Christians and Muslims remember Benazir Bhutto who "died without justice"
Lahore (AsiaNews) – Christians and Muslims gathered in front of the Punjab Provincial Assembly building to pay tribute to former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, eight years after her murder.
She was gunned down on 27 December 2007 in a full-scale ambush during a visit to the province as part of her campaign in the general elections of January 2008. She had just returned to Pakistan after eight years of exile.
Samson Salamat, a Christian, heads the Centre for Human Rights Education (CHRE). Present at the commemoration, he spoke to AsiaNews.
“That day will be remembered forever as a dark chapter in Pakistan’s political history,” he said. “She was targeted for being progressive, and challenging the extremist mind-set prevailing in our society. Her murderers are still at large and this is a big question mark on the justice system of our state."
Daughter of deposed prime minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (executed by General Zia in 1979), Benazir Bhutto was born in Karachi on 21 June 1953. At 35, she was elected prime minister of Pakistan becoming the first woman head of government in a Muslim country in the modern era.
Liked in the West, especially in the United States, she was prime minister twice (1988-1990 and 1993-1996) and twice forced to resign over corruption charges that she rejected. After years of exile in Dubai and London, she returned home on 18 October 2007.
Yet, her political comeback was overshadowed by persistent allegations and evidence of corruption as well as compromises with the Musharraf regime.
The latter had allowed her to run for office and had dropped charges against her, but did not release jailed leaders from her party who had opposed the military government.
The attack on 27 December, which was claimed by al Qaeda, ended any possibility of a compromise.
In his address to Lahore gathering, Irfan Mufti, deputy director of the South Asia Partnership Pakistan, condemned the injustice in Bhutto's murder case.
“Those in power know who the real killers are but do nothing. It is political tyranny,” he said. “We demand that the curtain [of silence] be removed from this conspiracy. Her [Bhutto's] presence would make a difference in our political life."
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