Sadness in Pakistan

Benazir Bhutto is no longer with us.

I didn't know much about her before word of her assassination flooded the news. But a deep sadness grasped my heart as images of her flashed across my TV screen.

She was a woman who stood for something.

Bhutto was trying to make a difference in Pakistan. And she did. Not many women in the Muslim world had the kind of power, influence and education that she had when she first took on the role of prime minister. She was by no means perfect but she represented a positive change in a traditional male-driven society. Even today, activists like Nazanin are fighting for women's' rights in the Middle East.

Although Bhutto has passed away, we must make sense of her tragic departure and re-examine what she stood for and where things are going if we don't pay close attention to Pakistan's significant place in this global war on terrorism.

And lastly, here's an excerpt from her autobiography Daughter of the East:

"I am a woman proud of my cultural and religious heritage. I feel a special personal obligation to contrast the true Islam - the religion of tolerance and pluralism - with the caricature of my faith that terrorists have hijacked. I know that I am a symbol of what the so-called 'Jihadists', Taliban and al-Qaeda, most fear. I am a female political leader fighting to bring modernity, communication, education, and technology to Pakistan. I believe that a democratic Pakistan can become a symbol of hope to more than one billion Muslims around the world who must choose between the forces of the past and the forces of the future."

[Hat tip to Muslamics]