The shocking political assassination that’s never been solved | ASSASSINS

Key Concepts

• Benazir Bhutto: The central figure, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, first woman to lead a Muslim country.
• Pakistan People's Party (PPP): Political party founded by her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and later led by Benazir.
• Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto: Benazir's father, a political titan who served as President and Prime Minister of Pakistan.
• Military Dictatorship: A recurring theme in Pakistan's political history, which Benazir sought to challenge.
• Secular State: Benazir's political ideal, fiercely opposed by Islamist factions and the military.
• Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI): Pakistan's powerful military and spy agency, implicated in some theories regarding the assassination.
• Hamid Gul: Former ISI chief, named as a potential threat by Benazir.
• Pervez Musharraf: Pakistan's military ruler at the time of Benazir's return and assassination, later indicted in her murder.
• Taliban: Militant group, officially blamed by the Pakistani government for the assassination.
• Baitullah Mehsud: Militant leader, named by the government as the one who ordered the assassination.
• Karachi Attack (October 18, 2007): The first major assassination attempt on Benazir upon her return, a suicide bombing that killed over 130 people.
• Rawalpindi Assassination (December 27, 2007): The successful assassination of Benazir Bhutto at a rally in Liaquat Bagh.
• Liaquat Bagh: A historically significant park in Rawalpindi, site of Benazir's assassination and where Pakistan's first Prime Minister was also killed.
• United Nations Investigation: An independent inquiry into Benazir's assassination, which criticized the Pakistani government's failure to protect her.
• Asif Ali Zardari: Benazir's husband, named her political heir, and later became President of Pakistan.
• Bilawal Bhutto Zardari: Benazir's son, made chairman of the PPP at 19.

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Benazir Bhutto's Return and the Karachi Attack (October 2007)

In October 2007, Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile in London and Dubai. Her return was met with immense public enthusiasm, with hundreds of thousands of supporters flooding the streets of Karachi, waving flags, dancing, and chanting her name, viewing her as a "symbol of hope."

On October 18, 2007, as her convoy made its way from the airport to a rally, a major attack occurred. Despite it being nighttime, the streetlights were inexplicably switched off, forcing her security detail to use floodlights to scan the massive crowds. As her truck crossed a bridge past midnight, two blasts in quick succession tore through the front of her security detail, destroying three police vans and killing over 130 people. Remarkably, Benazir survived this suicide bombing, though the message was clear: someone wanted her dead.

Background: Benazir Bhutto's Life and Political Career

Benazir Bhutto's political journey was deeply intertwined with Pakistan's turbulent history of political assassinations, a country where even its first Prime Minister was shot dead at a rally just four years after its founding. Her assassination was particularly devastating for her supporters, who saw her as their best hope to escape years of military dictatorship.

She was born into a powerful political dynasty, the daughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, an Oxford-educated barrister and political titan. He founded the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), one of Pakistan's three main political parties, and served as both President and Prime Minister in the 1970s. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was a charismatic populist who promised to uplift the poor and resist military rule, but he ultimately paid the price for his ambitions.

Benazir's education was a top priority, and she studied at Harvard and Oxford, initially dreaming of a career as a diplomat or journalist. However, in 1979, her world was shattered when her father was overthrown in a military coup and subsequently hanged. She recounted the trauma to the BBC, stating, "It was horrible... my father was very calm... They wouldn't even open the cell doors for me to kiss him goodbye. And then we just went back and started the countdown to death."

Following her father's death, Benazir assumed leadership of the PPP, dedicating herself to politics despite the raw trauma. She faced imprisonment, surveillance, and silencing while leading the opposition against the regime that had killed her father. Yet, she continued to rise, and at just 35 years old, she achieved the unthinkable: becoming the first woman in the modern Muslim world to lead a country.

Benazir believed in a secular state and held liberal ideals, much like her father. These ideals were fiercely opposed within Pakistan by Islamist factions and the military, who resisted a secular government, especially one led by a woman as motivated and beloved as Benazir. By 1999, the military had seized power again, forcing Benazir into a second self-imposed exile, from which she watched her country descend deeper into violence, religious extremism, and authoritarian rule.

In 2007, she saw another opportunity to return, making a deal with promises from the Pakistani military and support from Washington. The US and Pakistan were key allies in the War in Afghanistan, with Pakistan crucial for establishing supply routes. Benazir was aware of factions within the Pakistani establishment that supported the Taliban ideologically and materially, and she threatened to put an end to it. She planned to run in the upcoming elections, aiming to restore democracy, fight terrorism, and forge a new future for Pakistan.

The Assassination (December 27, 2007)

On December 27, 2007, Benazir Bhutto woke early in Islamabad for the final day of her campaign, with the national election just two weeks away. Her campaign had drawn tens of thousands of supporters across the country. She was headed to Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh to speak at a rally, a park heavy with history as it was where Pakistan's first Prime Minister was also gunned down in 1951.

Despite warnings from her advisers, foreign governments, and family to stay inside, limit appearances, and not trust the crowds, Benazir insisted on being visible and present among her people. She believed in fate and that her country still needed her.

By late afternoon, Liaquat Bagh was overflowing with supporters waving the red, green, and black flags of the PPP. Benazir took the stage, confident and charismatic, speaking about jobs, schools, prosperity, healing, and hope. She directly addressed terrorism, calling out her enemies by name, and declared that Pakistan must belong to its people, not its generals.

As the sun began to dip, her speech ended to a roaring crowd. She smiled, waved, and climbed into her white bulletproof SUV. As the convoy slowly moved through the park, the crowd pressed in. Her advisers urged her to stay down, but she hesitated, then stood up through the sunroof, hand raised, white headscarf fluttering – a moment of triumph and connection.

At that precise moment, from the left side of the road near a police checkpoint, a man in a white shalwar kameez and dark sunglasses, with a calm face, pushed forward. He raised a pistol, and in an instant, the hopeful scene was shattered. Three gunshots cracked the air in rapid succession: the first missed, the second struck her neck, and the third hit the back of her head. A second later, the man detonated his vest, causing a thunderous explosion that tore a fireball through the crowd and violently rocked her SUV.

Benazir collapsed back into the SUV, bleeding out from her wounds. Her guards screamed for help, and the driver sped through the chaos to Rawalpindi General Hospital within minutes. However, it was too late; Benazir Bhutto was declared dead on arrival. Her death extinguished the fragile hope for a better future held by her many supporters.

Immediate Aftermath and Controversies

News of Benazir's death spread within minutes, plunging Pakistan into shock. Across the country, people mourned, screamed, and burned tires in the streets, with shops closing and cities shutting down.

The government quickly claimed the Taliban killed her, blaming a young man named Baitullah Mehsud, a militant leader hiding in the mountains. However, many people found this story "too simple, too easy" and did not believe it.

A significant controversy arose from the fact that no autopsy was performed on Benazir's body at the hospital. While this was partly attributed to Islamic tradition, modern scholars note exceptions for criminal investigations. Benazir's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, also reportedly did not want an autopsy, wishing to bury his wife quickly with honor. Officials further claimed an autopsy was unnecessary, stating she died from hitting her head on a metal lever in the SUV, not from bullets or the bomb. This contradicted eyewitness accounts of gunshots and the explosion.

Adding to the public's confusion and anger, it was revealed that just hours after the assassination, the crime scene was hosed down by fire trucks, effectively cleaning away blood, bone, and all crucial clues. Her party demanded answers: who ordered the cleanup? Why did her security fail? Why did she only have basic protection that day, especially after the Karachi attack?

The United Nations launched an investigation, and its report concluded that the Pakistani government had failed to protect her. Benazir's death quickly became more than a tragedy; it was a profound mystery, with the truth seemingly "buried deeper than her body."

Investigation and Theories of Responsibility

The questions surrounding Benazir Bhutto's assassination continued to grow, with numerous theories and suspects but no definitive proof. The government maintained its stance, blaming the Taliban and Baitullah Mehsud.

However, Benazir herself had warned of threats from inside the government before her death, in letters and emails. She believed that certain individuals within Pakistan's own military and intelligence services (ISI) wanted her dead, fearing her return, her potential victory, and her ability to expose them.

Several names emerged in connection with these internal threats:

• Hamid Gul: A former chief of the ISI, known for his support of the Taliban and opposition to Bhutto.
• Pervez Musharraf: Pakistan's military ruler at the time. Benazir had initially agreed to work with him under US pressure, but their alliance had fractured. Musharraf denied involvement, blaming Benazir for taking too many risks, but he was in charge of her critically failed security. A Rawalpindi court later indicted him in her murder, but he went into exile to escape trial.

Other theories suggested a more complex conspiracy:

• The attack might have been planned by more than one group, with the Taliban pulling the trigger while others provided support from behind the scenes.
• It could have been a "deal" where militants wanted her gone, and someone in power allowed it to happen.
• Some believed she was killed for her commitment to fighting terrorism or because she knew too much about secret deals between the army and jihadi groups.
• There were even suspicions of betrayal by her own allies, with several senior PPP members reportedly excluded from the investigation.

The United Nations report was scathing, calling the Pakistani police's actions a "criminal act of failure." It argued that the police had deliberately failed to investigate because "someone powerful wanted the case closed." The report explicitly stated: "The responsibility of Miss BH's security on the day of her assassination rested with the federal government, the government of Punjab, and the Rahul Pindi district police. None of these entities took the necessary measures to respond to the extraordinary, fresh, and urgent security risks that they knew she faced."

To this day, many believe the full truth remains hidden. The narrative concludes that Benazir "didn't just die from bullets or a bomb. She died from silence and fear. From power games played in dark rooms. She was murdered in front of the world. But her killers still walk free."

Legacy and Unresolved Questions

Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest next to her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, in the Sindh village of Gari Khuda Bakhsh. Thousands walked for miles to attend her funeral, with women crying and men beating their chests, as cities across Pakistan burned in anger and grief. She had been their hope, and now she was just a memory.

Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, presented her will, in which Benazir named him as her political heir. Their son, Bilawal, then just 19 years old, was made chairman of the Pakistan People's Party. Riding a wave of public sympathy, the PPP won the 2008 elections, and Zardari became president.

Despite the political shift, the investigation into her assassination dragged on. Eventually, police made arrests, and five young men were jailed. However, the case against them was weak, with witnesses disappearing and evidence going missing. In 2017, ten years after the assassination, all the suspects were set free, and no one was convicted.

The impact of Benazir's death remains a subject of debate. Some argue that it changed nothing, with corruption and extremism in Pakistan worsening. Others believe her assassination "opened the world's eyes," revealing the deep-seated problems of violence, lies, and fear that control everything in the country.

Today, Benazir Bhutto's photos still adorn homes and shops, her voice echoes in old speeches, and her face shines on billboards. She has become a powerful symbol, not just of what was lost, but of what could have been. The poignant conclusion is that "She came back to save her country, but her country couldn't save her."