RIP, Benazir Bhutto.

For most people, it is a time of joy, as they bid adieu to the old year and ring in the new. But events of the past 24 hours have taken away this joy not just from the families of Ms Benazir Bhutto and the others that died at the hands of a suicide bomber, but surely also for right-thinking people around the world.

Assassinations have been around for almost as long as humankind has. Several well-known leaders have met a violent end. Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Aldo Moro, Anwar Sadat, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Olof Palme are only some of the names that come immediately to mind. Just as heinous were the killing of Che Guevara and Salvatore Allende. The perpetrators always have their own reasons and motives. But yet, each time someone is assassinated, one is hit by a sense of revulsion at the cowardice of the act and the sadness it leaves behind.

Yesterday’s assassination of Benazir Bhutto is no exception. For all her alleged corruptions and other frailties (which modern political leader is above these anyway?), I was greatly saddened by the fact that her children have lost their mother, and her husband, his wife. She was undoubtedly a woman of courage, for she braved heavy odds to return to Pakistan and announce her intent to contest the forthcoming elections. She was aware of the threats to her life, whether from the Taliban/Al Qaeda or other religious fanatics or from political opponents. And yet she returned to Pakistan, her home. He strident attack on foreigners trying to safeguard Pakistan was perhaps largely political rhetoric- but she had started to gain popular support.

Today’s reports suggest that she was not hit by bullets, and that her car was bomb-proof and hence the explosion was not the cause of death either. The evidence seems to indicate that she stood up on hearing the explosion and was hit by something inside the vehicle. We may never know the entire truth behind her death- who ordered it, why and the actual cause of death. But that does not take away one bit from the fact that a human life has been cruelly snuffed out.

Benazir- rest in peace. And I hope Pakistan returns to democracy after paying such a heavy price.