Karachi attack will further polarise politics: Pak media

ISLAMABAD: Slamming the suicide bombing of former premier Benazir Bhutto's convoy as an attack on Pakistani way of life, media here on Saturday warned that it might further polarise the the charged-up politics and bring more 'uncertainty' to the country's democratic set up.
      
Nearly 140 people were killed in twin blasts targeting Bhutto's motorcade in Karachi on Friday and the 54-year-old two-time prime minister, who ended eight years in exile to lead her party in the upcoming general election, has described the attack as an assault on democracy and 'unity and integrity of Pakistan'.
       
In an editorial, the influential Dawn newspaper said, "The grief and anger at (the) act of terror in Karachi should not make us oblivious to one stark truth: it was terror directed at our way of life."
        
"Benazir Bhutto and her party may have their quota of denigrates, but no one can deny that the throngs that greeted her and the festive atmosphere that prevailed in the nation's biggest city on that fateful night also served to highlight a value system in which bigotry, intolerance and oppression under cover of religion have no place."
       
The editorial titled 'Standing up to terror' said the sacrifices made by security personnel and PPP workers had 'conveyed a definite message loud and clear to the terrorists: the people of Pakistan will not bow down to terror'.
 
The daily, however, said the attack would strengthen the alliance between Bhutto and President Pervez Musharraf and could lead to greater polarisation.