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Pakistani Canadians Fearful of Country's Future After Bhutto's Assassination

Posted on: Thursday, 27 December 2007, 15:00 CST

By Lorrayne Anthony, THE CANADIAN PRESS

Canadians of Pakistani origin expressed fears Thursday that the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto could mean a troubled future for the country - and their relatives who are still there.

Asaf Shujah, president of the Pakistan Muslim League in Canada, said Toronto's Pakistani community is afraid of a budding crisis back home.

"Right now ... people are coming out on the streets for demonstrations against the government and the stores and markets have all been shut down," he said, retelling the scene that a colleague in Pakistan painted for him hours after the news of Bhutto's death.

"This has already started and, in my opinion, it will be very hard for the government to control if people come to the streets in thousands."

Two things could happen, said Shujah - President Pervez Musharraf could be toppled or it will give him another excuse to bring martial law back in the country.

Bhutto was shot in the neck and chest as she got into her vehicle after a political rally in Rawalpindi today.

The gunman then blew himself up and at least 20 other people were killed in the attack.

Tanveer Ahmed, President of the National Federation of Pakistani Canadians, heard the news while driving to work in Ottawa.

"I'm sure because a lot of people will try to take revenge, a lot of demonstrations in the streets, it's very hard to say, but it will be very, very difficult and we'll be all very worried about what's going to happen now unless it's controlled immediately," he said in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press.

Shortly after Bhutto's death, Musharraf convened an emergency meeting with his senior staff to decide what steps to take in the wake of the attack.

Shujah, speaking from his office in Toronto, said fear of the assassination's aftermath doesn't overshadow the loss the community feels.

"All if us - doesn't matter if we are affiliated with the PPP (Pakistan People's party) or we are affiliated with the other political parties - people are saddened," he said. "I think this act was senseless ... the assassination of a very courageous leader.""People are in a state of shock right now and are trying to call each other and comfort each other."

Ahmed echoed the sentiment.

"It's a very tragic thing that happened," he said. "I think everybody is shocked. I was shocked myself when I heard the news. I think the same sentiment will go around."

Ibrahim Daniyal, secretary of the Canadian chapter of the Pakistan Peoples party, said there were those both inside Pakistan and beyond its borders who didn't want Bhutto to become prime minister.

"Benazir Bhutto was the only person, the only democrat in Pakistan, who was considered to combat with all these threats to Pakistan and to the world in fact. The killing of Benazir Bhutto is in fact the killing of peace which was going to be guaranteed to the world, to Pakistan, to Southeast Asia."

"She was a symbol for anti-establishment. She was a symbol for anti-terrorism, and she enjoys the power of the people. And at this time all analysis conclude that Benazir Bhutto would be the next prime minister of Pakistan."

He said that if she were to have become prime minister it would have been a great threat to all those sponsoring terrorism.

"I am in shock," said Rafia Shujah, who has made Toronto her home for the past 25 years, but still feels Pakistani. She was very upset by the news of Bhutto's death.

"This is not right."

She said she, like many Pakistani women, had high hopes for a female leader again in an Islamic country.

"(Women) would be more confident if a woman were elected. Of course we would feel proud," she said, her voice rising.

"Now we have no rights," said Shujah, wife of Asaf Shujah, the president of the Pakistan Muslim League in Canada.

But not everyone was completely shocked by the tragedy.

"I'm not surprised at all, actually," said Zafir Ali Qureshi, president of the Ontario Association of Pakistani Canadians.

He said everyone in Pakistan - especially political leaders - knows of the very volatile political atmosphere.

While he would not comment on who was behind the assassination, he said ever since much of al-Qaida fled to Pakistan from Afghanistan, there are many trained killers everywhere in the country.

But that didn't diminish the sadness he felt.

"It is very, very sad. Very unfortunate. It is sad for all Pakistan - all walks of life will be mourning her death, including ourselves."

Source: Canadian Press

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