Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto: A woman in her own right, she was her father's daughter

The tragic assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto following a campaign appearance in Rawalpindi, Pakistan yesterday evening profoundly saddens us at the Fellowship of Reconciliation. As members of an international fellowship who seek nonviolent resolution of political differences and a path to peace that expands the participation of people in the processes of self-governance, this is deeply disheartening.

Benazir Bhutto spoke of the call to democracy and the championing of the poor as being as much a part of her make-up as was the blood of her father in her veins. Certainly a passion for principled nonviolence must become an internal part of the human makeup if it is to triumph over practices of violence and extremism.

Rhetoric will be rife and speculation rampant in the coming days, but the simple truth is that a strong and courageous person active in the efforts for peace in Pakistan has been killed, and the world has lost a precious soul. We mourn her death.

One of our greatest appreciations for Benazir Bhutto has been her longstanding concern for the welfare of children across the globe. She was an advocate for ending child labor in Pakistan and brought to the United Nations and other international sectors a compassion for children that is critical in our national leaders.

Her Oxford College roommate spoke on Thursday of her most warmly as a mother. Violence is an evil in every expression it takes. But its deepest insult is to the reverence for life itself. The life that was lost was at once, that of a woman, a daughter, a wife and a mother. This loss deepens once more the need for us to strengthen our convictions about nonviolence and to teach our children its principles.

Love life, abhor violence. Keep Benazir Bhutto’s children in our prayers, and all the children of Pakistan, and all the children of the world. Her 1994 address to the United Nations conference on population issues illustrates that her concerns were longstanding and well articulated in her last term as prime minister of Pakistan. It starts: “I come before you as a Woman; as a Mother; and as a Wife...”