Islamabad (The Washington Post): The authorities pressured the medical personnel who tried to save Benazir Bhutto's life to remain silent about what happened in her final hour and removed records of her treatment from the facility, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. The report said doctors who were at Bhutto's side at Rawalpindi General Hospital said they were under extreme pressure not to share details about the nature of the injuries she suffered.
“The government took all medical records right after Ms. Bhutto's time of death was read out,” said a visibly shaken doctor who spoke on condition of anonymity. Sweating and putting his head in his hands, he said: “look, we have been told by the government to stop talking.” Babar Awan, a top PPP official who said he saw Bhutto's body after the attack and identified two clearly defined bullet wounds -- entry and exit points. He said the principal professor of surgery at the hospital, Mussadiq Khan, was “extremely nervous, but eventually told me that Benazir had died of a bullet wound. Why was this man so nervous?” Awan said. “He told me firsthand he was under pressure not to talk about how she died.”
Reached at his home in Islamabad, Dr Khan declined to comment.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Medical personnel pressured into silence
Benazir had 'proof' of state and agencies rigging polls
KARACHI, Jan 1 (Reuters): Benazir Bhutto was poised to reveal proof that Pakistan's election commission and shadowy spy agency were seeking to rig an upcoming general election the night she was assassinated, a top aide said Tuesday. Senator Latif Khosa, who authored a 160-page dossier with Bhutto documenting rigging tactics, said they ranged from intimidation to fake ballots, and were in some cases unwittingly funded by U.S. aid. Bhutto had been due to give the report to two visiting U.S. lawmakers over dinner on Dec. 27, the day she was killed in a suicide bombing.
“The state agencies are manipulating the whole process There is rigging by the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), the election commission and the previous government, which is still continuing to hold influence. They were on the rampage” Khosa, a top Bhutto aide and head of her Pakistan People's Party election monitoring unit, told Reuters.
Autumn Today, Spring Tomorrow
A great poet manages always to stay true. Who knows what Ghalib had on his mind when he wrote immortal lines. But, for many days, as my pen reclines achingly in its resting place, as if stiff from bleeding, and my fingers refuse to move, as if hurt, nothing describes my situation better than this line from Ghalib
Ungliyan figaar apni khama khun-chukan apna - Ghalib
(My fingers are broken, my pen bloodied!)
Up in the sky, I see a silver lining flicker. Somewhere in the dark thickness of the clouds, there is a fleeting glimmer, not much but quite enough to spark hope. Hope is perhaps easier to spark among those of us raised in the faith that destiny is divinely decreed and embodies His transcendent wisdom. May be, it is only that we have been trained to see good emerging out of every incident, no matter how appalling and shocking that incident itself is.
One way or the other, I see hope gushing out after a period of dryness. My pen is healing now and my fingers are flowing. May be, you didn’t notice it but the truth is that the days are now growing longer and brighter, nights are on a retreat and it is not getting colder any more. True, the trees have bare branches and roses have all but withered, but then what is autumn but the harbinger of another spring. With the falling of every leaf, and the withering of every petal, another spring draws nigh. In my mind’s eye, I can already see the day when, at the onset of early spring, glacial streams will gush through their narrow courses and roll down to swell the mighty Indus. Very soon, the face of the earth will be green again.
They are wrong when they say that the passing away of a great national leader means the 'death of democracy' in this country. They are wrong when they say that there is no hope now. This last year, the year two-thousand-and-seven, has proven them wrong. The suffering of countless souls who braved everything from torture, beating, imprisonment and betrayal, has done a service which no one else did to this country: they won the hearts and minds of the masses for this cause, even if they couldn’t get them to participate in this movement. If the opinion polls are anything to go by, more than 80% of the country has shown its commitment to the rule of law and democracy – an unprecedented level of support, even when compared with democratic times. Perhaps a martyr's blood will tip the scales even further.
A year ago, the prospect of toppling the dictator seemed half as real and imminent as it does today. Back then, continuing with the status quo seemed quite possible. Today, however, in the wake of Benazir's sad demise, its violent aftermath, and the PPP’s reaffirmation of its commitment to Pakistan's solidarity - the army and the US are left with little choice but to dispense with the dictator. With the grim images of riotous street agitation still vivid in memories, it seems unlikely if anyone will risk subverting the elections by massive rigging. The message is clear: People’s will cannot be subverted anymore, if the country is to survive. If free and fair elections happen, the King's party is on the way out and the PPP will soon be in government. The PPP's share is likely to be bolstered by the sacrifice of its leader and King's party is likely to slip further. Therefore, the specter of a hung parliament seems less real.
The failure of the electoral process in the nineties was due, among other factors, to the immense polarization between major political parties. The fairly convivial electioneering and Nawaz Sharif’s grand gestures of solidarity at Benazir's death show that the country's biggest political parties have finally realized their true competition is not with each other but with the army and the establishment who will always try to scuttle democracy by discrediting politicians. How can one not be heartened at the sight of Mr. Sharif - not long ago quite unsupportive of the rule of law and media freedom - going now from one corner of the country to the other, campaigning for these very slogans? The politicians, for all their weaknesses, have proven themselves dynamic, quick learners.
One can also hope that, with the passing of a major figure who epitomized the politics of deal-making and compromise, more principled and idealistic politics will come to prevail in Pakistan's political arena. In the absence of towering sagacious figures, resort will have to be made to the counsel of the collectivity. The charisma of the Bhuttos would be an asset for any political party, but democracy cannot be about perpetuating dynasties. No matter how much you love someone, you just can’t play with the most fundamental distinction between democracy and monarchy. Without intending it, top leadership of the PPP has now gotten a chance to break the stranglehold of one family over their party – to show to the people that their party is not all about one family; rather, it is about the principles stated in their manifesto. For party stalwarts like Aitzaz Ahsan, who stood for principles but couldn't steer their parties away from sheer opportunism, now is the time to act; and act they will.
One cannot talk about the year two-thousand-and-seven without mentioning the countless heroes it has produced from amongst the ranks of the judiciary. Not long ago, the bench was a stronghold of the cowardly and the compromised. Never before did the judges rise up in large numbers and if ever any did, no one came to rally behind them. This year, when the call came, dozens upon dozens stood up to defy oppression and, two months down the lane, they are still standing. Not for one moment did they stand alone: they stand on the shoulders of hundreds of thousands of lawyers, political activists, students and other members of the civil society. The elections and their tragic prelude do nothing to dampen this cause. When a popular government is there in the halls of power – a prospect that now seems imminent – the cry for rule of law and freedom will again be raised, with at least as much support, if not more. This time round, it will have to be heard.
In its last hour, as I think about the happenings of this year and all the tragedies that have recently befallen us, I still cannot deny myself this feeling of hope. May be it is the stars inspiring me or the elation of having written so many words, after so long. May be, it is simply the hope that a man of faith must always have. I share this hope in the honest belief that it will avail others who may need it in these testing times.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Video of Benazir's last few seconds
Video clearly showing Benazir getting shot by assassin before the bomb. Lays waste to government claims that she did not die of bullet wounds.
Channel 4 also has exclusive footage showing the point at which the shots were fired at the former premier. It can be seen here: http://www.channel4.com/player/v2/player.jsp?showId=10619#
Benazir takes four names in letter
It is being revealed that Benazir Bhutto has named former Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Elahi, former Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Intelligence Bureau chief Ijaz Shah and ex-ISI chief Hameed Gul as possible suspects in her assassination in a letter written before her death. This letter was written before her arrival in Karachi on October 18th and after the bomb blast, she told the media that she had told President General Retired Musharraf about a few names but did not disclose them.
The general assumptions amongst the intelligentsia of Pakistan stand to be spot on. Not a name more and not a name less. Did they have a hand in December 27th assassinations?
Our Darkest Hour
This is perhaps the darkest hour in our nation's sad history. The Concerned Citizens of Pakistan, mourn the loss of Benazir Bhutto - as we all do, regardless of agreement or disagreement with her politics - and send our deepest condolences to her family. At this time, we would do well to remember the words of her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in his letter to Benazir from his death cell:
"Tin-pot dictators have ravaged Asia, Latin America and Africa... They are the worst tyrants of the post-colonial period. They have destroyed time-honoured institutions and treated their people like animals. They have caused internal divisions and external confusion. The dictator is the one animal who needs to be caged. He betrays his profession and his constitution. He betrays the people and destroys human values. He destroys culture. He binds the youth. He makes the structure collapse. He rules by fluke and freak. He is the scourge and the ogre. He is a leper. Anyone who touches him also becomes a leper. He is the upstart who is devoid of ideals and ideology. Not a single one of them has made a moment's contribution to history."
Following the tragic assassination of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, we have been plunged into a crisis whose proportions are difficult to exaggerate. Because of the divisive policies of one dictator and his refusal to back down, the country is on the verge of descending into complete chaos. To resolve the crisis and pull the country back from the brink of disaster, the Concerned Citizens of Pakistan demand the following:
1. Musharraf should step down immediately, and hand over power to a National Government, formed by the consensus of all major political parties and drawn from all Provinces of the country. The National Government should be headed by a neutral icon such as Justice (R) Wajihuddin Ahmed or Rana Bhagwandas.
2. The Judiciary be immediately reinstated as it stood on November 2, 2007.
3. Curbs imposed on the media be immediately removed.
4. A new and truly independent Election Commission be constituted.
5. Free and Fair Elections be conducted within 90 days, with complete freedom for international observers and independent exit polls.
In Mourning and Complete Solidarity,
Concerned Citizens of Pakistan (CCP)
The Flag's Complaint
Mobile phone pictures reveal Benazir was shot before the blast
(Courtesy Teeth Maestro - http://www.teeth.com.pk/blog/2007/12/29/mobile-pictures-benazir-was-defintely-shot-dead-before-the-blast/)
On contacting him today he claimed that he was a PPP supporter and his party had instructed him not to share this with anyone. Later when a news reporter tried contacting him, his cell phone was switched off. I have two images to share with you which were initially taken off his Orkut Profile.
The next image is just after the gun shots which were fired from the left but moments before the bomb blast. Here we see Benazir Bhutto not on the sunroof of the car most likely already shot and injured slumped inside
I sadly do not have the original video, though I tried very hard to get it. A source was in direct contact with the cameraman who actually shot the video and later uploaded the screen captures to show that he means serious business. He claimed to be in the security detail with Benazir Bhutto was riding on her car barely five minutes earlier but had to jump off as she exited the Liaquat Bagh venue. He was finding it difficult to upload the 56MB video file online so was ready to allow someone to help him get it readily available. Today morning he said that his cell phone was ringing off the hook with people clambering in the hunt for the video, hence forth he turned his cell phone off and had even removed the images from his Orkut profile.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to head PPP
(Courtesy Geo News)
NAUDERO: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the party of Pakistan's murdered opposition leader Benazir Bhutto named her 19-year-old son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as its new leader Sunday and announced it would contest upcoming general elections.
Bilawal Bhutto, a student at Britain's Oxford University, was named party chairman at an emergency meeting, taking the reins of the party formerly led by his mother and grandfather, both of whom met violent deaths.
The party also appointed Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari as co-chairman, and called for a United Nations probe into the circumstances of her slaying in a gun and suicide bomb attack Thursday. "Democracy is the best revenge," Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told a chaotic news conference in the Bhutto family's ancestral home here, vowing the party's "long and historic struggle for democracy will continue with a new vigour."
Asif Zardari said the Pakistan People's Party would take part in the scheduled January 8 parliamentary elections, seen as a key step in Pakistan's transition to civilian democracy. "We will go to elections," he told reporters. The decisions came just three days after Bhutto's assassination at a rally stunned the nuclear-armed nation and left a void at the head of the PPP, the country's largest political party.
Taking part in the election has the potential to restore some much-needed stability after the street violence triggered by her slaying that has left at least 38 people dead. The PPP meeting in the Bhutto family's ancestral home in Naudero, deep in southern Pakistan, began amid emotional scenes as thousands of mourners beat their chests in grief and denounced President Pervez Musharraf. "
Bilawal is the new chairman of the party and Asif Ali Zardari will assist him as co-chairman," a party official said. It means the party leadership follows the bloodline for a third generation, some four decades after it was founded by Bilawal's grandfather Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, a prime minister who was ousted and later hanged by the military.
Political commentator Najam Sethi said Zardari would "run the show to keep the place warm" for Bilawal, much like India's Sonia Gandhi for her son Rahul. PPP vice president Makhdoom Amin Fahim and its Punjab provincial president Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi will sit on a "advisory council" for their young leader, party officials said.
State's claims regarding assassination denied
Pakistan 's interior ministry said intelligence intercepts showed that al-Qaeda were behind the killing [AFP]
The commander of a pro-Taliban group in Pakistan has told news agencies by phone that Baitullah Mehsud, another pro-Taliban figure, denies any involvement in Benazir Bhutto's death.
Maulana Omar said on Saturday: "He [Mehsud] had no involvement in this attack. This is a conspiracy of the government, army and intelligence agencies."
A Pakistani official had said on Friday it had evidence that Mehsud was responsible for the death of Bhutto, a former prime minister. Javed Cheema, an interior ministry spokesman, said: "We have intelligence intercepts indicating that al-Qaeda leader Baitullah Mehsud is behind her assassination."
The claim was made as Bhutto was buried in her ancestral village in the province of Sindh against a backdrop of continued violence, with the death toll from disturbances rising to 31.
Cheema also said Bhutto died from injuries caused by hitting her head on her car's sunroof as she came under fire, rather than from bullet wounds or shrapnel.
Contradicting the official account, a close Bhutto aide told the media on Saturday that she saw a bullet wound in the head when she bathed Bhutto's body after her assassination. "I was actually part of the party which bathed her body before the funeral," said Sherry Rehman, who served as Bhutto's spokeswoman and who was in the motorcade at the time of the attack. "There was a bullet wound I saw that went in from the back of her head and came out the other side. "We could not even wash her properly because the wound was still seeping. She lost a huge amount of blood."
Rehman said: "The hospital was made to change its statement. They never gave a proper report. ... "This is ridiculous, dangerous nonsense because it is a cover-up of what actually happened." Earlier reports said Bhutto was gunned down by an assassin. The assassin then blew himself up in an attack that killed a total of 16 people at the end of an election campaign rally in Rawalpindi on Thursday. While pointing the finger at al-Qaeda, Cheema said Mehsud was also behind a suicide attack on a Bhutto rally in October that left 140 dead.
Pakistani authorities say Mehsud is based in the tribal region of South Waziristan.
Cheema's claim that Bhutto's death was not caused by bullet wounds but by head injuries was described as "a pack of lies" by an aide of the slain politician. Farooq Naik, a senior official in Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), said: "Two bullets hit her, one in the abdomen and one in the head. "It is an irreparable loss and they are turning it into a joke with such claims. The country is heading towards civil war."
Farhatullah Babar, a another PPP spokesman, said on Saturday: "The story that al-Qaeda or Baitullah Mehsud did it appears to us to be a planted story, an incorrect story, because they want to divert the attention." He said Bhutto had earlier told the government of "elements" other than al-Qaeda that she thought could be a threat to her, but officials never investigated. Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's Pakistan correspondent, said people were asking why the car in which Bhutto was travelling was not damaged by the fatal attack. "A lot of people in Pakistan believe there may be some kind of conspiracy behind the assassination," he said.
Questions have also been raised as to why the scene of the attack that killed Bhutto was hosed down by the authorities soon after the blast, a move that may have destroyed valuable evidence.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
A Tragedy born of military despotism and anarchy
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto heaps despair upon Pakistan. Now her party must be democratically rebuilt
Tariq Ali
Friday December 28, 2007
The Guardian
Even those of us sharply critical of Benazir Bhutto's behaviour and policies - both while she was in office and more recently - are stunned and angered by her death. Indignation and fear stalk the country once again.
An odd coexistence of military despotism and anarchy created the conditions leading to her assassination in Rawalpindi yesterday. In the past, military rule was designed to preserve order - and did so for a few years. No longer. Today it creates disorder and promotes lawlessness. How else can one explain the sacking of the chief justice and eight other judges of the country's supreme court for attempting to hold the government's intelligence agencies and the police accountable to courts of law? Their replacements lack the backbone to do anything, let alone conduct a proper inquest into the misdeeds of the agencies to uncover the truth behind the carefully organised killing of a major political leader.
How can Pakistan today be anything but a conflagration of despair? It is assumed that the killers were jihadi fanatics. This may well be true, but were they acting on their own?
Benazir, according to those close to her, had been tempted to boycott the fake elections, but she lacked the political courage to defy Washington. She had plenty of physical courage, and refused to be cowed by threats from local opponents. She had been addressing an election rally in Liaquat Bagh. This is a popular space named after the country's first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, who was killed by an assassin in 1953. The killer, Said Akbar, was immediately shot dead on the orders of a police officer involved in the plot. Not far from here, there once stood a colonial structure where nationalists were imprisoned. This was Rawalpindi jail. It was here that Benazir's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was hanged in April 1979. The military tyrant responsible for his judicial murder made sure the site of the tragedy was destroyed as well.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's death poisoned relations between his Pakistan People's party and the army. Party activists, particularly in the province of Sind, were brutally tortured, humiliated and, sometimes, disappeared or killed.
Pakistan's turbulent history, a result of continuous military rule and unpopular global alliances, confronts the ruling elite now with serious choices. They appear to have no positive aims. The overwhelming majority of the country disapproves of the government's foreign policy. They are angered by its lack of a serious domestic policy except for further enriching a callous and greedy elite that includes a swollen, parasitic military. Now they watch helplessly as politicians are shot dead in front of them.
Benazir had survived the bomb blast yesterday but was felled by bullets fired at her car. The assassins, mindful of their failure in Karachi a month ago, had taken out a double insurance this time. They wanted her dead. It is impossible for even a rigged election to take place now. It will have to be postponed, and the military high command is no doubt contemplating another dose of army rule if the situation gets worse, which could easily happen.
What has happened is a multilayered tragedy. It's a tragedy for a country on a road to more disasters. Torrents and foaming cataracts lie ahead. And it is a personal tragedy. The house of Bhutto has lost another member. Father, two sons and now a daughter have all died unnatural deaths.
I first met Benazir at her father's house in Karachi when she was a fun-loving teenager, and later at Oxford. She was not a natural politician and had always wanted to be a diplomat, but history and personal tragedy pushed in the other direction. Her father's death transformed her. She had become a new person, determined to take on the military dictator of that time. She had moved to a tiny flat in London, where we would endlessly discuss the future of the country. She would agree that land reforms, mass education programmes, a health service and an independent foreign policy were positive constructive aims and crucial if the country was to be saved from the vultures in and out of uniform. Her constituency was the poor, and she was proud of the fact.
She changed again after becoming prime minister. In the early days, we would argue and in response to my numerous complaints - all she would say was that the world had changed. She couldn't be on the "wrong side" of history. And so, like many others, she made her peace with Washington. It was this that finally led to the deal with Musharraf and her return home after more than a decade in exile. On a number of occasions she told me that she did not fear death. It was one of the dangers of playing politics in Pakistan.
It is difficult to imagine any good coming out of this tragedy, but there is one possibility. Pakistan desperately needs a political party that can speak for the social needs of a bulk of the people. The People's party founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was built by the activists of the only popular mass movement the country has known: students, peasants and workers who fought for three months in 1968-69 to topple the country's first military dictator. They saw it as their party, and that feeling persists in some parts of the country to this day, despite everything.
Benazir's horrific death should give her colleagues pause for reflection. To be dependent on a person or a family may be necessary at certain times, but it is a structural weakness, not a strength for a political organisation. The People's party needs to be refounded as a modern and democratic organisation, open to honest debate and discussion, defending social and human rights, uniting the many disparate groups and individuals in Pakistan desperate for any halfway decent alternative, and coming forward with concrete proposals to stabilise occupied and war-torn Afghanistan. This can and should be done. The Bhutto family should not be asked for any more sacrifices.
Student Action Committee calls for independent inquiry
After multiple contradictory statements by the establishment, the local and international media and the PPP spokespersons, the Student Action Committee (Lahore) denounces the methodology adopted by the authorities to investigate Benazir Bhutto's assassination The latest statement by the Interior Ministry which, claims Benazir Bhutto lost her life due to a head injury sustained by hitting the sunroof lies in direct contradiction to Sherry Rehman's (who was with the deceased leader at the time) chronology of events. This glaring discrepancy highlights the need of a thorough independent investigation committee which SAC (Lahore) demands. Premature statements regarding the cause of her demise or the identification of those who choreographed the assassination should be avoided and are reflecting the establishment's haste to purge its self of any responsibility of the tragic events that transpired. SAC (Lahore) would like to remind the authorities that alongside the PPP leader, 20 other lives were lost and all deserve to be laid to rest with the knowledge the efficient and legal steps will be taken to bring to light what exactly transpired at LiaqatBagh, Rawalpindi. The establishment did not honor those who lost their lives when Benazir Bhutto's convoy was bombed earlier in Karachi by a thorough investigation: this assassination should not follow the same trend. The Student Action Committee will make every effort to help this country go through these dark uncertain times. The SAC (Lahore) continues to stand firm on principles and remains unaligned with any political party.
Turmoil following the assassination
38 people killed
53 people injured
173 banks torched completely
26 banks damaged
158 offices torched and burnt completely
23 offices damaged
24 petrol pumps burnt
2 petrol pumps damaged
370 cars completely burnt
61 cars damaged
72 trains coaches torched completely
18 railway station burnt completely
4 station damaged
765 shops burnt completely
19 offices/shops damaged partially
Friday, December 28, 2007
Chaos in the streets of Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Angry supporters of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto took to the streets of Pakistani cities on Thursday, from the Himalayas to the southern coast. The unrest was predictably fiercest in Bhutto's native Sindh province and its capital, Karachi. “Police in Sindh have been put on red alert,” said a senior police official. “We have increased deployment and are patrolling in all the towns and cities, as there is trouble almost everywhere,” he said.
Reports said security was deteriorating in Karachi, where thousands poured on to the streets to protest. At least three banks, a government office and a post office were set on fire, a witness said. Tyres were set on fire on many roads, and shooting and stone-throwing was reported in many places. Most shops and markets in the city shut down. At least 20 vehicles were torched in Sindh’s second biggest town of Hyderabad.
There were also small protests in Rawalpindi and the nearby capital, Islamabad. Protesters blocked roads with burning tyres and chanted anti-Musharraf slogans in Muzaffarabad, capital of Azad Kashmir. Police said they had been ordered to block the main road between Punjab province and Sindh province, apparently to stop the movement of protesters. Disturbances were also reported in the southeastern city of Multan, although details were sketchy. In Lahore, capital of Punjab province, Bhutto party workers burnt three buses and damaged several other vehicles, police said.
Nawaz announces poll boycott in wake of assassination
ISLAMABAD, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Pakistani opposition leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday his party would boycott a Jan. 8 general election because of the assassination of another opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto. “The PML (N) is boycotting the election after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto,” Sharif told a news conference in Islamabad. “Free elections are not possible in the presence of Musharraf,” he said. “Musharraf is the root cause of all problems.” Old rivals Bhutto, also a former prime minister, and Sharif had recently cooperated in their opposition to Musharraf.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Mobs take to streets in cities of Pakistan
Angry supporters of Benazir Bhutto have taken to the streets in Rawalpindi and Lahore, and other cities, setting fire to public transport vehicles, cars and shops. There are reports of intense rioting in Firdaus Market and Model Town in Lahore and Murree Road in Rawalpindi. Many banners and posters of PML-Q candidates have been set on fire. Similar reports are coming in from all parts of the country, including Sukkur, Larkana, Hyderabad, Jacobabad, Peshawar.
Karachi engulfed in chaos following assassination
Karachiites experienced chaos as angry mobs set ablaze scores of public and private vehicles, and set fires to all major roads after the news of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's assasination. PPP supporters also fired shots in the air which created panic, resulting in severe traffic jams. Korangi Road, Shahra-e-Faisal, University Road, M.A..Jinnah Road, Shahra-e-Pakistan, Shaheed-e-Millat Road were worst affected.
LUMS Students strongly condemn Benazir's assassination
Student Action Committee condemns assassination
The Student Action Committee Lahore condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the mindless murder of Benazir Bhutto and the other innocent victims of this tragic incident. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families and mourners; we grieve alongside them in this hour of catastrophe. The state has once again proved criminally inept in providing for the security and safety of the citizens and leaders of this country. However, we ask the people to show restraint and not turn against each other. This is a moment where the nation must stand together. We must not let the perpetrators of this horrendous act succeed in dividing us. The SAC ( Lahore) calls upon the country to unite in the condemnation of this assassination and realize that now is the time to take our country back from those who have brought it to the brink of failure.
Benazir Bhutto assasinated
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AFP) — Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a suicide attack on Thursday, just two months after the former premier returned from exile for a political comeback.Bhutto, a two-time former prime minister, had just addressed a campaign rally for next month's parliamentary elections when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the venue, killing her and at least 10 other people. There were unconfirmed reports that the attacker had also opened fire on her with a weapon before the explosion."
It may have been pellets packed into the suicide bomber's vest that hit her," interior ministry spokesman Javed Cheema told AFP.
It was the second suicide attack at a Bhutto event since she had returned from exile in October, aiming to contest the elections, and comes amid an unprecedented wave of violence in the country.
The deadliest terror attack in Pakistan's history targetted her homecoming rally just hours after her return, leaving 139 people dead.After that attack, authorities repeatedly warned her they had information that Islamic militants were trying to killer her.
Government officials said President Pervez Musharraf had been privately told of her death.
(At this tragic moment in the history of Pakistan, we at the Emergency Times are shocked beyond words at this intolerable and brutal act of the murder, along with others, of possibly the most popular leader of our country. No words can adequately condemn this barbaric act, which can only lead to more death and destruction for this tortured land. Her death will leave a gaping chasm in our country's leadership. One can only hope, beyond hope, that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
May God help us all.)
