So I thought I would post one more time before 2008. This one is a departure on my faith observations, however. I had called this one. Awhile back, when NPR announced her return to Pakistan, I said she's going to be taken out.Today, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated while speaking at a rally. While Bhutto appeared to have died from bullet wounds, it was not immediately clear if she was shot or if her wounds were caused by bomb shrapnel. Bhutto led Paksitan from 1988 to 1990 and was the first female PM of any Islamic nation. She was participating in the parliamentary election set for 1-8-08, hoping for a third term. A terror attack targeting her motorcade killed 136 people the day she returned to Pakistan after 8 years of self-imposed exile.
I just want to say that as a woman, aside from any religious implications, I have to view her as a martyr for all women. We currently have Hillary Clinton running for the presidency of the United States. She is seen as a potential breakthrough for females in the course of history as the U.S. has never had a woman president. But how much more courage does it take as a woman to run for office in a region where women are second-class citizens and often treated as property, knowing at any time your death could be lurking in the hands of a sniper. A region that I so eloquently refer to as "the fucking dark side of the moon". Obviously, Bhutto knew this as she had been out of Pakistan for years. But surely upon returning, she had to brave the volatility amongst the tribes and the extreme risk she took standing up to speak in public at all. I think this woman was a fine example of one who actually deserves history-book credit and standing recognition not just for her views, but for HER.
Hillary runs for office from the comfort of her well-guarded plush home in New York. Bhutto knew death was a great possibility every time she showed her face in public. While both women should be lauded for their leadership, I tip my hat to Bhutto and her courage. Courage in that amount, no matter what the sex of the vessel or the location of the vessel on this earth, cannot be contained to itself. It is a deluge that, rushing down the mountain with vigor and zeal, sometimes clashes and ends its purposeful quest against the doom of a man-made dam waiting at the bottom. But before it is stilled and its dramatic journey ended, it saturates the greenery and life on the side of the mountain...leaving a little of itself behind over all that it touches.
