Benazir Bhutto, Laid to rest Amid Chaos and Controversy

The Funeral
Friday, tens of thousands gathered in the streets of Larkana district in the province of Sindh to say there final goodbye to Benazir Bhutto who was killed by a suicide bomber on Thursday.

Bhutto was carried to her family’s mausoleum at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in a plain wooden coffin covered in the flag of the Pakistan Peoples Party as supporters wept and reached out to touch her one last time.

Some in the crowd chanted "No matter how many Bhuttos you will kill, a Bhutto will emerge from each house." Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, had to ask the crowd to make room for the family to pass. The crowd fell silent, as Asif and there three children, son Bilawal, 19, and daughters Bakhtawar, 17 and Aseefa, 14 , prayed at the tomb and she was laid to rest beside her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the first democratically elected prime minister of Pakistan and founder of The Pakistan Peoples Party. The PPP has called for a 40 day period of mourning for there fallen leader.

The Chaos

The violence that erupted fallowing her death continued Saturday despite calls for calm. According to Al Jazeera at least 38 people including 3 police officers have been killed in protest that spread across Pakistan. In Islamabad about one hundred protesters burned tires in the streets while in Sindh ten train stations and several trains were set on fire as well as an estimated 847 vehicles, 131 banks and 31 gas stations. Government offices have also been looted. About 1500 protesters stormed a police station and set it on fire, one police officer was killed in this incident. In Rawalpindi around 3000 protesters attempted to storm the home of a former minister after leaving a prayer service for Bhutto, police fired tear gas into the crowd.

In Peshawar, more than 3000 protesters took to the streets chanting anti Musharraf slogans. In Karachi, protesters burned cars, Factories, stores, and restaurants. The cost of the damages is believed to be tens of millions of dollars. Most of the deaths have accrued in Sindh. The government has issued "Shoot on site" orders for any one involved in disturbances in Karachi. Major Athar Ali said: "Paramilitary rangers have been given orders to shoot on sight if they see miscreants indulging in anti-state activities." In several cities in southern Pakistan the army has been called in to help restore order. Pakistan is a country in chaos.

The Controversy

It seems that even the cause of Bhutto's death is in dispute. The official statement says neither the gun nor the bomb caused her death. According to Pakistan’s Interior Ministry she hit her head on the latch to the sun roof and that injury resulted in her death. They released the security video in an attempt to support there claims. Farooq Naik, top aid to Bhutto and a senior official in the PPP, said: “It is baseless. It is a pack of lies; two bullets hit her, one in the abdomen and one in the head.” Naik went on to say “It was a serious security lapse.”

The government of Pakistanis attempting to shift the blame by saying that it was Bhutto's own defiance, her refusal to listen to government warnings, and her decision to expose herself to danger that led to her death. In an interview with CBS News Husain Haqqani, a former adviser to Bhutto says he spoke to her two days earlier and she was very concerned about the security that was being provided by the government.

According to Haqqani, she said her security teams would simply take off without notifying her, vehicles would leave, if there was supposed to be eight security officers there would be four. He says she emailed several people in the United States saying someone needed to talk to Musharraf about improving the security. Haqqani says she wanted to have her own security teams and equipment brought in and he personally spoke to several U.S. officials who said they could not micromanage the situation and the Pakistani government said they could not allow her to bring in her own security.

Musharraf claims of pro-Taliban militants inside Pakistan are responsible for the attack that claimed the life of Benazir Bhutto. The militant group denies any involvement. Bhutto's aids also doubt the accusations and say it is part of a government cover up.
There may be no end to the controversy surrounding his assassination, no answer to the questions, and possibly no justice for Benazir Bhutto but she will always be remembered as the First Lady of Democracy in Pakistan.