.
Khalid Mir wrote
“Could I just add: intolerance is not only bread by homegrown factors but ALSO by military dictators backed by western powers”
I take your point, but I am of Pakistani Kashmiri origin and I try to visit the region regularly, and we need to uncompromisingly honest about the culture and nature of political discourse there. Without trying to generalise and accepting there are nuances, it has to be said our people do not have a culture of saying ” we will agree to disagree and still remain friends” that is plainly evident even here in the UK when I hear the uncles debating ( read arguing). Until that deep seated tribal attitude to politics is exorcised I am not hopeful that the situation will be ameliorated.
Secondly I have been watching with interest the reactions of the western leaders to the murder of Benazir, because I suspected and it turned out correctly that they would only frome their responses in the light of the “war on terror”. This totally ignores the nuances of Pakistani politics and engenders a dangerous west centric view, the results of which we are reaping in Afghanistan. No thought or consideration at all is given to the best interests of the peoples of Pakistan because thier blood is not worth enough to merit their breath.
I had thought it to early to speculate on the culprits of this crime, but everyone else has thrown their hat in the ring so ill offer some thoughts. Rawalpindi is a garrison city that is home to the Army HQ, I have visited Pindi on many occassions as I have family that relocated their and relatives who serve in the army. I can tell you from personal experience that not a crow flies in Pindi without the army knowing of it, and due to the escalation on the military front it is littered with military checkpopints, with that in mind it would be quite an endeavour to pass through with explosives. I dont mean to sound conspiratorial but in Pakistani politics one can be forgiven for that crime.
Where we go from here is as unpredictable as a pakistani train.
the swiftness with which so called “islamist” connection was put up with the incident made me really question it all.
i think ppl dont need to be rocket scientist to know who benefits most out of it all.
and the way “how she died” is handled in the media, first its bullet at her chest and neck, then we heard its bomb which caused the damage, then its emerging that she died by hitting her head on some hard wall … gosh … isn’t that something.
we have infinite ways of covering the truth … and al Qaeda is another easy name to cover everything and blame anything.
what a world!
We all know how credible Al-Qaeda “claims” are. Benazir has issued a list of names, in a letter to Musharraf prior to her arrival in Pakistan. Those are the people that should be investigated. Also, there was strong security lapse both from her security advisory and from governmental agencies. Why on earth she was allowed to stand in the sun roof?
Benazir’s assassination will have deep impact on Pakistan. Government has already failed to curb the miscreants and if riots continue like that, chances of clash between PPP supporters and other political/religious parties cannot be ruled out.
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