The assassination of Benazir Bhutto
And so the horror begins, the retelling of a tale of how a former prime minister and someone who was running for elections in a country rife with political turmoil, was killed.
I had boarded the bus home, after watching Elizabeth: The Golden Age with a friend. And thanks, to the omniscient presence of TV Mobile on buses, the news came ‘live’ with startling clarity.
The reason why the news affected me was because Bhutto was one of the few female role models in politics that I had growing up. (There were only her and Margaret Thatcher).
And coming from an all-girls school background, there was no doubt that at some point of my education, the spotlight would have been thrown to them.
I remember her well, because she was articulate, charismatic and of course, always had a full face of immaculate make up.
But that was just my impression.
The media has already started to liken her death to that of the Kennedys, seeing how she hails from a political family with tragic circumstances. Her father was executed by a military dictator and her brothers were assassinated as well.
But I think the whole point of this senseless killing is that the perpetrators forget that Ms Bhutto is not just the consummate politician. She was also a mother and a wife.
And I cannot help but wonder at the thoughts that were running through the suicide bomber’s mind just before he shot her and blew himself up.
Did he even pause to think that she is just another human being, trying to get on with the struggles of everyday life?
Or was she just another object for which the ‘greater good’ could be carried out, if she was out of the picture?
Whatever the case, ‘this war on terror’ is getting tiresome and every single death added to the tally simply cheapens its cause.
I wish I can say that one day; I will look back and will be able to see how it got resolved, like the Cold War and all the other wars that have trailed history.
In the meantime, I am just keeping my fingers crossed that a bullet proof vest will not be the next fashion statement.
lilpunk said,
December 28, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Let me play devil advocate here and ask another question: did the suicide bomber think about his own family? who was he? a family man? or was he single? was he so alone in this world that he would volunteer for this horrendous mission?
this war on terror was a term coined by the Bush administration. Let’s not forget that. Terrorism has existed for decades. There hasn’t been a single year when there wasn’t some war or some form of terrorism in any part of the world. War is war. We call it terrorism only because there isn’t a clear State in which this war is being fought.
While I’ve always maintained that I admire people with conviction, I wonder why we cannot all have a conviction to solve our problems through non-violent means. I wonder, but I also know the reason. We are, by the very core of our nature, savage beasts. Tamed perhaps by our herd instincts, our need for order, and by society. But savage beasts by nature.
akiko said,
December 29, 2007 at 12:41 am
That sounds scary, savage beasts with conviction is a fearful thing.
Agreed that it is a term coined by the bush administration, but I do believe that that is what will be written in history books later on, so for simplicity’s sake, I refer to it as such.
But perhaps, I should have been explicit in my entry, when I mentioned that each death simply cheapens the cause. I meant every death on both sides. Be they Pakistani, Iraqi, American etc.
C said,
December 29, 2007 at 11:30 am
“Did he even pause to think that she is just another human being, trying to get on with the struggles of everyday life?”
No, because she was a lot more than just that, unfortunately. “Another human being” would rank pretty low on her killers’ list of reasons not to move with their plan (assuming more than one mind was at work here).
Maybe it’s always like that.
akiko said,
January 10, 2008 at 10:30 pm
C: Political motives would be worse than religious ones.
But you’re probably right that there is more than one mind at work here, so yes, it is always like that.