ISLAMABAD: Just a few hours before her assassination on Thursday Benazir Bhutto informed Afghan President Hamid Karzai about threats to her life. She was also warned that her meeting with Karzai, just a few days before the Jan 8 elections, could also create more troubles for her.
She was advised to avoid meeting Karzai because some extremists will have another opportunity to declare that a ‘Pakistani American agent’ met an ‘Afghan American agent’ but she ignored all the concerns raised by her close associates.
Sources present in the last Karzai-Benazir meeting revealed that the Afghan President prayed for her safety and in return she responded that “life and death is in the hands of Allah and that is why I have the courage to stare in the eyes of death without any fear”.
During her last working lunch at her Islamabad residence on Thursday, her Security Adviser Rehman Malik expressed some concerns about her security in Rawalpindi. He was worried about why his leader was not provided with signal jammers by the police on that day.
He wrote a letter to the Interior Ministry on Wednesday and requested more security. He was trying to contact the Inspector General of Police in Punjab province on Thursday but he was not able to establish the contact.
On the other side the organisers of the public meeting in Liaquat Bagh Rawalpindi informed Zardari House in Islamabad that they were ready to receive Benazir Bhutto with thousands of supporters, despite all the security concerns. She once again decided to take the risk and proceeded to the meeting place.
When she reached the Liaquat Bagh many noticed the absence of police contingents outside the venue. Asif Ali Zardari was immediately informed in Dubai by a close friend that her wife is without proper security but he was unable to do anything from Dubai.
After delivering her last speech in front of a big crowd in Rawalpindi she was very happy and that was why she ignored the threat again. She started waving to her followers by coming out of the sunroof of the vehicle on her way back to Islamabad. That was the best moment for the assassin to hunt her down.
Just few days before her assassination, Benazir told this scribe on a breakfast meeting that she is aware of the threats to her life but she believed that “there is a difference between a politician and a leader. A politician always asks for sacrifices and leaders always give sacrifices and she is ready to sacrifice her life for Pakistan.”
Pakistan is facing a grave crisis after her assassination. Her party has announced a mourning of 40 days. It would be difficult for the PPP candidates to go back to their constituencies and continue the election campaigns. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has already announced a boycott of the elections.
Many political analysts have said that election should be delayed at least for some weeks. Top government functionaries have contacted some PPP leaders and requested them to help in bringing peace back to the country.
The government has also offered PPP that they can nominate someone of their own choice for the inquiry of the assassination.
Asif Ali Zardari is pointing his fingers towards the government for security lapses but the government is trying to establish that al-Qaeda is responsible for the assassination.
While some people on both the sides are trying to bridge the gap between the PPP and the government, the PPP is once again facing a leadership crisis.
Senior PPP leaders are confident that the party is in tact and there is no crisis. For the time being senior vice chairman of the party Makhdoom Amin Fahim is looking after the day-to-day affairs.
According to some reliable sources in the party an informal meeting of the central executive committee of the PPP will be held on Saturday in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh and this meeting will formulate the future strategy of the party.
These sources say the future chairperson of the PPP will also be elected very soon and there will be no leadership crisis.
Sanam Bhutto, the younger sister of Benazir Bhutto, is not interested in taking over the party because she is a non-political person, living in London for the last three decades.
Nusrat Bhutto, mother of Benazir, is sick. Many PPP old guards are of the view that Asif Ali Zardari should be given a chance to lead the party as he had spent a total of 12 years in jail, from 1990 to 1993 and then from 1996 to 2005. Benazir once declared her husband as the Nelson Mandela of Pakistan.
No doubt that Zardari has been a controversial personality and faced charges of corruption for years but none of these charges was proved in any court of law. Zardari has appealed to the workers and supporters of PPP that they must protest against the assassination of their beloved leader but they should not create any law and order situation because their martyred leader always believed in a peaceful struggle.
Zardari is confident the PPP is still a symbol for the federation of Pakistan and this party will protect the federation in future.
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