Benazir Bhutto was assassinated!

Hi Kamran, I am replying to you in the hope that this will not become an illogical war-of-words between us i.e. we can actually have an ‘honest’ discussion from both sides. I will try to answer your points as honestly as I understand the situations mentioned by you. 1. The RSS & VHP do have many followers and subscribers but they are still in a minority when compared to the majority of Hindu population in India, otherwise we would have had a national riot after Babri Masjid & Gujrat. The majority of Hindu India do not support or subscribe to them. We have our own temples to follow, we don’t need such hard-core parties to teach us our religion. 2. The Shiv Sena is restricted only to Mumbai & Maharashtra and they are up against anybody who don’t like them (irrespective of religion) and they are also for son-of-soil i.e. Mumbai only for Mumbaites and not outsiders from other states. They come into power because they can exploit the local Maharashtrian sentiments better than any other party. 3. Sikhs were killed in India only once and that was after the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Otherwise the Indian armed forces are literally dependent on Sikhs and they are a much respected and valued section of our history and society. 4. You have forgotten Babri Masjid but I will mention it for you. It happened in Uttar Pradesh which has a lot of fundamentalist Hindu support yet the entire India was ashamed of how an old historical mosque was broken by fundamentalist groups. It was more for whipping up religion for political gain and not for protecting Hindus in any way. My personal shock was all the more because I thought that if some Hindu organization can today destroy the Babri Masjid then tomorrow they may destroy the Taj! All monuments are part of our national heritage and Indians in general are very proud of these, irrespective of their religious identity. 5. Gujrat was another blot on Indian democracy but you will have to understand it in two ways (according to me). First, a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was supposedly set to blaze by people of a Muslim dominated area through which the train was passing. More than 50 Hindu pilgrims were burnt alive inside the compartments and the Gujrat riots happened in retaliation to this. Secondly, if you have been following Indian democracy neutrally, you will note that successive Govts. at the center, have done very little to assuage the pain and anger of majority Hindus who were forced to leave their homeland in Pakistan and Bangladesh after Indian independence. We were forced to accept and live with the same Muslims who divided this great country because they wanted a homeland of their own. These sentiments are still inside people and frankly speaking, Muslims are still thought to have their allegiance more towards Pakistan and Saudi Arabia than India. Even a few years back, during any India-Pakistan match, you would see Pakistani flags waving in Muslim-dominated areas. Sikhs and Christians have never done this. So in a way, Indian Muslims have to accept some responsibility of not being able to merge with the general population at large. But you will also note that majority of lawyers and human rights activists who represented the Gujrat victims were all Hindus and they did it spontaneously and on humanitarian grounds. Also note that the case of the original victims (the Hindu pilgrims who were burnt alive) have been lost and forgotten by all in saving the Muslims of Gujrat. 6. The killing of Graham Stein and his sons did not find any support anywhere in India and the killers have been punished for their gruesome act. Such atrocities are in a minority and Christian missionaries thrive openly throughout India (most prominent being our Mother Teresa). 7. Dalits are a different lot. That is the horrible Indian caste system and a political game with reservations for them and they generally kill each other to gain more reservation in Govt. jobs and education on sympathetic grounds 8. About LTTE, I cannot say much because that is happening mainly in Sri Lanka and I don’t have any first-hand knowledge on that. But I don’t think the LTTE is fighting on religious grounds, they are fighting for minority rights of the Tamils. To end this long response of mine, I would still say that Benazir was the last hope for democracy in Pakistan and normalcy in our region. And regarding Pakistan I would say this much that it is surprising that a nation is having consecutive military dictatorship for the major part of its existence after independence, and yet the people could do nothing about it. It does speak of the peoples’ attitude towards democracy, religious fundamentalism and military extremism. In India, the hugely popular Mrs Indira Gandhi had imposed emergency to save her Govt. She was defeated and ousted by the people in the very next election.

Hello Sudiptacalling, I'm sure many of your countrymen & women share your concerns about how neighboring turmoil might impact your country, and the world at large. You raise a powerful point: extremists surely must have greatly feared her impact on The People, and the diminishing impact of their own twisted, oppressive, fundamentalist goals. Many here in the USA share your concerns about aid being funneled off for terrorist activities. That is the reason why our Congress, just last week tied stricter, specific goals to the aid monies being sent to Musharraf's administration. My suspicions are that P.M. Bhutto's brutal murder will galvanize the voices of those who decry terror. According to the latest news reports, al queda has officially claimed responsibility for the assasination. Which means that they have just murdered (and martyred) a beloved Muslim woman. All good Muslim's recognize that the Quran strictly forbids the killing of a woman. So, I would be very surprised if al queda does not experience a severe backlash from Muslim's around the world. Perhaps if this heinous act causes global Muslim's to question, and challenge al queda (and the like), for their defiance of the Quran, then perhaps their funding will dry up, and their terrorist activities will wither on the vine. One can only hope, eh?

Hello sudiptacallingu, I understand your concerns and appreciate your post at large, yet, I have some questions for you to which I would like honest answers. I am asking this because I have seen many people on here who go on charging on others’ countries, religions and groups but when they are reminded of their own deeds, they are no where near being honest and ethical about drawing the same conclusions about there own countries, people and religions. So, you might be the first person, I may see this type of honesty from! Some of the things you said are true without doubt, yet, there are things which are not true, or at least not in right perspective. Being an Indian, I presume that you now about militant, fundamentalist and terrorist organizations like RSS, VHP (and Bajrang Dal), Shiv Sena and many, many other organizations in India with declared aims of saving India and Hinduism from Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Communism. Many of those organizations also have Clandestine Government support as they ARE the government, i.e. having significant presence in Parliament. I believe that you also know that these organizations have killed more innocent civilians (Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Dalits, Communists etc, etc) than Al-Qaida (excluding war-zones)….not to mention the very recent violence against Christians with burning of more than 14 churches, many pastors’ houses, earlier raping of Nuns and killings…So based on your conclusions, I would ask: 1. To which cult of violent these organizations belong? “You cant have terrorists walking and killing and training at will if the common people are not supporting them. And if the common people are supporting the jihadis (for whatever be the reason), its nearly impossible to uproot this evil from south-east Asia.” So, given several dozens of terrorist organizations in India on the same lines as VHP, RSS and Shiv Sena with 10s of thousands of active (registered) workers and millions of supporters, whose terrorists don’t even feel ashamed saying that they ripped open a pregnant women’s belly with a dagger and her baby popped out (Gujrat), where a Chief Minister orders police to assist the terrorist attackers. 2. Does it mean that common people of India are supporting these terrorist groups because the above mentioned, walk and kill and train at will! Much more openly than Al-Qaida or Christian terrorist groups in India? 3. What do people generally feel about other (Non-Hindu) terrorist groups in India? Muslim, Christian, Sikh and also the secular Hindu terrorist groups like LTTE?

Hello Cen7777, Thank you Cen7777. I am aware that you're from India. My comment was based on the challenging relations between India & Pakistan. I imagine a great many of your countrymen are feeling the loss of a leader who was committed to improving relations between the two nations.

Yes ladyluna you are right. we cannot mprove our relation until and unles we have committed and democratic government in pak. Thanks for your thoughtfull concern. we realy need friends like you.

Hi ladyluna , Iam mahesh from India not from Pakistan

Hello Red, I also hope that the culprit(s) are identified and dealth a heavy hand of justice. According to the most recent eye-witness accounts, the shooter was a man in his early to mid-twenties. Yet, it seems unclear if the shooter was also the bomber. Like you, I doubt that Musharraf was involved either directly or indirectly. He simply has too much to lose to have entangled himself in this ugly mess. Regardless, this is a very sad day for moderate politics the globe over.

Hello Milind_runescape, First, let me welcome you to MyLot. It would have been much preferred to make your acquaintance in a lighter thread. Still, I hope you enjoy your time here. Yes, I agree that it is very sad indeed. And, that P.M. Bhutto could have done much to improve Pakistan, as well as Pakistani/Indian relations.

Hello Adoniah, Yes, it is a horrible loss! And, I hope you're right that the actual culprit(s) are found. Not finding the fiend(s) will only perpetuate conspiracy theories, which will certainly not help the Pakistani People heal, or offer any aid to stablilizing the country. Although I understand what you mean about P.M. Bhutto 'only being a woman', in her case she was one of the most beloved women in all of Pakistan, and many other parts of the world. In fact, she was just recently voted the most respected woman on the planet. Yup, she even topped Oprah, if I remember correctly. So, I don't really think that her womanhood will quell the desire for the Pakistani People to demand that her murderer(s) be brought to justice. The fiends who perpetrated this heinous act have just martyred a Muslim woman. I suspect the ramifications will ripple for some time to come. Like you, I hope that her memory inspires many other Muslim women to work toward fulfilling P.M. Bhutto's dream.

I am hoping that the fact that she named two of her would be killers the very day of her murder will inspire someone to go after them.

Nicely said, Anniepa!

Hello Janisspaggiari59, First, let me welcome you to MyLot. I would have much preferred to make your acquaintance under better circumstances. Yet, I hope you enjoy your time here. A great many shared your concerns for P.M. Bhutto's safety. She was no stranger to danger or assassination, as her own father was hanged in 1979 by those who decried his leadership. Though I tend to concur with your thoughts about Karma shining dourly on the responsible parties, the extremists in that part of the world believe that they will be rewarded for such barbarism -- such a conundrum.