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Some people are born great. Some achieve greatness while some have greatness thrust upon them. Benazir Bhutto has all three. Today marks the 13th death anniversary of the indelible impact on the history and politics of Pakistan.
In 1988, Benazir Bhutto was immortalized when she became the first woman prime minister of a Muslim-majority country. She was also the world’s youngest at only the age of 35. “The people of Pakistan had rejected bigotry and prejudice in electing a woman Prime Minister. It was an enormous honor and an equally enormous responsibility,” she wrote in her autobiography aptly titled ‘Daughter of the Nation’.
Pakistan had suffered years of brutal dictatorship under General Zia’s regime. She was destined to achieve greatness being the eldest child of former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was the country’s first democratically elected prime minister. Benazir entered politics soon after her father’s government was toppled in a military coup and he was sentenced to death. She took reins of the PPP and launched the Movement for Restoration of Democracy, which remains the largest pro-democracy movement in history.
All senior party leader was arrested and imprisoned by the military rulers and thousands of activists were tortured. Benazir was part of the struggle placed in C-class jail in Sukkur and year under house arrest. She went into self-exile in 1984 but continued the movement against the regime. Two years later she returned to a thunderous welcome and continued her struggle. On August 17, General Zia was killed in a plane crash near Bahawalpur, ending a dark chapter in Pakistan’s history.
The people prevailed and the PPP swept to power in 1988 general elections. Her election has a created impact upon the Muslim world as obscurantists who preached that a woman’s role was behind the four walls of her house were indefinitely rejected. “I can live with the political differences, but how do you deal with it when someone says that they don’t like you because you have taken a man’s role,” she once said.
Pakistan, and with it the entire Muslim world, was at the threshold of a new order where the perception of gender equality was becoming a reality.
The seed of democracy was planted but nurturing and growing it into a political system was still a long way. She did not last long in office and her government was dismissed after two years by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan. The role of her rival Nawaz Sharif, known as General Zia’s ‘political son’ was instrumental in her dismissal from the office. This political wrangling continued until 1999 when both were forced into exile once for nearly a decade as another dictator took control.
The Holy Book calls upon Muslims to resist tyranny. Dictatorships in Pakistan, however long, have always collapsed in the face of this spirit. She stayed in exile for nine years returned on 18th October. Pakistan was a different country and religious extremism had flourished after the war on terrorism. She was assassinated on December 27, 2007.
“Democracy is the best revenge” – Benazir’s parting motto was for the larger interest of the country as she never resorted to vengeful politics but rather believed in an egalitarian society. How her party will carry her legacy can be debated but she remains in the hearts of millions as the ‘Daughter of Destiny’.
