Addressing more than 5,000 supporters Thursday in Rawalpindi, opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto rejected the idea that Pakistan’s security depended on the help of foreign forces to put down resurgent militancy linked to the Taleban and Al-Qaeda in the areas bordering Afghanistan.
“Why should foreign troops come in? We can take care of this, I can take care of this, you can take care of this,” she said.
As Benazir left the rally, youths chanted her name and slogans praising her, said Sardar Qamar Hayyat, an official from her Pakistan People’s Party who was about 10 yards away.
In spite of the danger of exposure, a smiling Benazir, not being able to restrain herself, stuck her head out of the sunroof and responded, he said.
Moments later, Benazir, 54, was struck down amid scenes of blood as an unknown gunman opened fire and, according to witnesses, blew himself up, killing her and 20 other people.
“I saw a thin young man jumping toward her vehicle from the back and opening fire. Moments later, I saw her speeding vehicle going away. That was the time when I heard a blast and fell down,” said Qamar Hayyat.
President Musharraf blamed Islamic terrorists, vowing to the nation in a televised address that “we will not rest until we eliminate these terrorists and root them out.”
Across the Atlantic, US President Bush denounced the “murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan’s democracy.”
Was it because she was a woman? Were the perpetrators extremists? Did Benazir stir up a hornet’s nest by getting too close to their stronghold up in the north and pledging to root them out? Or was it a diabolical maneuver by her rivals to remove her from the scene to facilitate elections in their favor? The truth may take some time to filter out, but if indeed it was the work of extremists, then they need to be dealt with sternly — with an iron fist.
Whatever the motive, the facts indicate that a suicide had taken place following the attack, a modus operandi used in recent times by those extremists following a twisted form of ideology.
It is not just in Pakistan, but across the Middle East that this phenomenon has taken root to express opposition to a concept or idea that is not palatable to the extremist ideology. We have in our own country witnessed how terrorists try to impose their own interpretation of religion through violence resulting in the loss of many innocent lives.
Sadly, these extremists use cowardly acts to declare their opposition with no thought of the consequences of the heinous crimes they are about to commit.
Some promise them rich rewards, including a place in the Paradise, in the hereafter for such crimes! This is as far removed from the teachings of Islam as can be.
Time and time again innocent people have been killed as a result of the terrorists’ dangerous ideologies.
Let us announce it very clearly and in no uncertain terms to those contemplating such terrorist acts that it is only the doors of hell that will welcome them.
