Bhutto is dead
I feel as if I've been hit on the head with a hammer. Benazir Bhutto, head of the PPP, was assassinated at an election rally in Rawalpindi. It shouldn't come as a surprise; nevertheless, I am in shock.
I realize she was corrupt (what politician isn't?), but I liked her. I believed in her. And how amazing was it, would it have been, to have a moderate, modern woman in charge of a Muslim country?
Part of me wants to yell at her, tell that she should have listened, stayed away, stayed safe until the elections. But she clearly felt like she had to defy extremism, to the very end.
I don't know what will happen in Pakistan now. I'm not sure I even want to speculate on the country's future. Maybe Nawaz Sharif will become prime minister. Maybe things will turn out alright for peace and democracy. But Pakistan and the world have clearly lost an important and charismatic leader who believed in those things.
I realize she was corrupt (what politician isn't?), but I liked her. I believed in her. And how amazing was it, would it have been, to have a moderate, modern woman in charge of a Muslim country?
Part of me wants to yell at her, tell that she should have listened, stayed away, stayed safe until the elections. But she clearly felt like she had to defy extremism, to the very end.
I don't know what will happen in Pakistan now. I'm not sure I even want to speculate on the country's future. Maybe Nawaz Sharif will become prime minister. Maybe things will turn out alright for peace and democracy. But Pakistan and the world have clearly lost an important and charismatic leader who believed in those things.