Photo: John Moore, Getty Images
A picture of Benazir Bhutto taken moments before her assassination on stage at the campaign rally where she spoke.
The parallels and coincidences continue to multiply, the multiplication indicating the world-shattering implications of the crime. She died only yards away from where Pakistan’s first prime minister Liaqat Ali Khan, was assassinated in 1951. She was trying to unify a badly divided country. Some maintain she was shot in the head riding in a motorcade by a mysterious gunman. The number of shots and where they came from is still in dispute. Others say a suicide bomber caused her death. The government and various shadowy groups have been blamed for the crime. Flames, rioting and looting have erupted after the assassination. The name of a certain archduke who was assassinated almost a century ago keeps popping up. People will remember where they were when they first heard the news. She will forever remain a controversial figure as future generations argue over her legacy.
She once said that after her last visit with her father moments before he was hanged, nothing could be worse. Now she lies with him in the marble mausoleum where he was buried. They threw rose petals as she was buried beside him, their keening and weeping echoing off marble walls the color of the headscarf that was her trademark.
She leaves a husband and three children, the youngest fourteen years old, all whom become yet another generation heir to the violent death of a parent trying to lead their nation. She also leaves a nation and a world in chaos.
Her supporters shout, “Bhutto was alive yesterday, Bhutto is alive today.” Pray that somehow they are right.
Print Posted by: liberalamerican
