Support Benazir Bhutto and a Democratic Pakistan

 
My name is Michelle Lindsey; I'm 26, and I live in Colorado. I deeply respected, admired, and loved Benazir Bhutto. And I was blessed with the profound honor of exchanging e-mails with her in the month before her tragic death. I told her about this petition that I had initiated - and I promised her that I would not give up until it was introduced on the floor of Congress as a Congressional Resolution in support of her and of her bravely-led movement for democracy in Pakistan. And I renew that promise - now - and forever. 

I will do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes:
I will e-mail people and post on websites and blogs every single day on behalf on Benazir's memory and on behalf of this petition.
And I will get down on bended knees before every single member of the United States Congress, if that's what it takes to get this introduced as a Resolution on the floor of Congress.

Benazir, as I promised you before, I promise you again now: I will not give up the fight. I've been doing everything in my power and soul, and I will continue to do so for the rest of my days on this earth.

Immediately below is a new text I've written in regard to the essence of this important petition - and following that is the text of the original petition as it was when I initially composed it in November...and as it was when I first e-mailed it to Benazir.

Thank you for reading this  - and thank you in advance for your signature and support. After you have signed, please forward it to others, and please post about it on blogs and websites. Thank you.

--------------------

You can imprison a man, but not an idea. You can exile a man, but not an idea. You can kill a man, but not an idea.   -- Benazir Bhutto


The idea of a democratic Pakistan was the cause, the struggle, and the dream for which Benazir Bhutto so courageously gave her life. And it is an idea, a cause, and a dream that must not die with her - it is an idea, a cause, and a dream that must live and breathe and come to fruition. It is a struggle and a fight that she began - and it is a struggle and a fight that we must finish.

There are struggles and causes that demand our action - that demand our involvement - that demand our care, our concern. There are struggles and causes that demand our keeping of the flame and our carrying of the banner. These are the struggles and the causes that affect the life and future of the hope, rights, and freedoms of humankind.

Benazir Bhutto was a brave hero for democracy. She gave her life so that democracy might see resurgence and breath and survival in her country.

In our nation, where we already posses such sacred rights and freedoms, will our conscience allow us to do any less than lending our voices and our signatures to the cause for which this extraordinary woman so courageously gave her life? Will our conscience allow us to do any less than to stand and speak for the realization of the democratic rights and freedoms of others - rights and freedoms that we so freely enjoy? Will our conscience allow us to do anything less than lend our voices, our signatures, our hands, and our hearts to see that Benazir Bhutto's valiant lifelong dream and struggle for democracy in Pakistan is realized? My conscience will allow me to do no less. Will yours?

In November, Benazir wrote in an e-mail to me:
"I hope many people will benefit from my struggle to restore democracy in Pakistan.
People have an unquestionable desire for democracy, for control over their own lives, for human rights, gender equality, labor and minority rights and for a chance to build a better life for their children. These are indeed the dreams of the Pakistani people and of all people in this part of the world. We appeal to all the people of the world to walk with us on our common destination towards freedom.
God willing, ultimately we will triumph." 

I promised Benazir that I would do everything humanly possible to see that this petition received support by the American people and that it was introduced as a Resolution on the floor of the United States Congress. If it takes every day of my life - I will not give up until that promise is realized.

Benazir Bhutto was the voice of hope - not only for her country and people, but for our country and people, and all peoples of the world who seek and believe in freedom, human rights, and democracy. She knowingly risked her life in order to stand, and speak, and act upon these hopes and these truths. She gave her life for their birth, realization, sustenance, survival, and soul. And I will never stop fighting to see that her dream - and what she gave her life for - is realized. And I will commit each day of my life to seeing that her memory lives and continues to inspire people around the world.

So I am now asking all of you who read this, pleading with all of you - all of you ever enjoyed a freedom that comes with democratic and human rights, all of you who ever had someone on this earth inspire you or give you hope, all of you who respect and were inspired by a woman who gave the ultimate sacrifice for what she believed in - stand with me, stand with all those who loved Benazir Bhutto, stand with the democracy-seeking people of Pakistan. Stand with Benazir Bhutto. Benazir lives. Her hopes, her dreams, her struggles are and should be the hopes, dreams, and struggles not just of Pakistanis - but the hopes, dreams, and struggles of every citizen of this planet. Her spirit and her courage live in the heart of every person who makes these hopes, dreams, and struggles their own.

Benazir lives.

Benazir's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, wrote in the Washington Post:
"The world was shocked, and my life was shattered, by the murder of my beloved wife, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. Benazir was willing to lay down her life for what she believed in -- for the future of a democratic, moderate, progressive Pakistan. She stood up to dictators and fanatics, those who would distort and defy our constitution and those who would defame the Muslim holy book by violence and terrorism. My pain and the pain of our children is unimaginable. But I feel even worse for a world that will have to move forward without this extraordinary bridge between cultures, religions and traditions."

For me, personally, as one who deeply respected, admired, and loved her...and as one who had the extraordinary honor of exchanging e-mails with Benazir in the month before her death - and who had planned and hoped to go to Pakistan and volunteer my life and my effort to help Benazir in her courageous life and efforts - my heart has had an immense hole since the day she was killed. She was indeed a bridge...She was hope...and she was a light in this world. But the bridge she built, the hope she inspired, and the light she lit are eternal.

Mr. Zardari also wrote in the Washington Post:
"The enemies of democracy and tolerance who took my wife from me and from the world can and must be exposed and marginalized. Dictatorship and fanaticism have always been rejected by the people of Pakistan. If free and fair elections are held, those forces will be defeated again on Feb. 18. And on that day, the vision and indefatigable spirit of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto will burn brightly, and, in the words of John Kennedy, "the glow from that fire can truly light the world."


We, the undersigned, call on the United States Congress to introduce and adopt a Resolution paying tribute to the courageous life of Benazir Bhutto - and to support the cause of democracy in Pakistan to which she committed her life and for which she was so bravely and tragically martyred - and to state a support for free, fair, and transparent elections, support for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan, and support for the democracy-seeking people of Pakistan as they continue the struggle for democracy in their nation --- a struggle sustained and inspired by Benazir Bhutto...and now by her memory.

--------------------

"I would like to ask Washington not to put everything behind one man, but to put it behind the people of Pakistan. The people of my country must know that the international community, and the world's only superpower, stands with them rather than with an individual." ~ Benazir Bhutto


Sometimes the greatest sin is not what we do - but what we don't.

We, as Americans, are not about tanks, guns, and bombs -- We're about peace, freedom, justice, equality, and human rights. But the people of Pakistan will not know this if we don't stand with them now - if we don't stand with them and support them in their brave and courageous struggle for democracy.

Please read and sign this petition and then forward it to your elected leaders and representatives in Congress. Ask them to initiate and support a Congressional Resolution in support of the democracy-seeking people of Pakistan - and the movement and struggle to restore democracy in Pakistan being courageously led by Benazir Bhutto.

Ours is supposed to be a government of, by, and for the people. WE are the PEOPLE. This is OUR government. But only if we participate. Only if we engage ourselves. Only if we stand and speak.    

We are what we stand for - both as a nation and as individuals.

My name is Michelle; I'm 26; I'm an American -- and I choose to stand with Benazir Bhutto and the democracy-seeking people of Pakistan. Will you join me? And will you ask our government to do the same?

Thank you.


Media contact:  StandUpBeCounted@gmail.com
http://www.SupportBenazir.org/