Benazir Bhutto Dead

The latest news to come out of Pakistan confirms that Benazir Bhutto has died from injuries sustained in a suicide attack on her rally. If true and assuming it to be so, it signals a serious rise in level of conflict in Pakistan.

The signs are all there. Now there can be no short-term peace. The war in Pakistan has started. People could argue that we dont know who are the culprits and the blame cannot thus be appropriated but I am going to for the time-being assume that the culprits are the militant groups which have been so active recently. One problem however is that its been reported that she was shot in the head and neck. I am willing to accept that no one can stop a determine suicide bomber from blowing himself up but how the hell did a shooter get so close. Where was security.

The waves of suicide attacks that we saw recently are very likely to continue. Military action is not a balm that can magically wish away conflict. Its going to be a long journey.

Ms. Bhutto's death also brings into question the elections in Pakistan. The death of a leading candidate in such a brutal way brings into question how free the elections will be. Pakistan needs hope or else it could plunge deep into instability that would only bring further chaos. Of course her party could get the sympathy vote, but the question is who would be the new P.M.

Moving on,before a martyr of her is made I would like to remind the world of her legacy. As a P.M. she was once one of the most high profile
female leaders but her administration was accused of being very corrupt. She was Harvard and Oxfordeducated but during her time supported the Taliban(we all know who funded it) and also militant violence in Kashmir.

She returned from exile back to Pakistan despite obvious danger to herself. If she did it for the country ,it could be considered to be as courageous act as any possible.In fact after the earlier attack on her convoy when she had just returned, she said " I know some people will think it was naive to return to Pakistan despite death threats. But if you believe in a cause you have to pay a price... We are prepared to risk our lives. But we're not prepared to surrender this nation to militants."

But humans are more primitive. We always run after gains. The Bhutto family has played a deadly game with power, money and death. Her death could be the close of another chapter.

Benazir Bhutto followed her father into politics, and both of them died because of it - he was executed in 1979, she fell to a bomber today

Benazir Bhutto was the last remaining bearer of her late father's political legacy.

Her brother, Murtaza - who was once expected to play the role of party leader - fled to the then-communist Afghanistan after his father's fall.

From there, and various Middle Eastern capitals, he mounted a campaign against Pakistan's military government with a militant group called al-Zulfikar.

He won elections from exile in 1993 and became a provincial legislator, returning home soon afterwards, only to be shot dead under mysterious circumstances in 1996.

Benazir's other brother, Shahnawaz - also politically active but in less violent ways than Murtaza - was found dead in his French Riviera apartment in 1985.

She is survived by three children. It is a question who will be the next Bhutto to rise to center-stage

For all her faults, for all her short-comings, we in the end cannot deny her importance.The legacy she leaves behind is mixed but I hope her death galvanizes Pakistan's society against violence and the mad fire-breathing mullahs.

May Allah give peace to her soul.