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Another light for democracy and freedom has been horribly and brutally snuffed out. This strikingly beautiful and fearless woman was a first in international political history.
In the first open election in more than a decade, Benazir Bhutto was elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan’s coalition government on 16 November 1988. Sworn in 02 December 1988, at age 35, she became both the youngest person and the first woman to head the government of any Muslim-majority state in modern times.
From 1969 to 1973, Benazir Bhutto studied at Radcliffe College then received a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in comparative government from Harvard University. She studied philosophy, politics, economics, international law, diplomacy at Oxford University between 1973 and 1977. In December 1976, she was elected president of Oxford Union, becoming first Asian woman to head the prestigious debating society. She was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan, was dismissed in 1975 amid corruption charges. He was tried in 1977 on charges of conspiracy to murder the father of a dissident politician, Ahmed Raza Kasur, which was highly doubted by public. Benazir had returned to Pakistan after her studies and was placed under house arrest. On 04 April 1979, the former Prime Minister was hanged, amid appeals for clemency by international leaders, which were disregarded by then-acting President General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. She and her mother were held in a “police camp” until May, after her father’s execution.
After returning to the United Kingdom in 1984, Bhutto became a leader-in-exile of the Pakistan’s People Party (PPP), the party her father had founded, in opposition to Zia-ul-Haq’s regime. Her brother Shahnawaz was killed suspiciously in 1985 in France. With Zia-ul-Haq’s death, in August 1988, she succeeded her mother as the leader of the PPP, returning to Pakistan.
As the first female Prime Minister of any post-colonial Islamic nation, she voiced concerns for women’s social and health issues, including discrimination against women, often treated as low class citizens.
Prime Minister Bhutto planned to establish women’s police stations, courts and women’s development banks. She sought to repeal Hudood ordinances in Pakistan, which had led to many incidents of women, who had been raped, including gang-raped, to be tried and incarcerated as committing Zina, extramarital sex, a violation of Shari’a law. Rape victims have to find four male witnesses of good standing to prove their rape. Punishments include death, by stoning, lashing and imprisonment. Hudood ordinances were amended in 2006 by President General Pervez Musharraf to be applied by civil law. Bhutto also stood against assassinations of foreign citizens, which was being promulgated after the Knighthood of Salman Rushdie.
Prime Minister Bhutto pushed Pakistan into nationalist reform, opposing feudalism, which she believed had destabilized Pakistan. She was included in the list of The Fifty Most Beautiful People by People magazine in 1988. Liberal International awarded her the Prize of Freedom in 1989.
Her government was dismissed by then-President Ghulam Ishaq Khan on 06 August 1990 following charges of corruption, for which she was never tried. Nawaz Sharif, General Zia’s protégé, became Prime Minister and Bhutto served as leader of the opposition party for the next three years.
On 19 October 1993, Benazir Bhutto was again elected to Prime Minister. On 05 November 1996, her government was dissolved by then-President Farooq Leghari on corruption allegations, including money laundering, military contract fraud, kickbacks, a variety of criminal enterprises, despotism. Ethnic violence and civil unrest in 1996, after the killing of her brother, Mir Murtaza, added to the destabilization of her second term.
She then went into a self-imposed exile in London then Dubai in 1997, with her three children and her mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease. On 03 August 2003, she became a member of Minhaj ul Quran International, an international Muslim educational and welfare organization.
After more than five years, in December 2004 after his release, Bhutto and her children were reunited with her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who spent eight years in prison, and was possibly tortured, for corruption charges.
On 27 January 2007, she was invited by the U.S. to speak to President Bush, Congressional and State Department officials. That summer, Pakistani President Musharraf implemented a constitutional amendment placing a two-year term limit on Prime Ministers, apparently to deter both Bhutto and Sharif from running in elections.
On 01 September 2007, Bhutto vowed to return to Pakistan regardless of the situation, after stating Musharraf would step down as head of military. On 17 September 2007, she demanded Musharraf permit democratic reforms and power-sharing. Musharraf gave her amnesty from corruption charges on 05 October 2007.
On 17 October 2007, Bhutto stated that she did not fear any attack on her life, especially as a woman, founded by her faith in Islam. After eight years of exile, she returned to Pakistan to a huge crowd of supporters on 18 October 2007 to participate in the 2008 parliamentary elections. Over 130 people were killed, in a suicide bomber attempt to assassinate her, en route from the airport to a rally. The attack was linked to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden sympatizers.
Returning from family visit in Dubai, Bhutto demanded restoration of democratic civilian rule after now-civilian President Musharraf on 03 November 2007 declared state of emergency and martial law. On 08 November 2007, she was placed on house arrest before attending a rally disputing the state of emergency rule. The next day, her arrest warrant was withdrawn.
On 24 November 2007, she filed nomination papers for the January 2008 elections. On 08 December 2007, three unidentified gunmen stormed her party’s office in southwestern Pakistan and killed three of her supporters.
Undaunted by these obvious threats on her well-being, she still sought to continue her campaign for democracy. After she had again addressed thousands of supporters concerning upcoming January 2008 parliamentary elections, at least 22 died with her after she was shot and the assassin then detonated explosives he carried. As of yet, no one has claimed responsibility. Possible suspects are numerous.
Benazir Bhutto was well respected by many peoples, international leaders and political groups and threatened by many others, including al-Qaeda and the Taliban. She was loved by not only the general Pakistani public but also had a great international following. Her former rival and recent ally, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was seen visibly shaken at the hospital as he was informed of her demise, as well as other international leaders, as they gave their condemnation of this heinous crime towards democracy. The Taliban and al Qaeda both have vigorously denied any involvement with her murder, although bragging that they would have immediately claimed responsibility for the deed, if they had done it.
She had promised at rallies to the people of her nation to focus on “the five E’s”: employment, education, energy, environment and equality.
Benazir Bhutto had recently stated in Parade magazine that she was “what the terrorists most fear”. That is the most likely reason for their cowardly attack on her, which was an attack on every human on earth that seeks basic freedoms and necessities of life. Her extreme courage in the face of all oppositions towards her will be an inspiration, not only for women but for all of us to always stand firm in your belief of the truth of what is right. She will be dearly missed. May she now have eternal rest in the LORD’S arms and her dream not die with her.
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Posted by RA_Morris on 2008-01-02 12:28:01 | Rating: | Views: 294
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