Why We Love Benazir Bhutto?

Benazir Bhutto inherited the party from Bhutto but in many ways she earned her title. Since her brothers chose to stay outside and indulge in militant tactics, she decided to adopt the political course and tried to engage with the supporters of her party. Even legacy politics needed charismatic inheritors who can engage with the masses. It is that kind of mass populism which acts as a cancelling agent to religious fervour and its political manifestation at the mass level. Benazir Bhutto could do it brilliantly, despite the fact that her Urdu was not as fluent as her father’s. As a Muslim woman leader, Benazir Bhutto was almost an iconic figure in the West. Benazir Bhutto excelled at asserting her right to rule in a male-dominated Islamic society, where she rose to become her slain father's political successor; twice getting elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan. Hence, twice, Benazir Bhutto went into exile. Benazir Bhutto was better at rallying people to the idea of her power than at keeping them inspired by her use of it.

She was a privileged child and took the mantle of power from her father, Zulifiqar Ali Bhutto, the fiery and magnetic founder of the Pakistan People's Party; who himself would become a martyr for democracy when he was executed in 1979, by the military dictatorship of General Zia Ul Haq. The only political leader of the people was Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who had vision of a vibrant Pakistan after it was reduced to half the size of what the father of the nation Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had given to us . Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was great charismatic leader, man of masses, top class negotiator, excellent communicator, a visionary, known for mercurial brilliance, wit and a highly well-read person. He attracted mammoth crowds wherever he addressed public meetings, even in remote regions of the country.

 Benazir Bhutto inherited her bearing and physical presence from her mother, Nusrat Ispahani, from a distinguished Kurdish family from Iran. Educated at Radcliffe and Harvard, she also studied Law at Oxford. Ms Bhutto was a deeply polarizing figure, the “daughter of Pakistan”. A woman of grand aspirations with a taste for complex political manoeuvring, Ms Bhutto was first elected prime minister in 1988, at the age of 35. During her years in office, as during those of her rival, the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan ran up enormous and unserviceable foreign debts and billions of dollars in foreign aid went unaccounted for. Ms Bhutto, though progressive in her approach to Islam, was not above bending to the will of religious conservatives for when politically expedient.

Here, we have some important points from her last speech of her meritorious career and life:

 “I have come to Rawalpindi today, I understand this is the city of brave and sacrificing people, I consider Rawalpindi as my second home. When Bhutto Sahib was a minister, I used to live here; I used to go to a school at Rawalpindi. I have seen moments of joy and gloomy times in Rawalpindi. I must say that the brave people of Rawalpindi have been with me in moments of happiness, brave sisters and brethren of this city stood by me in hours of our sadness, they have never let me alone”.

 “This is the same city which saw that when Yahya Khan was not leaving, they thronged him to the Liaquat Bagh to hold a huge and powerful rally and that forced dictator Yahya to step down and soon after, the government of the Pakistan People’s Party was established. Rawalpindi is the same city from where Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto started his struggle for democracy. The sun of democracy will again rise on the horizon of Rawalpindi”.

 “The people of this city love democracy and have never bowed their head before autocratic regimes.  “My dear sisters and brethren, you are the real power, if Pakistan is a big country of the world and the world holds Pakistan in respect, it is because of your strong will and sacrifices. Your sister feels confident that they way you stood by the Quaid-i-Azam, the Quaid-i-Awam and the Pakistan People’s Party for the development and wellbeing of Pakistan; you will lend your strength to the daughter of the Qaid-i-Awam to achieve the cherished goal of a glorious, strong and prosperous Pakistan where they live in peace and an environment of dignity and honour”.

 “Brethren and sisters, the Pakistan People’s Party has always made hectic efforts to make Pakistan strong. And when you elected your sister you did not only elect a prime minister but also the first woman head of government in the whole of the Muslim world. This raised the image of Islam and Pakistan as an enlightened society”.

 “The Pakistan People’s Party has always enjoyed the support, love and cooperation of the people. We have made strong governments and this strength was bestowed upon our governments by the people. Quaid-i-Awam saved the country; he organized and mobilized the power of the people to retrieve the country out of crises. Today our motherland is calling us that I am in danger”.

 “We will also spread the light of education to every nook and corner of Pakistan. Your sister will give you a university at this Potohar region so that your children can get better, higher quality education and secure good jobs. My sisters, brethren, elders, we will raise the level of education and give the teacher respect and a quality life”.

 “The Quaid-i-Awam was put to gallows, my two brothers were assassinated, my mother had her head injured with a stave attack, your brother Asif Ali Zardari was put in jail, he was kept in Pindi and Attock prisons and I too was placed in prison and incarcerated several times. Yet we did not part our ways with the people and the people also remained steadfast and kept on supporting us; they are still with us and together we will realize the cherished goal of justice and a welfare society. None of us left each other because ours is the way of truth, ours is the way of justice, ours is the way of legitimacy; no one can separate us from pursuing this path”.

 “My sisters and brethren, you have given a great honour to your sister. Twice you elected me as the prime minister; it is no longer important if I become the prime minister for the third time; what is important is that I have risked my life while coming back; but I had to return because my country is in danger. I feel that the people feel concerned about the country’s circumstances”.

 She is not in the world now, but her name is still settled in our hearts. These are the reasons to Love Benazir.