By Thomas Nakanishi

Is it too much to hope for resolution in her assassination? As the
first woman elected to lead a Muslim state as the Pakistani Prime
Minister in the late 1980s and from 1993 to 1996, Bhutto was a
giant. A voice that the world will sorely miss as we embark on
the journey of 2008, Bhuttowas encouraged by the US to work
with President Musharraf to create a unity government that could
“save Pakistan from extremists” – a heroic tragedy that ended
before anyone could ring in the New Year, let alone vote for in
early January.

Over a month later questions remain unanswered in Rawalpindi
and many have only slight hope that even with a Scotland Yard
team called in by President Musharraf that we will get definite
answers about what really happened, one would think that
holding the responsible parties to account and serving them a
cold slice, noose or firing squad of justice would be the appropriate,
immediate response to honor the former Prime Minister.

Walking off a plane from London after snapping a photo of Bhutto’s
wax figurine at Madam Tussauds a few days before the assassination,
the airport television screens broadcasted the final image of her
waving to an amazing crowd of supporters in Rawalpindi. I remained
speechless for the thirty minutes through Customs and the hour
ride back home and am still in disbelief and grief over Pakistan and
the world’s loss.

While immediate actionable goals seem clear, her journey home to be a
voice of change in Pakistan was something that US really needed in
2008. With the surge in Iraq yielding little political progress and
UK and Australian PMs changing hands due to their support of the Bush
Administration’s occupation of Iraq, as well as America’s declining
international image for a slew of reasons ranging from Guantanamo,
Abu Gharib, water-boarding and the dollar being traded in for the
Euro, a democratic, nuclear Pakistan with Bhutto could give some room
for the Bush Administration to breathe in its War on Terror.

As the election approached and her Pakistan Peoples Party appeared in
solid position to take some control, it seemed as if things were
going to be alright. Now there is a lot of uncertainty but we can
hope and perhaps pray that the PPP supporters honor Bhutto and her
vision for Pakistan by participating in the upcoming rescheduled February
18th elections. By empowering a political leadership behind her son and
husband, we can hope that the PPP and Musharaff can work together for
Pakistan’s future. It seems like the appropriate way to honor Bhutto’s
death in the long-term for the nation, for the region and
the world.

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 4th, 2008 at 6:24 am and is filed under Voices. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.