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Thursday, December 27, 2007

A martyr to democracy

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto in a suicide attack at an election rally in Rawalpindi is a body blow to the emerging democratic process in Pakistan and a most depressing development for democrats beyond the borders of that country.

Today's attack was not the first since Ms Bhutto's return to Pakistan, and indeed it was widely anticipated that she would face threats to her life from Islamist groups, among others. It is a testament to her bravery that she returned to serve her country in spite of the grave personal dangers she faced.

Gordon Brown has described the murder of Ms Bhutto as "cowardly", and David Miliband has called it "senseless". Both are wrong. Suicide attacks are incontrovertibly evil, but they cannot reasonably be described as cowardly. Furthermore, the attack was not in the least senseless, but was carefully calculated to destabilise the democratic process in Pakistan, and indeed the security and stability of the Pakistani state.

In the circumstances it is imperative that the elections planned for January be held as soon as possible. With the Pakistan People's Party now leaderless, a postponement may be inevitable - however, the urgent need to avoid handing a victory to terrorists demands that any postponement should be as short as possible. Benazir Bhutto has been martyred to the cause of democracy in Pakistan. She should not die in vain.

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A martyr to democracy