Bombing of Benazir Butto's Welcome Procession in Karachi, Pakistan

Posted by Indigenious at 10/24/2011 3:31 PM
Categories: Pakistan


Intro:
First, I would like to point out that Pakistan related items are very interesting for the type of discussion that we are conducting, because of the relatively free and diverse press and other sources and because of the wide use of the English language.

The much anticipated return of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to Pakistan after 8 years in exile was marred by disaster as unkown assailants set of explotions (supposed suicide bombings), killing more than 136 (according to most Western sources). See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Karachi_bombings for more about the bombing.

Following the bombing there began speculation regarding the perpetrators. Western press generally tended to point to the Islamists (primarily Taliban and Al Qaida), but various assumptions were made in Pakistan including by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the leader of Musharraf's party, who said Bhutto and her husband arranged the attack to stir up public sympathy. A good summary of the Western view and the divergent views in Pakistan can be found in Robert Novak's article Pakistan's Musharraf needs Bhutto, and U.S. may too in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Pakistani Press:
Much of the Language Pakistani press have blamed the same sources as the Western press (i.e. the Islamists) but have also been putting responsibility on different elements in the "Authorities" (as has Bhutto) as can be seen in a fairly thorough opinion piece in Dawn, the oldest English language paper, titled A nightmare foretold.
The Daily Times, a secular and more liberal paper put the blame exactly and directly on Islamist sources, primarily Al Qaida, as can be seen in Editorial: Attack on Ms Bhutto was foretold

General Forums: Net Pakistani, a Pakistani portal and forum, which provides diverse info and links about beauty, TV and the news provides a good idea of what the non-Islamist fairly educated general population thinks . In its News and Current Affairs forum the comments on the news of the bombing  show the confusion and mistrust in the public as to who actually perpetrated this as summed up by "Riz Ahmad": "could be pro-taleban guys could be agencies/government could be "external" factors orr could be PPP itself...
whoever did it... its bad.. killed innocent lives.. made so many children orphans and so many wives widows n so on.... the list of affectees is long..."

Islamist Sources:
An interesting source is Jamaat-e-Islami website, the largest muslim (some will say fundamentalist) political organizaiton in Pakistan who state: "The mission of Jama’at-e-Islami and the objective of all its efforts and struggle shall in practical terms be the establishment of the Deen (establishment of Divine Order or the Islamic way of life) and in essence the achievement of Allah’s pleasure and success in the Hereafter." In an article published on the site Qazi deplores blast in Benazir welcome rally, the president of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the opposition coalition between the religious-political parties, blames the government and police very directly. He said agencies always come out with the theory of suicide attack after such blasts to exonerate their own responsibility, although millions of people observed the blast in police van on TV."
Another interesting source is the forum of the Red Mosque Lal Masjid and the adjacant Jamia Hafsa Madrassa, which has tried to enforce Sharia law in its area until it was sieged by police in July. The Jamia press release on the matter is very harsh blaming Bhutto and Musharaf  of their murderous ways.  A corresponding Lal Masjid press release is just as harsh.
 

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