Benazir Bhutto: Democracy's Martyr

Before it left and slammed the door behind it, 2007 sent a last wake-up call to anyone who loves democracy and freedom - the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan.

Ms. Bhutto-s death seemed inevitable from the moment she returned from exile. She was the target of many death threats and before the successful assassination last Thursday, there was one major attempt on her life, and 150 people died as collateral damage.

Apparently, the very idea of a female democrat is so infuriating to the forces of darkness; it cannot be allowed to exist.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Benazir Bhutto was no saint, but we'll leave the debate over legitimacy of the corruption charges swirling around Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari to another debate. There are too many unanswered questions. It should be said that she returned to Pakistan under a general amnesty and all charges against her were withdrawn.

And if anyone can be considered a martyr, it is Benazir Bhutto.

It is not 100 per cent clear who martyred Benazir Bhutto. The evidence points to Al Qaeda. One report has Al Qaeda commander Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid claiming responsibility: "We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat (the) mujahedeen", was his statement to an Italian news agency.

The Pakistani government blames Taliban-linked religious leader Baitullah Mehsud and has released an alleged transcript of Mehsud gloating over Ms. Bhutto's death: "Fantastic job. Very brave boys, the ones who killed her."

Not surprisingly, Ms. Bhutto's own supporters blame the Pervez Musharraf government, either for negligence in providing protection for her, or actually assassinating her and blaming religious extremists. There appears some plausibility to this idea. Elections are scheduled for January 8, and it's difficult to see Musharraf losing gracefully to Ms. Bhutto, whose popularity survived corruptions charges and nine years in exile, and was likely to win in a fair ballot.

Perhaps a fair ballot may have been possible back in the good old days of 1988 when 35-year-old Benazir Bhutto was first elected Prime Minister, but in 2007, it's not on. From over here, in the relative safety of my office, her return to Pakistan and attempt to run for office seems foolhardy and doomed to failure, but Ms. Bhutto was apparently prepared to stake her life on the possibility of democracy and freedom in Pakistan.

Of course, she was aware of the danger she was in. Prior to her death, Ms. Bhutto herself sent CNN's Wolf Blitzer a letter, to be made public only if she died, claiming that if anything happened to her, the Musharraf government should be held to account.

After the first assassination attempt, I would not have been persuaded to come out from under my bed, but she continued to campaign, continued to distance herself from President Musharraf, almost flirting with danger.

She had come a long way from those heady days of Harvard and Oxford, where she became the first female Asian to head the Oxford Union Debating Society. At Oxford, you might get called names for your position; in Pakistan, you get bullets and bombs. A long way indeed.

Not so long ago, as the Berlin Wall tumbled, serious people declared the end of history, and heralded an era of peace and democracy in the world. This triumphant pronouncement merely galvanized the forces of darkness, which are now fighting a rearguard action for tribalism, tyranny, misogyny, religious intolerance, superstition and war.

Benazir Bhutto is hardly the only martyr they've produced - from the Twin Towers of New York to the subways of London to the streets of Iraq, they have proclaimed their violent opposition to freedom and democracy in blood. But Benazir is their highest profile martyr to date: a symbol of hope to millions of peace and freedom-loving people around the world has been extinguished.

We can only hope that her death has not been in vain and that hope itself survives and has been strengthened by her sacrifice.

I would like to thank and commend the Orato citizen correspondents who have contributed to this story. The truth is a pillar of freedom and democracy and we hope you will continue to enlighten the world through this site.