Compiled by Beena Sarwar

Benazir Bhutto – the ultimate sacrifice

LAHORE (Dec 27): Benazir Bhutto has paid the heaviest price possible for her insistence on engaging in participatory, democratic politics in Pakistan. Bhutto was killed on Thursday evening in what was apparently a suicide bombing following gunshots that injured her as she was leaving a pre-election rally she had just addressed in the garrison town of Rawalpindi.

Twice-elected former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the 54-year old mother of three children, died in hospital in Rawalpindi at about 6.15 pm – barely an hour after an unidentified man fired shots at her as she left the rally venue, a fenced off park, before blowing himself up. Some twenty others were killed and dozens more injured.

"She feared something like this would happen, but she was so brave," said PPP spokesperson Farhatullah Babar, who was with Benazir Bhutto at the rally minutes before the tragedy struck, speaking to IPS from Rawalpindi shortly before Bhutto's body was transferred to her hometown Larkana on a C-130 plane. "She waved at the people, and then there was firing and the blast."

"I don't think people realize this, but she was one of the last hopes we had in Pakistan for a peaceful transition to democracy," said Karachi-based economist Haris Gazdar, who supported Bhutto's much-criticised `deal' with the military government that allowed her to return to the country and participate in politics.

President and Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf's National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) promulgated on Oct. 5, a day before the presidential elections that he was a nominee for despite being in military uniform, gave Bhutto immunity against corruption charges brought against her after she was ousted from power in 1996 (none of these charges were proved in court). In return, her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) lent the election legitimacy by abstaining from the vote – the rest of the opposition boycotted the proceedings.

Explaining his support for Bhutto, Gazdar added, "The Americans think we are a dangerous state, and they want to come and sort things out here. This was a chance to do this peacefully… Make no mistake about it, the state is responsible for her death. They may think that by removing the vehicle for a peaceful change, they can stop the change. But that will not happen. Now that the peaceful mediator has been killed, they (Americans) will use armed force."

"I was nine when ZAB was killed by a General. Now my son is nine and another general has killed his daughter. I grew up with Benazir. It's a personal loss. I want to cry forever," text-messaged a lawyer in Lahore. The military regime of General Ziaul Haq overthrew and later executed the democratically elected prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), Benazir's father, in 1979.

News of the tragic incident ignited violence all over the country, particularly in Sindh, Bhutto's home province. "They've shut down all the shops, and there is firing all around," said Abdul Jabbar who works as a driver in the Sindh capital and Pakistan's largest city and business center Karachi. "People are just overcome with grief."

By 9 pm, violence had claimed at least five lives in Karachi. Protestors in Sindh 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.

Benazir Bhutto had chosen to return to Pakistan after almost nine years of exile, leaving a comfortable life of exile in London and Dubai, defying warnings by Musharraf to delay her arrival due to the danger of suicide attacks.

"This is why I am here," she said, radiant atop her armoured truck soon after her arrival from Dubai at Karachi on Oct 18. Waving to the sea of people that surrounded her truck as far as the eye could see, she added as thousands of arms rose in response, "These people are the reason I am here."

Hours later, her slow-moving convoy bogged down by thousands of exuberant supporters on foot had only covered a few kilometers when two bombs struck soon after midnight. Initially thought to be a suicide attack, the blasts claimed over 130 lives and 500 injuries.

Addressing a press conference the following day, a defiant Bhutto implied the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in the attacks by mentioning three anonymous men whom she said she had named in a letter of Oct 16 to Musharraf. "I said that if something happens to me, I will hold them responsible rather than militant groups like the Taliban, Al Qaeda or the Pakistani Taliban."

The PPP also demanded the removal of the Intelligence Bureau chief, Ijaz Shah, hinting at Pakistani intelligence agencies' linkage with militancy. Bhutto's later claim that the Oct 18 blasts were remote- controlled further implied the involvement of forces other than the `religious militants' who are traditionally held responsible for such acts.

Despite the threats, Bhutto hit the campaign trail after the Election Commission announced on Nov 20 that polls would be held on January 8, 2008. With elections barely two weeks away, Bhutto was engaged in a series of public rallies around the country. Also on the campaign trail was her major political rival, another twice-elected former prime minster who like Bhutto had recently returned from several years of exile, Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Despite their political rivalry, the two leaders had developed what Sharif termed as a "rapport" over the last couple of years. In May 2006, the two exiled leaders in London signed a Charter of Democracy aimed at pushing the military out of Pakistani politics.

Speaking to the media from the hospital in Rawalpindi where he arrived soon after hearing of the incident, Bhutto's death, Sharif termed it as "very tragic". He said that the tragedy reflected a "lapse in security" and said that the government should have taken greater measures to protect her.

As they embarked on their election campaigns, the two leaders drew huge crowds marked by a passion that the `kings' party', the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) was unable to muster. The campaigning was also marked by violence. Several political workers, mostly PPP, died in various incidents. On Dec 20, a suicide bomb in a mosque in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) killed over 20 people and injured 200 in an attack apparently aimed at former PPP stalwart and ex-interior minister Aftab Sherpao. On Dec 27, barely three hours before the blast that killed Bhutto, gunfire killed four PML-N supporters in a welcome rally for Nawaz Sharif outside the capital city Islamabad.

Bhutto's decision to contest elections "under protest" went against the move to boycott the polls, initiated by `civil society' -- lawyers, students, human rights activists, non-government organisations and the smaller political parties – who argued that participating in the elections would only legitimize Musharraf's role in Pakistani politics. Bhutto maintained that a boycott would not solve anything. Her stand forced Sharif to reconsider his initial position and announce that his party would contest rather than boycotting the polls.

The participation of these political forces posed a major challenge to the PML-Q which ruled the roost along with Musharraf for five years since the 2002 general elections – that Bhutto and Sharif had both been barred from contesting. Democratic electoral politics were also expected to push back the `jihadists', the right-wing religious parties who had joined hands as the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and made significant electoral inroads during the 2002 elections. MMA was also weakened by internal divisions as some of its components were in the boycott camp while others were contesting elections.

Bhutto's assassination "sends a very frightening signal to those who aim to pursue liberal politics in Pakistan," commented Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan-based South Asia Researcher for Human Rights Watch. "This will leave a huge vacuum at the heard of Pakistani politics. It is the most significant political event to happen in Pakistan since the death of General Zia." Gen. Zia's death in 1988 had paved the way for fresh elections that brought Benazir Bhutto into power as the world's first Muslim woman prime minister. Condoling with Bhutto's family and other affected people in a brief, televised address, President Musharraf announced a three-day mourning period during which the Pakistani flag will be flown at half-mast.

"It is important now for Asif Ali Zardari (Bhutto's husband) to call for peace, and to give Benazir Bhutto a decent burial that she deserves," said Nusrat Javeed, the banned head of current affairs for Aaj Television who appeared in a special transmission along with another banned host, Talat Hussain. "We need to sit and think, and transform the grief and the anger into strength."