Born: 21 June 1953, in Karachi.
Died: 27 December, 2007, in Rawalpindi, aged 54. BENAZIR Bhutto became the first female prime minister in the Muslim world when she was elected in 1988, aged only 35, ending 11 years of turbul
ent military rule in Pakistan. Her career thereafter was a roller-coaster of international acclaim, corruption charges, prison, exile and several attempts to assassinate her, blamed on al-Qaeda, the Taleban or other Muslim extremist groups. She narrowly escaped death in October when a bomb killed more than 140 of her supporters hours after she returned from eight years in exile, mostly in London. Her own father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, himself a former prime minister, was executed in 1979, not far from the spot where his daughter died, by the military regime which had overthrown him.
Bhutto served 20 months in her first term as prime minister, during which she became internationally-known for her eloquence and perfect English – she was educated at Harvard and Oxford – as well as for her charm and the natural beauty she did little to hide below her loosely-worn burqa. By 1990, she was one of the most instantly-recognisable female politicians in the world and the darling of western politicians who saw in her a committed democrat, and religiously tolerant to boot.
Although she was admired by the western world for her stated commitment to democracy, however, she was always a polarising figure in her native land, mistrusted by many and considered somewhat imperious, more western than Pakistani, with her English noticeably better than her two native languages, Urdu and Sindhi.
She was deposed by the president in 1990 after widespread reports of corruption involving her and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari. She was re-elected prime minister in 1993 but ousted again in 1996 when the corruption charges began to stick. While her husband was jailed, she fled the country in 1999, just before charges were to be filed against her, and remained in exile until October this year.
She returned home to a hero's welcome from her supporters in October after a deal, backed by the United States, aimed at peaceful transition to civilian rule in Pakistan with free elections due next month in which she was to lead her Pakistan People's Party (PPP), founded by her father. Her campaign platform was largely to fight Islamic extremism and terrorism, a pledge that endeared her to George W Bush and helped lead to the deal for her return. The deal also erased all corruption charges against her and her husband. Hours after her glorious arrival, however, a bomb at a PPP rally, apparently aimed at her and killing more than 140, reminded her that she still had some fanatical enemies. She herself blamed the military regime of General Pervez Musharraf for at least colluding in the attack, a charge he firmly denied.
The bomb attack triggered a period of tension in Pakistan, with Gen Musharraf first declaring a state of emergency but eventually, under pressure from Bhutto and the international community, resigning from the military and promising free elections next month. Shortly before her death, Bhutto had said she feared the polls would be rigged by Musharraf's supporters. She also insisted that she had no fear of assassination – "I am prepared to die for my country." During recent rallies, she played up the fact that she had survived October's bloody attempt on her life but some criticised her for playing down the deaths of more than 140 of her supporters in the bomb attack. "Bhutto is alive!" was a cry she herself started during recent rallies.
Such statements, implying that she would be happy to be a martyr, showed what critics described as her tendency towards self-aggrandisement, seeing herself as a "chosen one" by dint of being born Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's daughter. The critics said her self-awarded title of "chairperson for life" of the PPP flew in the face of her much-stated democratic ideals. Some believed it was merely her ambition that led her to agree to an "arranged marriage" with the high-living, polo-playing businessman Zardari, hand-picked by her mother. Bhutto did admit that she agreed to the marriage because the Pakistani people would prefer their leader not be a single woman.
It was after she appointed Zardari as minister for investment during her second term that the charges of corruption within her government spiralled. Many of his public investments were questioned in the courts and there were reports that the couple had siphoned off hundreds of millions of pounds of public money. Bhutto vehemently denied these charges, which she insisted were politically-motivated, and stuck by her husband until her death, once reportedly comparing him with Nelson Mandela.
Benazir – the name means "unique" – Bhutto was born in Karachi in 1953, the eldest of four children of a wealthy and privileged land-owning family in Sindh province, at a time when East and West Pakistan, created in 1947, were struggling to shake off military influence and forge democracy. She had an English governess, went to school at a Catholic convent run by Irish nuns in Karachi and later to university, first at Harvard (where she was admitted when she was only 16) and later at Oxford, where she was elected by fellow students as president of the prestigious Oxford Union. Her friends called her BB or Bibi.
While she was a student, her father was elected prime minister, first of West Pakistan, and later of the united Pakistan. It was after he was deposed by army chief General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, and later hanged in 1979, that she returned to Pakistan to fight against Zia and military rule along with her mother, Nusrat Bhutto. Their outspoken opposition, and increasing exposure among the world media, led to their being jailed several times by the regime.
In 1980, her youngest brother, Shahnawaz, who had been involved with Palestinian guerrillas in Beirut, died under mysterious circumstances in Cannes, France. She said she suspected he had been poisoned, possibly on Zia's orders, but no charges were ever brought. It was Zia's death in a mysterious air crash in August 1988 that led to the elections which swept Benazir Bhutto to power at the age of 35.
Although she was seen as achieving little during her first term, partly because of the constraints of the military, her second period in charge, from 1996, was seen as more successful, at least until the corruption allegations grew. She managed to reduce the budget deficit through a tight monetary policy, winning plaudits from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. But her high profile and positive image abroad was not reflected at home, where she gradually appeared to lose touch with her grass-roots supporters while denting her much-touted democratic credentials by seeking to control both the media and appoint judges favourable to herself and her party. Ethnic violence in Karachi during her tenure also diminished her grip on power.
In 1996, another brother, Murtaza, who had also been involved with Palestinian guerrillas during his youth, died during a clash with armed police in Karachi. Again, Bhutto suggested the regime of the time, led by President Farooq Leghari, or the military had been behind the killing.
Benazir Bhutto is survived by her husband, two sons, Bilawal and Bakhtwar, and a daughter, Aseefa.
The full article contains 1238 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
