Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, alias Daughter of the East, soothes the hearts of the PPP’s ideologues but also shatters them as they remember the sufferings faced by the Iron Lady of Pakistan. She was born to the charismatic leader, Mr Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Shaheed, the greatest proponent of democracy of his era. BB was groomed by Mr Bhutto under his auspices to vehemently carry on his legacy of strengthening democracy in Pakistan where democracy was always at peril because of the anti-democratic elements. Well aware of the challenges lying his way, Mr Bhutto knew life would not be a bed of roses for him and his family, but still, he entrusted his Rani Shaheed to carry on with his mission of serving the people by boosting democracy in the nation. The last moments of Mr Bhutto ache hearts. The journey of the legendary BB Shaheed was filled with impediments since the anti-Bhutto lobby would never let go of an opportunity to cause damage to the Bhutto clan.
However, Bhutto’s lionhearted daughter BB, who was daring enough to crush the challenges posed by the then regime of Dictator Zia, didn’t give up on her father’s noble cause for the people of his motherland. Being steadfast in her beliefs when in exile, BB carried on with her efforts to an extent that even the merciless fascist regime of Gen Zia could not halt her from gaining public support for her candidacy. The Iron Lady’s fanbase bolstered with each passing day during that epoch. The more it was suppressed, the better it progressed. As time passed, the adamant admirers of the father and the daughter would come out in masses and chant slogans like Jiay Bhutto to manifest their fidelities with their leadership; thus, giving an impetus to the PPP’s electorate. After her father’s execution in 1979, Benazir Shaheed became the titular head of her father’s party, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and endured frequent house arrests from 1979 to 1984 along with her mother who was elected to the parliament in the 1980s as the leader of the Democratic Opposition. In exile from 1984 to 1986, she returned to Pakistan after the lifting of martial law and soon became the foremost figure in the political opposition to Zia.
BB was groomed by Mr Bhutto to vehemently carry on his legacy of strengthening democracy in Pakistan.
Now, this was the time when BB was passionately following the footsteps of her father, thus, attaining more reverence for her late father and herself. She was welcomed to Pakistan by masses with showers of flowers and the chants of heartwarming slogans in her late father’s respect– Aaj Bhi Bhutto Zinda Hai, probably to date the most chanted slogan by the Jiyalas (supporters) of PPP, hence, corroborating the fact that Mr Bhutto’s ideology and love for him would always keep him alive in the hearts and minds of the jiyalas and the generations to come. Time passed by and general elections were around the corner which bore BB the title of being the first female Prime Minister of the Muslim World of any Muslim Country in modern history. A new era ushered in Pakistan’s Democracy from 1988 to 1990. It was nothing more than a dream coming true for the Bhutto Family which had suffered a lot at the hands of the stone-hearted military men spearheaded by the then Dictator Zia. During this time, her first regime, she had too many stumbling blocks to overcome, since, her coalition allies had proven to be disloyal, thence, demonstrating to be an obstacle in the way of Shaheed Rani BB to give her public policies a pragmatic colour. A visionary woman, revered as a living legend by the masses withstood all the challenges, since, she was at the pinnacle of her energies to crush the hindrances with an iron hand, because, she like her late father–Mr. Bhutto Shaheed never settled for less. The big blow to her first regime was given at the behest of the anti-Bhutto lobbyists when the then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dissolved the assemblies upon the basis of baseless allegations. Not to be forgotten is the fact, that none other than Shaheeh Rani BB’s husband- Former President of Pakistan Mr Asif Ali Zardari, is the one who restored the lost glory of the Parliament by further strengthening it through the 18th Amendment in the Constitution of Pakistan in 2010, by proving himself to be a staunch supporter of Shaheed Rani BB’s political agenda for enthusing more and more democracy in Pakistan, henceforth, dissolving Article 58 (2)(b) which had earlier been used by Presidents at different times to derail the democratically elected governments. It was Shaheed Rani BB’s husband, the big-hearted Mr Zardari who gave up the Presidential Powers just to strengthen the Parliament, the powers which at that point rested in his hands.
After the end of her first government, Shaheed Rani BB returned to the premiership after three years. On this occasion, things seemed to be in favour of the PPP, since, the then President of Pakistan, Mr Farooq Laghari, was also a member of the PPP which had earned him a level of trust from Shaheed Rani BB. Anyhow, this government also could not last long enough to enable Shaheed Rani BB for delivering to the utmost possible level. With a heavy heart the Daughter of Pakistan- the living legend, kept on bearing the hardships in her way to deliver in the best possible manner. The trajectory of hardships faced by the living legend had not finished, there came another dictator- Gen. Musharraf who carried a coup d’état on October 12, 1999, thus, causing political turmoil in the neonate democratic culture of Pakistan.
Despite being in exile, Shaheed Rani BB’s heart was always with her people. She did not surrender to carry on her struggles to pave way for PPP. With the passage of time, the furore against Gen. Musharraf gained momentum and eventually led towards the formation of the All Pakistan Democratic Movement (APDM). Playing an influential role in APDM she brought all democratic parties together on the same page and advised them not to boycott the elections that were to be held during the Musharraf Regime. Another glaring example of her outstanding political acumen is that she adopted the democratic process to oust the Dictator from office. After overcoming the obstructions with mettle she landed in her motherland–Pakistan, and once again the flashbacks from the history gave a feeling of remembrance to the people of the 1980s era when BB had come to Pakistan after an exile. The political ambience of the nation had changed altogether and the roars of Bhutto’s brave daughter could be heard in every nook and cranny of Pakistan, the nation was celebrating upon her arrival but suddenly things started turning around and this time fate was not on her side. As she after her public address at Liaqat Bagh, Rawalpindi, embraced martyrdom in a heavy bomb blast. This was the tragic moment when an era of a legend came to an end apparently but she for sure will live in the hearts of her supporters till doomsday. Sadly, Shaheed Rani BB is not amongst us anymore but the vision of Bhutto’s legendary daughter will always be the lamp of guidance for the masses to follow because she lives in the hearts of millions. Infusion of more and more democracy for prosperous Pakistan and serving the people at large had been her dream which immediately after her martyrdom was carried out by her honourable husband President Asif Ali Zardari and now her son– the young leader, Mr Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (Chairman PPP) is the flag-bearer of her Mother’s and Grandfather’s mission.
The writer is a litigation, corporate and human rights lawyer, a political activist and former Vice-Chairman (SAARC Young Entrepreneur Forum).