Life of Benazir Bhutto

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BRIEF HISTORY OF LEGEND By,
ADNAN MURAD BHAYO (former Vice
President) Peoples Students Federation Federal
Urdu University of Arts, Science Technology
Unit, Karachi
MUHTARMA BENAZIR BHUTTO
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Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was a Pakistani
politician who chaired the Pakistan Peoples Party
(PPP), a centre-left political party in Pakistan.
Bhutto was the first woman elected to lead a
Muslim state, having twice been Prime Minister of
Pakistan (19881990 19931996)
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Benazir Bhutto was born on June 21, 1953, at
Karachi's Pinto Hospital, Pakistan. She was the
eldest child of former Premier Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto and and Begum Nusrat Bhutto. She had
three younger siblings Murtaza, Shahnawaz and
Sanam.
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Benazir went to school in Karachi through high
school. She passed her O-level examinations at
the age of 15. She then went on to complete her
A-Levels at the Karachi Grammar School From 1969
to 1973 she attended Radcliffe College in the
United States. Between 1973 and 1977 she took a
wide variety of courses in international law and
diplomacy, economics, philosophy and politics
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Benazir Bhuttos father, Prime Minister Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto, was removed from office following a
military coup in 1977 led by the then chief of
army General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who imposed
martial law. General Zia charged Mr. Bhutto
with conspiring to murder the father of dissident
politician Ahmed Raza Kasuri. Mr. Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto was sentenced to death by the martial law
court.
After the overthrow of her father Prime Minister
Zulfikar Ali Bhuttos government in a bloodless
coup Benazir Bhutto spent 6 years in and out of
house arrest as she struggled to rally political
support to force Zia to drop murder charges
against her father..
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The military dictator ignored worldwide appeals
for clemency and had Zulfikar Bhutto hanged in 4
April 1979
In January 1984, after six years of house
arrests and imprisonment, Zia succumbed to
international pressure and allowed Bhutto to
travel abroad for medical reasons. After
undergoing a surgery she resumed her political
activities and began to raise concerns about the
mistreatment of political prisoners in Pakistan
at the behest of Zia regime.
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She came back to Pakistan to attend burial
ceremony when her younger brother Shah Nawaz died
under mysterious circumstances in July 1984 in
Paris.
She got married Asif Ali Zardari on 18 December
1987 in Karachi. The couple had three children
two daughters Bakhtawar and Asifa and a son named
Bilawal.
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On 16 November 1988, in the first open election
in more than a decade, Bhuttos PPP won the
largest bloc of seats in the National Assembly.
Bhutto was sworn in as Prime Minister of a
coalition government on December 2, becoming at
age 35 the youngest personand the first womanto
head the government of a Muslim-majority state in
modern times
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Bhuttos government was dismissed in 1990
following charges of corruption, for which she
was never tried. Zias protégé Nawaz Sharif came
to power after the October 1990 elections. She
served as leader of the opposition while Sharif
served as Prime Minister for the next three years.
In October 1993 elections were held again and her
PPP coalition was victorious, returning Bhutto to
office and allowing her to continue her reform
initiatives. In 1996, amidst various corruption
scandals Bhutto was dismissed by then-president
Farooq Leghari, who used the Eighth Amendment
discretionary powers to dissolve the government
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After her defeat in the general elections of
1997, Benazir, along with her children, moved to
Dubai because of a voluntary exile in the year
1999. She again returned to Pakistan after
almost 9 years in 2007 during the time when
General Pervez Musharraf was present. The only
reason she agreed to return was that all the
allegations that she were facing had been removed
through a controversial presidential order under
the name of NRO National Reconciliation
Ordinance.
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Arriving back to Pakistan was indeed a huge
threat to her life but nevertheless she returned
to the delight of millions of PPP supporters and
fans. Her core reason to return was her wish to
participate in the upcoming general elections of
2008.
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She landed on Karachis Jinnah International
Airport on 18 October 2007 and was welcomed by
thousands of supporters. Sadly on her way to
Bilawal House her processiontwo-suicide bombers
blew themselves resulting in over hundred deaths
and leaving around 450 people injured. Benazir
remained unharmed as she as at that time was
resting inside a bulletproof vehicle.
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Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on the 27 of
December 2007 while she was departing from an
election rally that was held at the Liaquat
National Bagh in the city of Rawalpindi. The
incident occurred when she lifted herself out of
her bulletproofvehicle in order to gesticulate to
her fans and well wishers. As her head came into
view an unknown person fired multiple shots,
aiming at her head. At that moment explosions
were also ignited resulting in the deaths of
nearly 20 people including three security
personals. Unfortunately she was significantly
injured and was immediately rushed to the
Rawalpindi General Hospital she died during
treatment.
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Her death shocked millions of her supporters
worldwide and caused protests all through the
country
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May Allah rest her soul in peace