Christians pay tribute to Pakistan's Bhutto

|PIC1|Christians have expressed their sorrow at the assassination of the leader of the opposition in Pakistan Benazir Bhutto at a political rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on Thursday.

Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan, was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack as she was leaving a political rally at Rawalpindi. Sixteen people were killed in the attack.

Violent protests broke out across Pakistan following Bhutto's killing, particularly in her native Sindh province where hundreds of cars, trucks and buses were set alight by crowds of men chanting protests against President Pervez Musharraf. At least four people were killed on Thursday night in Sindh's capital, Karachi.

The Executive Director of the World Evangelical Alliance's Religious Liberty Commission, the Rev Johan Candelin, worked with Bhutto, 54, extensively over the years to further democracy.

He called her murder "one of the most tragic events in the history of Pakistan".

"After working together with Mrs Bhutto for democracy for several years I can say that her importance for democracy and human rights in Pakistan can never be underestimated," he stated.

Having had a Catholic nun as a home teacher in Pakistan, Bhutto had great respect for the Christian faith and a strong desire to protect all religious minorities, according to Rev Candelin.

"She told me several times that she wanted to work for Pakistan where a Jew could go to the synagogue, a Christian to the church and a Muslim to the mosque - all without any fear," he said. "She was fully aware of the risk she took when she went back to Pakistan, but said that democracy is worth risking one's life for."

Bhutto's body has since been flown back to her ancestral home in Sindh's Larkana district, accompanied by her husband Asif Ali Zardari and their three children.

Rev Candelin continued, "In the history of Pakistan she will have a very important place beside her late father who also was killed for his work for democracy."

Benazir Bhutto's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, became the country's first popularly elected prime minister. He was ousted in a military coup in 1977, however, and later hanged.

In 1988, aged just 35, Bhutto became the Muslim world's first democratically elected woman prime minister. Deposed in 1990, she was re-elected in 1993, and ousted again in 1996 amid charges of corruption she said were politically motivated.

The Secretary of the Kirk's World Mission Council, the Rev Professor Kenneth Ross, has sent a message of support and sympathy to the General Secretary of the Church of Pakistan, the Rev Humphrey Peters.

Professor Ross said: "Historically, the Church of Scotland has been one of the main Christian mission agencies in Pakistan, and the Kirk has links and friendships throughout that country.

"We have been concerned about the deteriorating situation in Pakistan for some time and today's assassination is a very serious blow to the body politic.

"At this time, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those killed and with the Pakistani nation as a whole."

Rev Candelin added: "Benazir Bhutto was a warm, intelligent and wonderful person. She was the first woman Prime Minister in a Muslim nation.

"The World Evangelical Alliance wishes to express our deepest condolences to the husband and two children of Mrs Bhutto and to the whole nation of Pakistan."

The central bank and all schools across Pakistan have been closed for three days of mourning.

There had been fears that Bhutto's killing and the ensuing violence will derail the January 8 general elections.

Reporters asked Prime Minister Soomro if any decision had been made on postponing the polls in light of Bhutto's death, "Nothing yet," he replied. "Elections stand as they were announced."

Along with her husband, Bhutto is survived by a son Bilawal, 19, and two daughters, Bakhtawar, 17 and Aseefa, 14.

Bhutto's husband said the government should step down.

"We demand the immediate resignation of the government. Those who were responsible for the attack on Oct. 18 are also responsible for this attack," he told Reuters by telephone.

He did not elaborate but referred to a letter Bhutto wrote to Musharraf before she returned to Pakistan in which she said if she were attacked, some of Musharraf's allies and a security agency would be responsible.