Another year has gone by, and Pakistan still can’t seem to stop wondering how its revered princess could have steered the ship out of turbulent waters. Benazir Bhutto would have been 65 this year, had she not tragically succumbed to death in a suicide blast on December 27, 2007. Still, a very young age for a national leader to hold the reins. And with an unwavering dedication to her ideals, the “Pinky” phoenix would have done just that.
Whether we like to admit it or not, Benazir’s prodigal entry in Pakistani politics, her persistent fight against the toughest of circumstances and her miraculous yet repeated rise from the ashes has enthused us all. Through her story, she inspired countless Pakistani women of her generation to start believing and striving for their dreams. Even today, her name remains far from being obliterated. May it be her beaming face as a part of election campaigns and party advertisements or the schools and other infrastructure adorned with her name, Benazir’s legacy smiles at us all. So much so that an entire district was named after her. While it was not founded under her tenure, the welfare lifeline–Benazir Income Support Programme–speaks volumes of her revolutionary ideas for the economic empowerment of especially the lower strata of Pakistani women. And why would it not? At a ripe age of 35, Benazir was sworn in as the youngest women to be ever elected as the prime minister. The first female to head a Muslim-majority state. Talking closer to home, she was the first woman to break the shackles in a country that had only a few years earlier, mitigated the legal testimony of women as half of the men, under General Zia’s fanatical policies.
Then again, once entering the prime minister’s office, she bravely fire-fought unending conspiracies; holding her ground against an inefficient bureaucracy, constant friction with the military establishment and rifts within her party. Despite a parade of men vehemently opposed to cowering to or even accepting a female head of the country, Benazir was a force to be reckoned with. It was this consistent, unapologetic drive to stick to her ideals on her own terms that continued to draw masses to her like fireflies till her last day. This admiration still lives on.
As can be easily guessed from the social obligations thrust upon women in our part of the world, Benazir was pulled into politics on the most desperate of occasions. With the military dictatorship staging a coup against the government of her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, only to hang him a year later, the Oxford and Harvard graduate was left with little choice but to fulfil her filial obligations. She once recalled how “(she) made (her) choice when the mantle of political leadership was thrust upon (her) shoulders after (her) father’s murder.”
It was only Benazir who could unflinchingly take to the streets to save Pakistan People’s Party in those dark days; launching a democratic crusade against Zia. Her father’s death had mobilised her. Instead of going back to Europe, as her father had advised her to do from his prison cell, she continued mobilising the masses against the military dictatorship, reminding Pakistan of the charismatic Bhutto’s mission.
The next decade was spent reorganising PPP and standing in opposition to a man hell-bent on seeing her and her family disappear into seclusion. May it be the repeated spells of house arrests and detention at home or the arduous years of her self-imposed exile, Pinky braved through it all.
However, she soon returned only to become a darling of her dear country again. Commanding sympathy and admiration across the land, Benazir rightly called herself the “daughter of Pakistan.” Yet, in the later years of her life, she had started identifying with the “daughter of destiny.” A title that could not be more apt for anyone else. Despite holding sway over millions, she was not allowed to complete either of the two stints in the prime minister office. Then again, there were the constant character assassination and innumerable court cases that she was hounded through. Benazir was a victim of a greater game; betrayed by both her party stalwarts as well as the establishment. A daughter of destiny, indeed.
There remains no illusion about those who had reservations over her politics. Nonetheless, she rose above them all in her death. Sensing the void in her country that no one else could fill, Benazir returned in 2007 with defiance and determination, despite serious death threats. She knew what post 9/11 Pakistan would have in store for her. But she was adamant. Her country needed her, Benazir would often stress. And this bravery to openly challenge terrorists is what redeemed for her a mystical significance in the minds of all and sundry. Her assassination has immortalised her as a source of hope for her countrymen and countrywomen as they battle their own struggles.
In the words of a veteran journalist Hasan Mujtaba, “Tum zinda ho kar murda ho/Wo murda ho kar zinda hai (You are already dead while you live/She is alive in her death.).”
The writer is a member of the staff and can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @dureakram