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News is just coming in of
the assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto, former
Prime Minister of Pakistan on two occasions and
a leading candidate for election in the planned
elections for January 2008. What we understand
is that she was shot at close range with a
Kalashnikov type firearm following which the
suicide attacker detonated himself with a
powerful bomb which killed 20 more people and
severely injured many more. This was the second
attempt on Ms Bhutto's life shortly after she
returned to Pakistan from self imposed political
exile to participate in elections, the first
taking place as she drove in a motorcade from
the airport after her arrival itself.
For some time now radical
Islamist groups have been warning that they
would not accept a woman as "Emir" of Pakistan
as that would be against their interpretation of
their religion. These thugs had also expressed
their distaste for the election process,
insisting that in their interpretation of Islam,
there was no room for democracy. What better way
for them to achieve their dastardly goals than
to assassinate a woman candidate for election to
Pakistan's highest elected office and cancel
elections altogether, as they inevitably will
be?
Pakistan is a nation with a
huge, professional army. It is also, sadly, a
nation that has now become a refuge for some of
the worst killers and criminals that the world
knows. It is to be hoped that the Government of
Pakistan would not hesitate to use the full
military might at its disposal to take on those
responsible for the murder and mayhem that has
not only engulfed that country but has also
threatens much of the rest of the world. It is a
difficult decision for a humanist group to
sanction military action, but we live in
dangerous times and those who have been
responsible for Ms Bhutto's assassination and
the killings of hundreds of other people are not
going to be stopped in their murderous endeavors
with dialogue. The sooner they are
comprehensively defeated, the safer the world
would be for the rest of us.
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