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In the previous article we wrote about the life of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto. In this article, let’s focus on the Assassination of Benazir Bhutto and its aftermath. We will start with events leading up to the assassination, the assassination itself, and lastly my final thoughts on what the Bhutto assassination has meant. It was almost an inevitability as it was the second attempt on her life within a period of only weeks. Of this I am sure, even with disagreements on her legacy, she was definitely a courageous woman.

The events leading up to Benazir’s death is clear, but the assassination itself as well as to who were behind the attack is still being debated. New reports have surfaced, but in my view, none will be credible until an independent investigation is made, including that of an independent autopsy (Bhutto’s husband didn’t allow an autopsy).

Events Before The Assassination

In order to realize exactly why Benazir Bhutto was even at risk of being assassinated, we must understand the events leading up to the attack on her life, and the state of Pakistan itself. Here’s a timeline:

1999 Pervez Musharraf came to power through a coup d’état and declared himself Chief Executive. In 2001, Musharraf appointed himself to the office of President of Pakistan. Thus, he held the two positions of Army Chief and President at the same time.

October 2002 General elections were held, where most of the seats in the Parliament were won by a pro-Musharraf party. Musharraf kept politics in play in order to convince other parties to support him which paved way for the Seventeenth Amendment of their constitution which legitimized Musharraf’s rise to power and the individual Presidential Decrees made, including making himself President and concurrent chief of military.

March 9, 2007, Musharraf suspended the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, this caused protests among Pakistani lawyers.

March 12, 2007, lawyers across Pakistan began boycotting all court procedures in protest against the suspension.

March 16, demonstrations grew and more individuals and protesters joined. Eventually the protests became violent as they clashed with police and military. It wasn’t until July 20, that the Supreme Court reinstated Chaudhry. and also dismissed misconduct charges that Musharraf filed against him.

July 2007, some of Bhutto’s frozen funds were released. Bhutto continued to face significant charges of corruption. In an 8 August 2007 interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Bhutto revealed the meeting focused on her desire to return to Pakistan for the 2008 elections, and of Musharraf retaining the Presidency with Bhutto as Prime Minister.

August 29, 2007, Bhutto announced that Musharraf would step down as chief of the army.

September 1, 2007, Bhutto vowed to return to Pakistan “very soon”, regardless of whether or not a power-sharing deal with Musharraf was reached.

September 17, 2007, Bhutto accused Musharraf’s allies of pushing Pakistan into crisis by their refusal to permit democratic reforms and power-sharing. A nine-member panel of Supreme Court judges deliberated on six petitions asserting that Musharraf be disqualified from contending for the presidency of Pakistan.

October 5, 2007, Musharraf signed the National Reconciliation Ordinance, giving amnesty to Bhutto and other political leaders—except exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif—in all court cases against them, including all corruption charges. This deal was made in the light that Bhutto and her party the PPP would not boycott the Presidential elections.

October 6, 2007, Musharraf won a parliamentary election for President. However, the Supreme Court ruled that no winner can be officially proclaimed until it finishes deciding on whether it was legal for Musharraf to run for President while remaining Army General.

October 18, 2007, Bhutto returns to Karachi, Pakistan to prepare for the 2008 national elections.

October 18, 2007 While going en route to a rally in Karachi, two explosions occurred shortly after Bhutto had landed and left Jinnah International Airport. The suicide bomb attack killed 136 people and injured at least 450. Bhutto was not injured.

November 3, 2007, only days before a bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan was to decide on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of Musharraf’s re-election as president in the controversial October 2007 elections, Musharraf declared a state of emergency, suspended the consitution and jailed several justices and lawyers of the supreme court including Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Pervez Musharraf also ordered the arrest of political opponents, protesters, and human rights activists. He also shut down all private television channels. Benazir Bhutto who was in travel, but suspended it and returned to Pakistan despite the risk to her life due to the declaration of state of emergency.

November 8, 2007, Bhutto was placed under house arrest just a few hours before she was about to lead a rally protesting the state of emergency. Bhutto’s arrest warrant would be lifted the day after.

November 24, 2007, Bhutto filed her nomination papers for January’s Parliamentary elections

November 30, 2007, Pervez Musharraf was sworn in again as President after relinquishing his post as chief of Pakistan’s Military.

December 4, 2007, Bhutto met with Nawaz Sharif to publicize their demand that Musharraf fulfill his promise to lift the state of emergency before January’s parliamentary elections, threatening to boycott the vote if he failed to comply. They promised to assemble a committee which would present to Musharraf the list of demands upon which their participation in the election was contingent.

December 15, 2007 State of Emergency was lifted

THE ASSASSINATION

December 27, 2007, Bhutto was killed while leaving a campaign rally for the PPP in Rawalpindi. When she stood up through her protected vehicle’s sunroof to wave to the crowd, gunshots were heard and a huge explosion occurred killing approximately 20 people. Bhutto was critically wounded and was rushed to Rawalpindi General Hospital. She was taken into surgery at 5:35 pm local time, and pronounced dead at 6:16 pm.

The Assassination itself is also clouded in mystery even though we saw it being played out on video in different news agencies throughout the world. The problem is that the video is inconclusive except for two facts. There were gunshots and there was a huge explosion immediately after. It’s not sure exactly whether Bhutto was killed by the gunshot or the suicide bomb, or as the Pakistan Government insists that she hit her head on the lever of the sunroof due to the force of the blast.

The New York Times has an excellent feature regarding the assassination. As John Moore from Getty Images recounts his coverage of Benazir Bhutto including the last moments with which the world would see her alive. It’s yet another interesting point, coming from an eye witness that indeed, he himself heard shots fired before the big blast. It was the blast that indirectly killed Benazir Bhutto as her head hit part of the sunroof, this is according to The Pakistan Government.

Recent investigation reports furnished by Scotland Yard says that, Bhutto died due to severe head injuries “sustained as a consequence of the bomb blast and due to head impact somewhere in the escape hatch of the vehicle”. But why many are so skeptical of the report is that the investigation team of Scotland yard even admitted that because they had no access to an autopsy report or even lack of evidence at the crime scene complicated their task of finding out exactly what happened. Many of the “evidence” furnished to them was from the Pakistan government. Note that the crime scene was hosed down hours after the assassination, this could have contributed to the lack of evidence.

The Assassination has been claimed by al-Qaeda. In the end, Bhutto had many enemies, but her party insists that it was The Government that was either behind the death or at least was involved.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Benazir Bhutto Assassination is important because it comes amidst a Musharraf Presidency that is in turmoil. A low public support, and a slew of human rights violations, compiled with the threat of Islamic Extremists within their territory, Pakistan is in deep trouble. Most Pakistani citizens will agree that their own country is headed in a bad direction, and that indeed they are already in a bad place.

As Filipinos we know of the tragedy that can befall a leader. Benazir Bhutto’s assassination is quite poignant in the fact that it was almost of the same nature as that of our fallen hero Ninoy Aquino. Both were incarcerated for political reasons. Both were exiled from their country. Both were popular among their people. Both were an inspiration to their people. Both knew of a possibility of being assassinated. And both returned home despite the fact, in order to save their nation. Both died in a violent assassination.

Whether or not Bhutto was part of the corruption that pervades Pakistan (I believe she was), she was able to inspire her countrymen and was the only leader in Pakistan adamant about the eradication of The Taliban and Islamic Extremists. Bhutto will leave a mixed legacy because of the allegations of corruption. We can get a glimpse of what could have transpired if she were to participate in elections because she walked that road two times before, and twice was burned.

The Assassination of Benazir Bhutto is no longer in the headlines, but for myself, in the past two months, reading about her life, I have grown to respect this woman. Whether or not she is being used as a martyr for political gains, it is up to the Pakistani politicians. But she was a symbol of democracy for many, and maybe the only true ally in the fight against terrorism in Pakistan.

She was a brilliant woman, years at Harvard and Oxford will do that to a person. But she was courageous during her life, having to experience the death of her two brothers and her father. Living through solitary confinement for many years, and then enduring years of exile from the nation she loved. She has paid more than hundreds of men put together, and what we owe her is probably a thorough investigation into her assassination and a plea maybe to do a proper autopsy to finally put her death to rest and help put to justice those who had a hand in her untimely death. She was not a saint, but she was probably the best hope for Pakistan.

tags: benazir bhutto assassination, benazir bhutto, pakistan politics, pervez musharraf, state of emergency