BHUTTO: Front pages from around the U.S. & Elsewhere

[ See SAJAforum collection of coverage, sources, resources about the Bhutto assassination ]

I am fascinated by how newspaper front pages play major stories and, thanks to the Newseum's Today's Front Pages project, we get to see what hundreds of newspapers look like every day.

As part of SAJAforum's effort to document aspects of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, we have collected more than 50 front pages. Two newspapers, one large (the Los Angeles Times) one small (Lincoln, Nebraska's Journal Star) are here - click on the images to magnify.

The rest are below - U.S. dailies first, followed by Canada and then a sprinkling of other countries (China, UAE, UK, France, etc). If you have any that you'd like us to add, please e-mail a high-resolution digital image to saja[at]columbia.edu.

This is not meant to be a definitive list. We have posted pages where the Bhutto assassination was the lead story and tried to get as many states from around the U.S. as possible. Also below are front pages from Pakistani paper, including Dawn, the daily founded by Pakistan's founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

Post your comments below - analysis, critiques, especially welcome.

 

The Miami Herald's Spanish edition:

 

CANADA:

AUSTRIA:

CHINA:

FRANCE:

INDIA:

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

UNITED KINGDOM:

PAKISTAN:

[Two of these Pakistani papers are courtesy of Dr. Adil Najam of Pakistaniat.com, a must-read blog for all things Pakistan. See the post there about this collection.]

For more Bhutto front pages from Dec. 28, 2007, see Newsdesigner.com's international and U.S. collections.

Post your comments below - analysis, critiques, especially welcome. If you have any that you'd like us to add, please e-mail a high-resolution digital image to saja[at]columbia.edu.

See SAJAforum collection of coverage, sources, resources about the Bhutto assassination

Comments

[Mian Zahid Ghani]

There will be a lot of chaos and unrest in the country,'' referring to
Pakistan's leader. ""It has already started today.
There might be a civil war. Musharraf should be planning his exit.''

Fears over what might happen to Pakistan's nuclear weapons as the nation is in
crisis are unfounded, saying that he thought the nuclear weapons would remain safe.

Words are too small to express what I feel,'" "Though I didn't agree with Bhutto politically, what I saw brought tears to my eyes, and I totally condemn it,"

Today being Friday, Muslims in Pakistan will get out of their homes and gather in large groups that can number into the thousands for the morning prayer ritual. There will be lots of demonstrations and protests during the gatherings.

There would be tremendous pressure put on Musharraf by the public and that he should find a way to exit.

"The elections will most certainly have to be postponed,"'

A common Urdu saying which goes, "Death takes a person attracts a person to the place where he or she has to die."'

That saying unfortunately came true for Bhutto on Thursday,

[Dr. Brahman Sivaprakasapillai]

Has anyone really thought about the fact that nobody and no country can destroy us (USA) but that there are stupid people amongst us who have the capacity to bring our great country to it's heals?
Does it make sense for us to interfere blatantly in the internal affairs of other countries while asking them to democratize? We foist our choices on other countries and then we wonder why they (people chosen by us) are dishonest and corrupt.
The "pundits" tell us that following the demise of Benazir, it is likely that Musharaff will be succeeded by a more brutal military dictatorship. There is at least one South Asian country with a civilian leadership that is showing that it will not lend itself to being manipulated a la Pervez, Benazir, Sonia or Manmohan

[vinod shrivastav]

its memorable.

[Mike Ghouse]

Hope for Pakistan
Mike Ghouse, December 27, 2007
www.MikeGhouse.net

Much has been written about Benazir Bhutto, her assassination is a severe blow to democracy in Pakistan.

She threatened the extremists, a dare move perhaps calculated to win the support of majority of moderates in Pakistan who want to live a normal life. They got to her before she could get them.
It was the battle of wills. She played the game boldly but undiplomatically. She had every thing to lose, whereas the extremists did not. Life did not mean much to them, it was not a good equation.

Now, is the time and the moral responsibility of the moderate majority to stand up, whether Ms. Bhutto would have made it or not is not the question, but she sacrificed her life to bring democracy back to her people. If they do not, those few extremists will bulldoze them, one leader at a time. Then it would be too late to wish otherwise.

The ‘Bush-man” Musharraf fell prey to the greed of power. His dreams of making Pakistan a moderate democratic republic simply vanished before the hunger for power.

Bhutto’s death gives ample reason to Musharraf to stay put. I will not be surprised to hear “I told you so”, “You did not understand my people” kind of rhetoric and assert “Pakistani people prefer to have the military rule” and “I am the one.” Pakistani people deserve their own government, and they are inherently democratic in their disposition.

At this time, the best course for the United States to take is not to rock the boat. Let the general have some breathing room, and listen to him and to the public without making aggressive self serving suggestions. Any criticism of his government may build public resentment and amounts to meddling in their affairs.

Stability of Pakistan is important to her people and people in the Subcontinent. Let Pakistan recover from this severe blow to their democratic process, and make sure there is a genuine welcome of our help, and offer it unconditionally.

Democracy is not a ‘ready made’ suit to fit in the moment you wear it. It is a process like planting the seeds, watching them germinate, checking for moisture, soil, sun and air, and caring it from bugs, fungal diseases and then protecting it from the birds. Then comes fertilizing, watering, pruning and chasing the birds or the monkeys part, it is a full blown process. You have nourish it and over a period of twenty years, it will be tree enough to serve the purpose for which it was gown; Shade.

One has to start breathing, drinking, sleeping and living democracy to fully realize its values. It took us two centuries to be one of the most mature democracies and we need to give others at least a generation and not order it to happen on our President’s watch.

Fundos (Fundamentalists) are a threat to the peaceful working of their society. They want others to believe and listen to them, without giving the other party the very same right. As citizens of the world, we need to put politics aside and at least try roping them into a dialogue. Looking back, had our administration not emboldened her with the confrontational path, she probably would have trekked the diplomatic path.

To understand the vibrancy of Pakistani populace, one must watch the Pakistan forums and talk shows- such as the much talked about “who wants to be the Prime Minister”. It is weeks of debate, give and take punches, and absorbing and living the values of inclusiveness in that society. The extremists also listen and watch the slow seeping in of democratic norms. It is an anecdote to terrorism.

Steven Bochco’s “LA Law” truly represented American mind, the audience was made to take different sides as the show moved forward and enabled the public to see how to deal with different social and cultural issues of the society. If the American entrepreneurs can fund such shows around the globe where people can think and ponder on both sides of the issue, we can see seeds of democracy germinating on the planet earth.

Pakistan is ripe for democracy; a majority of her people believes in it. We cannot “Bush out terrorism” with bombs, we can certainly erase it through dialogue, education and patience. We need a 20 year plan to change a whole new generation into thinking, believing, seeing, breathing and living democracy in their day to day life. It will take a generation to bring it about a sustainable democracy.

Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker, Writer and a Moderator. He is president of the Foundation for Pluralism and is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing Pluralism, politics, Islam, Religion and civic issues. He is the founding president of World Muslim Congress with a simple theme: Good for Muslims and good for the world. His comments, news analysis, opinions and columns can be found on the Websites and Blogs listed at his personal website www.MikeGhouse.net. Mike is a Dallasite for nearly three decades and Carrollton is his home town. He can be reached at MikeGhouse@gmail.com or (214) 325-1916

[Aijaz Ahmed Kazi]

She was our only hope to save us from tyranny and dictatorship. With her, our hopes stand slaughtered, butchered and laid to rest in Garhi Khuda Bux. Our reslove to fight for the liberty and freedom from the dictators of the country is deeply wounded but still with our broken limbs we would fight for our province and the country. Long live the land of Sindh and Pakistan, the land of sages and saints and the land that gave us great leaders like Jinnah, Bhutto and Benazir