The Triangle

Issue date: 1/11/08 Section: Ed-Op

Media Credit: Balkis Press Abaca Press/MCT Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan and the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state, was assassinated Dec. 27, 2007.

And so it continues. The execution of ambitious, political agendas at the expense of the common people, the destruction of peace and security worldwide, and the creation of a huge wall of hatred across the globe.

Today, we stand more fragmented than we were even before the first World War. There are more misguided leaders at the helm of nations at present, than we can handle. It won't be too implausible to say that we all might just live to witness a World War III.

With Benazir Bhutto's assassination, things aren't getting any better on the global front.

Like many other nations, Pakistan is slowly becoming an autocracy where the people lie forgotten and in misery. This murder of the twice-elected, twice-deposed former prime minister following her return from nine years of exile is not even a tragedy; it's a desecration.

It's a mockery of democracy and a violation of people's power. If there were any doubts earlier as to exactly how demoralizing her death has been for the Pakistani people, none remain after the numerous riots and clashes that erupted in the country right after.

If I summarize my reaction to Benazir Bhutto's assassination into one word, "enraged" would be it. I do not condemn it, nor am I politely disgusted, either. And here is why: India and Pakistan have been staring daggers at each other for as far back as I can remember.

We saw Pakistani leaders come and go, each with a new surge of hope that maybe this time, there will finally be peace.

Kashmir will finally be free of militants, there will be no infiltration across the "Line of Control," and prisoners of war will return home and be reunited with their loved ones.

People will be able to travel between the two countries freely to visit friends in Lahore, Peshawar, Amritsar and all those cities which were mutilated during the partition of the two countries.

This was an event that brutally tore apart a nation into two divisions, both still bearing the exposed wounds of the tragedy that haven't fully healed, or will ever heal.

Bhutto was the one who first initiated attempts to improve relations between India and Pakistan.

Continued...

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