Shock, fear jolt Asians in region

One local man said he felt the hope for Pakistani democracy he had lately begun to nurture drain suddenly from his body.

Another fretted that his native country might erupt in chaotic street fighting.

A local student’s heart was heavy with the loss of one of his political inspirations.

So it was early yesterday as word ricocheted through the region’s South Asian community that Pakistan opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had been assassinated.

Clark University junior Abhishek Raman heard the news from his mother, who telephoned from India.

Like many local South Asians, he feared the brazen political killing could plunge Pakistan into civil unrest or upset the stability of the region. But the political science student, who hopes to run for office in his native India one day, also felt the death of Ms. Bhutto on a personal level.

Mr. Raman met the charismatic leader when she visited his New Delhi high school six years ago. She inspired him to pursue his political aspirations, and she counseled him to stay true to his ideals and always to remain hopeful, he said.

“She was such a charming leader and such a warm person overall,” Mr. Raman recalled yesterday. “I was so encouraged to meet a person who broke all the stereotypes and rose to power. She stood against discrimination based on cast, creed, gender and race.”

During her long exile from Pakistan, the former prime minister often spoke in India, knowing her pro-democracy remarks would filter across the border into Pakistan. Mr. Raman was a member of his high school’s student government association when Ms. Bhutto visited the school.

“We had a short conversation. She basically told me I should stand for my ideals and always be optimistic about the future,” he recalled. “Even after she knew her life was in jeopardy, she still went back to Pakistan because she was optimistic about the future. That’s what kept her moving. She was just the epitome of strength and courage to many women in South Asia.”

Ms. Bhutto was a candidate for parliament in national elections scheduled for Jan. 8.

Dr. Muhammad Ramzan of Holden, a neurologist at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, said it felt as if his hopes for true democracy in his native land shattered when he heard on the radio early yesterday morning that she had been assassinated.

“Something went out of my body. It was so shocking. She was the hope for the moderates and the liberals in the country that democracy will come to Pakistan,” Dr. Ramzan said.

Dr. Ramzan’s brother also called from Pakistan to tell him. His family is from the same region of Pakistan as Ms. Bhutto.

Dr. Ramzan said he had feared something might happen to Ms. Bhutto almost from the moment she landed in Karachi in early October after eight years in exile in Dubai and London. She survived an attempt on her life in October, a suicide bombing that killed more than 140 people at a parade in her honor.

“She knew she was in danger, but she was a leader of the people. She cannot just protect herself and stay away from the people,” he said.

Tahir Ali of Westboro was traveling on business yesterday when he learned via telephone of the assassination. The software engineer, a member of the Islamic Society of Worcester, got a call from a friend who told him to turn on the news right away.

“It’s a sad moment for Pakistan,” Mr. Ali said yesterday. “Obviously this is going to be very devastating for Pakistan. She was a symbol of unity for Pakistan.”

Some Bhutto supporters in Pakistan initially blamed the country’s unelected president, Pervez Musharraf, for the assassination. Mr. Musharraf pointed the finger at extremists.

Local Pakistani-Americans said they would reserve judgment until the attack had been fully investigated. For now, they said, their main concern is that Pakistan not veer into anarchy or civil war.

“The civil unrest that’s going on could lead to chaos in the country, which is already just come out of a situation of emergency rule. Now all of the sudden this kind of civil unrest happens, and people may go into the streets,” Mr. Ali said. “The blame is going to fly every which way now.”

In the meantime, Mr. Raman has already given some thought to his political idol’s place in history.

“Her legacy,” he said, “will be that she was a charismatic, secular, forward-looking leader who wanted to work for the poor people of Pakistan.”

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