As the country's national assembly elects its new premier today, I have there are whispers going on in my head. Perhaps it is passionate imagination but I feel the spirit of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto is talking to me asking when her assassins will be brought to justice. Those wretched souls that snatched from us our shining beacon of hope, deprived the young Bhutto-Zardaris of their lovely mother and me of my personal idol, should not be allowed to escape.It was in the very space that I had called Benazir Bhutto, the Indira Gandhi of this nation. It is in this space too and in my column titled "A letter to Oxana" (Friday, December 7, 2007) that I had written and promised my one year daughter the following words: "When your father gained consciousness, a democratically elected prime minister who had promised hope to the poor of the country had already been hanged through a conspiracy between foreign powers, a military ruler and others. I was too young to do or understand anything then, but I have always wondered why our elders tolerated this crime. Now we are living under another such rule and the people are being subjected to state terrorism. Our generation has finally been offered a golden opportunity to do our due. I promise again we will not fail you." But alas we failed again. Our Indira Gandhi was slain in broad daylight. Another Prime Minister was so brutally killed. It will be a pity if we cannot make an example of those who did it.
As sat in my office that tragic day (and the word tragic sounds only a hollow word for the agonizing pain it has left behind), I felt so weak and helpless that I cannot even tell you. I have carried this pain hidden inside my heart. I did not have enough courage to even pen an obituary. But today if I do not speak out my heart explode. Dear Sirs and Madams, the respected members of the parliament, the first thing you need to do is to institute pass a bill asking the UN to institute an international inquiry into the assassination of our beloved leader. No doubt democracy is best revenge and the revelation of the truth is also. This house should see the portraits of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto sitting next to that of the Quaid, in recognition and memory of hopes that they had promised to the people and to prove that we do not forget our fallen heroes.
Please let today's events be of meditative nature where the country's most representative body reflects upon the sacrifices made for this nation and the ways to fight those who dare to waylay the hopes of the people. If it is not done they will strike again and again and will not leave any hope with us at all.
Please know that these are not superficial words written by any opportunist. I have spent most of present life in pursuit of some principles and values. I seek neither any benefit nor any office. I just want justice to prevail in this country. I want the real heroes to be honored and the villains pretending to be heroes exposed. There has to be a limit to hypocrisy. If god forbid this cannot happen today, I fret to think, how will I face my daughter Oxana and our next generations when they grow up and hold us accountable. Today, a Prime Minister will be chosen with an unprecedented number of votes. He should remember that these votes are actually being given to Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. That she remains to this day our Prime Minister elect. Long live democracy, long live justice, long live hope, long live federalism and long live Pakistan.
If any of my seasoned friends in the media, among the intelligentsia, and in the blogosphere feel a bit embarrassed by the raw expression of my emotions they should forgive me for today I do not know no whether I should laugh at the joke our lives have become or weep. I am missing the face of the country's brightest leader very badly today.