By: Sardar Hameed
December 27th is marked every year as the death anniversary of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto – one of thegreatest leaders of the world and the first Muslim woman to head an Islamiccountry. Remembering her brings pain and sorrow of her loss but for me, it isalso a reminder of her compassionate and beautiful personality. MohtarmaBenazir Bhutto represented the Pakistan, that was beautiful and with immensepotential for development and success.
Benazir Bhutto was born June 21, 1953, the first of four children in a well-to-dolandowning family of the province of Sindh. She grew up in surroundingslittered with the trappings and perks of Pakistan’s post-colonial,English-speaking elite. At 16, she had to leave for Redcliff College, then shestudied at Harvard University for which she was not mentally prepared. FromHarvard University, she went on to Oxford University to study politics, philosophy,and economics, an arena where she honed her debating skills by becoming thefirst foreign woman to be elected president of the prestigious Oxford Union.She was a brilliant student and excelled in oratory at Harvard and Oxford,inspiring not just minds but also connecting hearts — it was she who introducedthe incumbent British Prime Minister Theresa May to Philip May who would becomeher husband.
Aftercompletion of her studies, she aspired to be a diplomat. But circumstance ledher to continue her father’s legacy as a political leader. Soon after herreturn, in 1977, her father was ousted as prime minister in a military coup andimprisoned, and martial law was declared. Two years later, Zulfikar Ali Bhuttowas executed, which became the defining moment in Benazir’s life, launching herfull-bore into politics. “I told him on my oath in his death cell, I wouldcarry on his work,” Benazir later said.
Shecarried forward the legacy of populism as inculcated by her father Zulfiqar AliBhutto in such an amazing way that people become so deeply infatuated with herthat the eyes of every Pakistani wept ocean of tears over her untimely andpainful assassination. Her cold-blooded murder shook rank and file of Pakistanimasses and her unforgettable and charismatic persona would continue to impressthe generations to come.
BenazirBhutto – A woman of courage and resilience who fought against the toxic mindsetof people on all fronts. Standing among the world’s most prominent leaders shebuilt an image for Pakistan that brought the country back in the world’s goodbooks. She was an epitome of courage, resoluteness, steadfastness, andresilience. Her intrepidity is eulogized not only by his diehard ideologues butalso by her worst detractors. Her life is characterized by the indefatigablestruggle against the despotic forces of dictatorship and fascism. She left nostone unturned to get democratic ethos entrenched in the political, social andeconomic order of the country.
BB’spolitical struggle was to strengthen the federation and she was a symbol ofunity between all four provinces of Pakistan. Despite great difficulties andatrocities committed by the military government against her and her family,Shaheed BB displayed fortitude and political wisdom and never believed orpracticed politics of hate. Her courage and vision made her a national leaderloved by her people. Her efforts for restoration of democracy and basic humanrights in her country earned her a great respect on international level. Shepaid a price for her promise. Over the next five years, with the PakistanPeople’s Party outlawed, Bhutto was in and out of detention, sometimes at home,under house arrest, or in prison, under harrowing conditions. She was allowedto leave Pakistan in 1984 for the treatment of a serious ear infection. Shesettled in London, but the saga of her family’s life continued with themysterious death of one of her two brothers at his home on the French Riviera.Some accounts suggested that he had been poisoned, which Bhutto believed to bethe handiwork of Pakistani agents.
Whenmartial law in Pakistan was lifted in December 1985, Bhutto felt the time hadcome to return to her homeland. Her homecoming in April 1986, in the ancientcity of Lahore, was tumultuous, celebrated by hundreds of thousands ofPakistanis who thronged the streets and forced her motorcade to slow to such acrawl that it took 10 hours to travel eight miles. The government, however,proved difficult for both of Bhutto’s terms as prime minister, from 1988 to 1990and 1993 to 1996. She was credited with ending media restrictions and speakingout for women’s rights, but she was constrained by the military and themullahs, Pakistan’s two most powerful institutions.
During her tenure, she strived hard to elevate the status of Pakistani women. Sheemployed all of her resources for the betterment of womenfolk. Sheestablished first women bank, a separate ministry for women affairs, inductedfemale judges in judiciary, erected a separate police station for women, directedfor five percent quota for women in every government department, set up Muslim women’s Parliamentary Union, established women’s sport’s Board andrestored women’s seats in national and provincial assemblies.
However,even after her death, she continues to reign our hearts and minds regardless ofthe fact that she led a quite unusual life. As she was once quoted to havesaid, “I have led an unusual life. I have buried a father killed at age 50 andtwo brothers killed in the prime of their lives. I raised my children as asingle mother when my husband was arrested and held for eight years without aconviction — a hostage to my political career.”Benazirwas undoubtedly a woman of great achievements. Some of her achievements came tolimelight and were acknowledged even after her death—as is the case with aposthumous United Nations Human Rights Prize conferred on her in 2008. Let meconclude by quoting Stephen Cohen a south Asia expert at the brookinginstitution who once remarked: “ despite her shortcomings, “ what will remainis a commitment to democracy—to moderate, centrist values, tolerance, a rolefor women and accommodation with India. She helped create a new identity forPakistan as a place where women could be prime minister.”