A Dark Hour(revisited)

It is now close to 3 am in Pakistan as i write this. Still the mourners and activists of Pakistan’s People’s party are roaming the streets of various cities in our land chanting slogans like “Blood for Blood”. In Karachi alone more than a 100 vehicles have been torched, on Main Shahrae Faisal miscreants mixing in with activists, stopped cars and robbed the occupants before setting them alight.

Their have been instances of people entering neighborhoods in Karachi..screaming to the house occupants to extinguish all lights coming from the houses to join the mourning or suffer. There is aura of death hanging over this city, the streets are deserted lit only with the smoldering remains of vehicles or tires burning indiscriminately on the roads. As i mentioned earlier the National Hospital had been also set on fire, which is just difficult to absorb. Banks have been also looted and many petrol stations set ablaze, two on Dalmia road alone. Shops which did not close immediately have been fired upon, sometimes fatally and set ablaze. Many government symbols and buildings have been attacked and damaged in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukher as well as around the country. In short one can see flames in all parts of the country on the T.V. Even the railway stations have not been spared with station cash and station terminals being set on fire and destroyed, these include Rohri, Ghutki and stations close to Karachi.

Nawaz Sharif has graciously expressed solidarity with the PPP and has now announced his parties boycott of the upcoming elections. Their are off course only 11 days left for the elections. My feeling right now is ranging between disbelief and horror at what is to come in the days ahead. As many ammunition shops have been looted, the results of which will lie ahead. Surely this nation cannot heal itself enough in 11 days to hold a proper election.

Doubtless we are all currently shocked, but do we realize that whether right or wrong Benazir represented a party which has one of the most popular vote banks and ground support. That her death has left a power vacuum which will be filled by whom? I fear the worst possible scenario happening here. That this was a well planned move on the part of the deadly militant minority and that they plan to replace her voice in the political circles of Pakistan with that of their own.

Of the PPP i am certain it is doomed. The reason being that it has lost the last credible Bhutto which could lead it to power once again. The party leadership is obviously in shock at this moment but in time they will realize that Benazir is not easily replaceable.

I myself am no great supporter of Benazir or her particular brand of politik. However i do realize that she did represent the moderates among this mob, that she was a very intelligent and charismatic leader and that her death will have very far and very resounding repercussions on the future of my country.

The best tribute one can give her can be seen on the faces of the people she worked with on a day to day basis, they seem like they cannot come to terms with reality of her demise. That to me shows the power of her..which will be in abundant display by the expected sea of her followers at her funeral, the power of her people.

“We are not a nation of terrorists

we are not a nation of militants

this great nation is one of the labor

who toil and work hard to earn their living”

Benazir Bhutto