(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-04 15:16

 

People hold candles during a prayer meeting held to mourn the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, in Hyderabad December 28, 2007. India said the assassination of Bhutto on Thursday was a tragedy and a terrible blow to the democratic process. [Agencies]

"Her death is a great loss to the country," said Rana Nassir Bulbul, a botany student at the Postgraduate College H-8 Islamabad. "I hope the murderer will be found," he said.

In many other cities, funeral prayers, memorial meetings and candle vigils have been held in the past days to mourn the slaying of the female politician, who has been viewed by many Pakistanis as a great leader.

As the country is still suffused with sadness over Bhutto, the confidence for a new life in the wake of the tragedy is also spreading among the Pakistani people.

In Rawalpindi, people's routine normalcy has been recovered. Shops are open with shop assistants busy looking after customers. In the streets, traffic is in full swing just as usual.

"Life must go on and we should turn our eyes to the future," said 20-year-old Imadad Hussain, a telecommunication engineering student in Islamabad.

"Time is a good healer," he said. "I hope a smooth (parliamentary) election will be held and the situation after that will be better."

The general election, which was scheduled for January 8, will be postponed until February 18. President Pervez Musharraf said the postponement was justified after the assessment of the current situation and that the government is committed to a fair, transparent and free election.

The Pakistani government has launched an investigation into the slaying of 54-year-old Bhutto.

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