I was devastated by the news of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. She was a hopeful sign in an otherwise chaotic and repressive country. She was educated at Harvard and Oxford and was an anomaly in a country where few women enjoy freedom or education. What kind of a world do we live in where a woman is killed for speaking of truth, justice and equality? They killed her father in 1979 and now she has also paid the penalty for daring to speak out against the injustices in her country and in favour of democracy.
The government of the tyrant, Musharraf, was quick to blame the Taliban and Al Qaeda. But the government stood to gain from her death because her party was very popular in Pakistan and she was leading in the campaign for the January election. Remember, this is the same Musharraf who responded to the rape of a woman by a military captain by accusing the victim of prostitution.
Whether it was the fundamentalist Muslims or the dictator, she was killed by men because she was a woman who dared to stand up for her beliefs. She was a courageous woman and the world is poorer for the loss.
No one is free when others are oppressed. ~Author Unknown
