Zeenews Bureau
Islamabad, Dec 28: Benazir Bhutto was buried in her home constituency of Larkana in Sindh on Friday surrounded by family, friends, well wishers and thousands of supporters of her party, the PPP. She was laid to rest next to her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in their family mausoleum.
Funeral Procession
The body of slain Pakistani Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was wrapped in the Pakistan People’s Party’s flag. Her husband Asif Zardari and their three children arrived from Dubai for the funeral. Her sister Sanam was also present at the family mausoleum.
Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, wept as he accompanied the closed coffin on the 7-km (4-mile) journey to the family mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh where she buried next to the grave of her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Bhutto's son Bilawal, 19, and daughters Bakhtawar, 17 and Aseefa, 14, prayed with their father at the tomb. Their grief was shared by millions of poor Pakistanis, particularly in the rural hinterland of Sindh, the Bhutto family's political stronghold.
The top leadership of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) as well as her supporters gathered in huge numbers. There was surge of emotions, as a huge mass followed the coffin. The air reverberated with chanting of slogans and her followers jostled to give a shoulder on her final journey. The entire atmosphere was sombre and nerves were frayed.
Caravans of her supporters arrived from several towns in Sindh, which is considered a PPP stronghold. Nearly 100,000 people reached the mausoleum on foot, carts, personal vehicles or any other means that came by way, as the public transport system has collapsed following the rioting.
The coffin carrying Bhutto was earlier flown in a Pakistani Air Force C-130 aircraft from Islamabad. The former Prime Minister breathed her last at the Rawalpindi general hospital on Thursday at 6:16 pm Pakistan time.
Two assassins on motor bikes carrying AK 47s pumped 5 bullets into Bhutto’s neck and chest before carrying out a suicide attack as Benazir left an election rally in Pakistan’s garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Immediately after the news of Benazir’s death spread, violent protests broke out across the country. At least 10 people were killed in the riots, buses and vehicles were torched and anti-sloganeering reverberated in the streets. President Musharraf’s appeal for calm had little impact and the situation remains volatile even now. Particularly badly hit was Larkana where violence continued through the night.
Al Qaeda claims responsibility
Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility while the interim government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the killing.
An alleged spokesperson of al Qaeda, Mustafa Abu Al Yazid, called up a news agency, AKI, in Pakistan and claimed the responsibility of Benazir's assassination. There are also reports that an outfit called Lashkar-e-Jhangvi executed the attack.
Elections on schedule
"Right now the elections stand as they are," caretaker Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro told a press conference after chairing a special meeting of his cabinet to review the situation arising out of the assassination of the former premier.
"Any decision (about the polls) will be taken in consultation with the political parties. I'm ready to meet them right now," he said.
The interim administration, formed after the term of the national assembly ended last month, is meant to oversee the polls.
First Published: Friday, December 28, 2007, 00:00