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Benazir Bhutto: 1953 - 2007
At the risk of jumping on a current affairs bandwagon, I want to share my simple thots regarding the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
Like many, I knew nothing of Benazir Bhutto; that is until a couple of months ago when my wife and I watched a news program talking about her. In this program the reporters were there as an attempt on her life occured. She was told to not go into the to outer areas, but she refused saying she would still go out there; just she would not previously announce her coming to help thwart those who would try to take her life.
From that program I was curious about this lady whom I had never heard about before, and whom I knew nothing about. But because of that news program, I was interested to see what she would do and what she was about. Now we will never know.
I was saddened as I learned the news of her assassination Thursday morning. I guess I mourn the loss of what could have been.
Biography of benazir bhutto
Early Life
Benazir Bhutto - the eldest child of former Pakistani premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto , was born on June 21, 1953, at Karachi.
Education
Ms. Bhutto attended Lady Jennings Nursery School and then Convent of Jesus and Mary in Karachi. After two years of schooling at the Rawalpindi Presentation Convent, she was sent to the Jesus and Mary Convent at Murree. She passed her O-level examination at the age of 15. In April 1969, she got admission in the U. S. at Harvard University's Radcliffe College. In June 1973, Benazir graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Political Science. After graduating from Harvard, Benazir joined Oxford University in the fall of 1973. Just before graduation, Benazir was elected to the Standing Committee of the most prestigious Oxford Union Debating Society.
In 1976, she graduated in P. P. E. (Politics, Philosophy and Economics). In the autumn of 1976, Benazir returned once again to Oxford to do a one-year postgraduate course. In January 1977, she was elected the President of the Oxford Union.
Return to Pakistan
Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan in June 1977. She wanted to join the Foreign Service but her father wanted her to contest the Assembly election. As she was not yet of age, Benazir Bhutto assisted her father as an advisor.
In July 1977, General Zia-ul-Haq imposed Martial Law. - her father was arrested on a murder charge and she was placed under house arrest. Benazir Bhutto became the focus for his followers and, from jail, he continued to advise her what to say to the crowds. After he was hanged in 1979 she felt that she must follow him as leader of the Pakistan People's Party. During the Martial Law, Benazir was allowed to proceed abroad on medical grounds in January 1984, after spending nearly six and a half years in jail. She went into exile in England for two years.
When she returned on April 10, 1986, one million people welcomed her at the Lahore airport. She attended mammoth rallies all over Pakistan and kept in close touch with the Movement for Restoration of Democracy.
Marriage
On December 18, 1987, Benazir married Asif Ali Zardari in Karachi.
Carrier
She contested the elections, which were held by Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who had taken over as acting President after the death of General Zia in an air crash on August 17, 1988, at Bhawalpur.
Benazir Bhutto approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan, seeking enforcement of the fundamental rights guaranteed to the political parties under Article 17(2) of the 1973 Constitution, to hold the elections on Party basis. The Supreme Court gave its verdict in favor of the political parties. The P. P. P., without forming an alliance with any party, won 94 out of 207 seats in the National Assembly. With the cooperation of eight M. Q. M. members and 13 members of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the P. P. P. was able to get a clear majority in the National Assemblies. Benazir Bhutto was nominated as the Prime Minister on December 2, 1988, and Ghulam Ishaq Khan was nominated the President of Pakistan.
As a Prime Minister
At the age of 35, she was the youngest and the first woman Prime Minister to lead a Muslim nation in modern age. During her first term, she started Peoples Program for economic uplift of the masses. Benazir Bhutto also lifted a ban on student and trade unions. The P. P. P. Government hosted the fourth S. A. A. R. C. Summit held in Islamabad, in December 1988.
On various issues, differences between her Government and the Establishment led to her dismissal by the President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, on August 6, 1990.
Benazir Bhutto returned to power for the second time in 1993 after the resignation of both President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on July 18, 1993. The resignation led to the announcement of fresh elections for the National and Provincial Assemblies. The elections were held on October 6 and 9, 1993, respectively.
The elections were boycotted by the M. Q. M. No party emerged with an absolute majority in the elections. As a result the P. P. P. formed the new government with the help of alliances. Benazir Bhutto took oath as Prime Minister on October 19, 1993. The Presidential election was held on November 13. Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari, the P. P. P. candidate, won by 274 to 168 votes against the then acting President Wasim Sajjad.
During her second tenure, Benazir again faced trouble from the opposition. In the autumn of 1994, Nawaz Sharif led a "train march" from Karachi to Peshawar. This was followed by general strike on September 20. Two weeks later Nawaz Sharif called a "wheel jam" strike on October 11.
The second tenure of Benazir Bhutto was, however, highlighted by the visit of the U. S. first Lady Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea in 1995. Hillary's visit considerably changed the world's perceptions about Pakistan and highlighted Pakistan as a liberal, modern and forward-looking country. In April 1994, Benazir visited the U. S., and projected Pakistan's stance on the F-16 fighter planes withheld by the U. S. despite payments. Her visit resulted in the passing of the Brown Amendment by the U. S. Senate on September 21, 1995, easing restrictions on Pakistan. It also helped in attracting foreign investors. On the domestic front she continued facing problems with M. Q. M. In spite of all her political endeavors, a smooth relationship could not be established between the Government and M. Q. M.
Benazir Bhutto's brother, Mir Murtaza Bhutto, was assassinated under mysterious circumstances in a police ambush on September 20, 1996. The high-profile killing of her brother in her tenure damaged her political career.
Things were not going well between the President and Benazir's Government. Differences soon appeared and the Government felt that there was interference in the political matters of the Government by the President. President Farooq Leghari dismissed Benazir Bhutto's Government on charges of corruption and mismanagement on November 5, 1996, under the Article 58(2) b of the Eighth Amendment.
Update
Bhutto is currently (as of September 2004) based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where she cares for her children and mother, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and from where she travels around the world giving lectures and keeping in touch with the Party.
Popularity
She has been mentioned as "The world's most popular politician" in the New Guinness Book of Record 1996. The "Times" and the "Australian Magazine" (May 4, 1996) have drawn up a list of 100 most powerful women and have included Benazir Bhutto as one of them.
Introduction
When audiences around the globe hear Benazir Bhutto's dramatic story of democracy and deposal, they are awed by the tireless strength with which she struggles to bring freedom to the people of her country. As the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto is a living icon of the battle for democracy, and stands with only a handful of female executive leaders who have shaped the global events of the last century. First elected Prime Minister at the age of 35, Ms. Bhutto became the youngest Chief Executive Officer in the world and the first female Prime Minister in the Muslim world. After just 20 months in office, her government was unconstitutionally dismissed by a rival political party. Undeterred, she was reelected as Prime Minister in 1993. During her terms of office, she was faced with an enormous challenge: how to effectively govern a poor, politically fractious, and ethnically diverse nation. Prime Minister Bhutto was praised for moving swiftly to restore civil liberties and political freedom, suspended under military rule. She launched a nationwide program of health and education reform. Although no longer Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto is Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party. Ms. Bhutto resides in Dubai and makes frequent trips to the United States . | |
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
benazir bhutto
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia that overlaps with the Greater Middle East. It has a thousand-kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea in the south and borders Afghanistan and Iran to the west, India to the east and the People's Republic of China in the far northeast.
