Assassination of any prominent political leader chills me to the bone. Not because I fear for my life. But because it’s such a chilling scenario. The moment my friend called to inform that former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated, I was shocked. Not because I sympathise with her or I am a big fan of hers, it’s just the news by itself. There is so much anarchy in Pakistan.
Despite warnings, Bhutto decided to come back to Pakistan after so many years of spending her time outside the country, and this is the reception she gets. The issue is not so much about her assassination. It’s more about the lawlessness taking control of Pakistan. When president Musharraf justified the imposition of emergency because fundamentalism (and thereby terrorism) couldn’t have been curtailed any other way, no one really believed him, including yours truly. But now, I could give that thought the benefit of doubt. Don’t know who killed Bhutto, but one thing is clear. There is an urgent need for order. But is anybody really interested? What say, George Bush?
I think that the democracy that Bhutto was supporting is one of the root causes of the instability in Pakistan. They are not ready for a democratic system; many of the people there explicitly support Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups! Democracy will only allow the well-organized radicals to rise to power among the other weak groups.