The 69th birthday of Benazir Bhutto, the first woman Prime Minister of the Muslim world and the late Chairperson of the People’s Party is being celebrated today.
Born on June 21, 1953, to the founder of the Pakistan People’s Party and Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto witnessed numerous political and social ups and downs and successfully traveled to countless destinations.
Today, on her birthday, let’s take a brief look at Benazir Bhutto’s life, reign, and journey from honours to martyrdom to find out what a great woman she was who died in 2007 after returning home, she will never again be in power.
Early life and education
Under the protection of her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir initially attended the Lady Jennings Nursery School in Karachi. She was then sent to the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Karachi and from there to the Jesus and Mary Convent, a boarding school in Murree. She also studied in Rawalpindi for 2 years. However, after completing O level at the age of 15, she was enrolled at Harvard University in 1969.
She graduated in 1973 at the age of 20. Masters in Economics, Political Science, and Philosophy from Oxford University. Being the daughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, she was associated with ease in every sphere of life as well as various difficulties and troubles.
In the late 1980s, Benazir was made the head of the PPP. On his return home in April 1986, he received an unprecedented welcome. She married Asif Ali Zardari in 1987. After the death of Zia-ul-Haq in 1988, the way to democracy was opened. Ghulam Ishaq Khan held elections as acting president.
December 2, 1988, was the moment when Benazir became the Prime Minister of the country for the first time. She was 35 at the time. In the Islamic world, the era of female prime ministers began after Benazir. In August 1990, Benazir’s government was overthrown over allegations of corruption. In the October 2, 1990 elections, Nawaz Sharif was elected Prime Minister.
The Nawaz Sharif government was also sacked on corruption charges. In October 1993, Benazir Bhutto was re-elected Prime Minister. In 1996, PPP leader Farooq Leghari fired the president on charges of corruption as well as extrajudicial killing and disorderly conduct.
Allegations against Benazir Bhutto
Shaheed Benazir Bhutto was accused of wanting to roll back her nuclear program. Cases were also filed against her, and when she returned home in October 2007, she was said to have conspired with Musharraf to obtain aid from the United States, which ended the cases against her.
It is also alleged that former President Asif Ali Zardari not only strengthened and consolidated his financial position by acquiring illicit assets worth 1 1.5 billion during the tenure of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto but was also named the richest person in the world.
Achievements as Prime Minister?
Benazir Bhutto has done a lot for women as the Prime Minister of the country. She played an important role in giving equal rights to men in the state by removing discriminatory laws against women from the Constitution of Pakistan. She created the Ministry of Human Rights to protect human rights.
During the dictatorship, thousands of workers were forcibly deprived of their jobs and people of their choice were appointed, against which Benazir Bhutto took practical steps to reinstate more than 40,000 employees. Labour colonies were set up in every city so that working people could settle there.
The Ministry of Human Rights is tasked with formulating and implementing policies against ongoing human rights violations across the country. Ending oppression is a key priority for this ministry. The poor working class and the wretched workers are still persecuted in spite of hard work for which the unjustified restrictions on legislation and trade unions were lifted under Benazir Bhutto.
According to the ILO, the largest number of jobs in the country’s history was created during the tenure of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, which helped solve economic problems and improve the economy, while ending the country’s energy crisis.
The National Commission for Women was set up under Benazir Bhutto. The First Women Bank, a separate women’s police station, and the Benazir Bhutto Income Support Program, a comprehensive lending program for women have provided financial and social assistance to women in all walks of life, were set up by Bhutto.
Censorship of media for freedom of the press was also abolished under Benazir Bhutto. Along with Pakistan, an independent policy for foreign media transmission was also formulated. The anti-polio campaign started under Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. Polio was completely eradicated and the World Health Organization praised Pakistan.
In 1994, Benazir Bhutto announced a new power policy. The crisis of energy, power shortage, and load shedding across the country came to an end, paving the way for economic growth. Electricity was provided to about 1,800 cities. A new record was set by providing 1.5 million gas connections.
Pakistan Steel Mills has been made into a for-profit company while Steel Mills is a company that can provide full support to the national economy. However, no Prime Minister of the country, including the present government and previous governments, has been able to bring the Steel Mills back on track, as was the case during the Ms.’s tenure. Port Qasim was expanded in Karachi, the fruits of which are being reaped by the people till date.
Assassination of Benazir Bhutto
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto took place on 27 December 2007 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She had been campaigning ahead of elections scheduled for January 2008.
Shots were fired at her after a political rally at Liaqat National Bagh, and a suicide bomb was detonated immediately following the shooting. Bhutto had previously survived a similar attempt on her life (the 2007 Karsaz bombing) that killed at least 180 people, after her return from exile two months earlier.
The idea was that the characters behind the assassination of the first female Prime Minister of the Muslim world, who had been elected twice, would be exposed, but this did not happen and her killers are still at large.
