Edmond Campbell, News Coordinator
Pakistan's former Prime Minister and Opposition Leader Benazir Bhutto waves during an election rally in Rawalpindi, yesterday, shortly before she was killed in a gun and bomb attack. Bhutto's assassination has put January 8 polls in doubt and sparked anger in her native Sindh province. See editorial in Commentary section.Reuters
The Pakistani community in Jamaica has expressed shock and despair at yesterday's assassination of former Prime Minister and Pakistani Opposition Leader Benazir Bhutto.
She was killed in an attack by a suicide bomber minutes after addressing a political rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Jamaica's Prime Minister Bruce Golding has joined world leaders in condemning the assassination of the 54-year-old politician.
Alvi Quasim, manager of PakJam Motors, told The Gleaner/ Power 106 News that the Pakistani community in Jamaica was distraught at the news of the killing of Ms. Bhutto.
Saddened
Mr. Quasim, who describes himself as a Jamaican Pakistani, said he has been in discussion with some of his countrymen, who are also saddened at the tragic development in their homeland. "This is the second suicide attack against her in recent months. She was one of the most popular leaders in Pakistan," he said.
"It is a great loss to the nation and people are going to react strongly against the Government and terrorists," he said in an interview with The Gleaner/Power 106 News.
Scores of Pakistanis have made Jamaica their home and have set up businesses in the automotive sector, while others are working in a number of sectors in Negril, Montego Bay, Kingston, and other parts of the Corporate Area.
In his comments, Prime Minister Golding expressed outrage at the assassination of Ms. Bhutto.
Mr. Golding, in a statement yesterday, recalled that the deteriorating situation in Pakistan was the cause of considerable concern and discussion at last month's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala, Uganda.
According to Mr. Golding, the decision was ultimately taken to suspend Pakistan from the Commonwealth until meaningful steps had been taken to restore democracy through free and fair elections, the rule of law, and the reassertion of the independence of the judiciary.
The assassination of such a prominent political figure as Mrs. Bhutto, he said, has pushed the country into further conflict, violence and uncertainty.
A Reuters report yesterday said that Mrs. Bhutto's assassination had plunged the nuclear-armed country into one of the worst crises in its 60-year history.
Her death after an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi triggered a wave of violence, especially in her native Sindh province, and was likely to lead to the postponement of January 8 polls meant to return Pakistan to a civilian-led democracy.
Mrs. Bhutto had hoped the huge popular following she enjoyed among the Pakistani poor would propel her to power for the third time as prime minister in an election meant to stabilise a country wracked by Islamist violence.
She died in hospital in Rawalpindi, the home of the Pakistan army and the same city where her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was hanged in 1979 after being deposed by a military coup.
Her two brothers also suffered violent deaths.
At least 20 other people died in yesterday's attack and several more were injured.
Police said the attacker fired shots at Bhutto at the end of the rally before blowing himself up.
"It is the act of those who want Pakistan to disintegrate," said Farzana Raja, a senior official from Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party. "They have finished the Bhutto family."
Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Bhutto's old political rival, said his party would boycott the election.
He blamed President Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a military coup in 1999 but has since stepped down from the army, for creating instability in the country.
"Free elections are not possible in the presence of Musharraf," he told a news conference in Islamabad. "Musharraf is the root cause of all problems."
Musharraf imposed a state of emergency in November in what was seen as an attempt to stop the judiciary from vetoing his re-election as president. He lifted emergency rule this month.
In Karachi, the violent capital of Sindh province, thousands poured on to the streets to protest. At least three banks, a government office and a post office were set on fire, a witness said. Shooting and stone-throwing were reported. "There is trouble almost everywhere," a senior police official said Motor vehicles were also set ablaze.
"The United States strongly condemns this cowardly act by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy," President George W. Bush said in a statement.
He urged Pakistanis to honour Bhutto's memory by continuing with the democratic process.
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the assassination an "assault on stability", while the U.N. Security Council went into consultations to discuss the killing.
edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com
Benazir Bhutto fact box
Father led Pakistan before being executed in 1979.
Spent five years in prison.
Served as prime minister from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996.
Sacked twice by president on corruption charges.
Formed alliance with rival ex-PM, Nawaz Sharif, in 2006.
Ended self-imposed exile by returning to Pakistan in October.
Educated at Harvard and Oxford.
- Courtesy BBC News
