Razaq Chaudhry’s wife knocked on his shower door this morning with news that devastated him.

Pakistan’s opposition leader Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated at a campaign rally in the couple’s former homeland.

The news sent shock waves throughout the estimated 60,000 Pakistani-Americans that live in Orange County and more than 200,000 in Southern California.

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(More Pakistani-American views on Bhutto’s assassination will be added to this post as they become available.  Share your thoughts on the incident below)

(Read AP account of the assassination)

Chaudhry, president of the Fullerton-based Council of Pakistan American Affairs (COPAA) said that members of the expatriate community “are basically (speechless) and cannot express their feelings. People are generally sad.”

An attacker who shot Bhutto after a campaign rally and then blew himself up today sent a nation barely recovered from an emergency lifted earlier this month into a political tailspin.

Her death stoked new chaos across the nuclear-armed nation, an important U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.

Chaudhry, who heads an organization that encourages Pakistani-Americans to participate in the U.S. political process, spoke by telephone in a brief interview this morning.

Q) What does the assassination mean for Pakistan?

A) This is absolutely devastating for the country and I am absolutely shocked to see what happened in Pakistan and it’s just inconceivable that such a thing could happen. It was inconceivable in the sense considering that there were so many threats (against her life) that the Pakistani government was aware of.

Q) Who do you blame?
A) I absolutely blame the lack of security from the Pakistani government.
 

Q) What will this do to elections slated for Jan. 8?

A) I don’t think the election will go ahead under the current circumstances. With the political turmoil in Pakistan holding elections at this time is meaningless. All the effort should be made to have a central unity government and perhaps in the near future call for election. At this time I don’t think that election can produce a fair result.

Q) Will this cause more violence?
A) In the short turn this will cause more violence out of anger. Eventually I am pretty sure that peace will prevail. I think that there has to be some drastic changes in the thinking of the country. The iron fist that President Pervez Musharraf has used to crush dissent has created more anger. The first thing to do is to calm the situation and form a central unity government.

Q) Do you think Bhutto should have returned to Pakistan?

A) She made a good decision considering the political situation in Pakistan. I don’t think that there were many credible leaders in Pakistan. Regardless of her political views, she was one of the most credible leaders at this time. Her departure has basically left a big vacuum in Pakistan at this moment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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COPAA issued the following statement this evening:

“COPAA Expresses Grief at the Demise of Former Prime Minister Benazir BhuttoThe Board of Directors of the Council of Pakistan American Affairs, COPAA, a Southern California based socio-political organization, expresses its profound condolences and sympathy to the family of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the families of more than 30 other individuals who lost their lives as a result of a suicide attack in Rawalpindi. COPAA condemns this act of terrorism in the strongest possible terms and urges the Government of Pakistan to bring to justice those responsible for such a heinous crime. This is a very sad and tragic day in the history of Pakistan. There is no justification of such a barbaric and brutal attack on the leader of one of the major political parties of Pakistan, said the Board President in a statement issued to the press. This attack has shattered the very foundation of Pakistan; the foundation of democracy and tolerance. The departure of Benazir Bhutto from the political arena in Pakistan has left a vacuum that wouldn’t be filled any time soon. COPAA expresses its solidarity with the people of Pakistan and shares in their anguish, grief and sorrow brought by this horrifying attack. We pray that Pakistan comes out of such a difficult period and starts to sail towards the path of true democracy.

More Pakistani-American views on Bhutto’s assassination will be added to this post as they become available.  Share your thoughts on the incident below

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