Obituary: Benazir Bhutto

Even in her death Benazir Bhutto literally followed the footsteps of her father as she did when she took her first steps into politics. Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was executed in 1979 and she fell victim to an apparent suicide bomb attack. Her two brothers too suffered violent deaths. Like the Nehru-Gandhi family in India, the Bhuttos of Pakistan are one of the world’s most renowned political dynasties. Herfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was Prime Minister of Pakistan in the early 1970s. His government was one of the few in the 30 years following independence that was not run by the army.
 
Born in 1953 in the province of Sindh and educated at Harvard and Oxford, Bhutto gained credibility from her father’s high profile, even though she was a reluctant entrant to politics like the former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. She was twice elected the Prime Minister of Pakistan, from 1988 to 1990, and from 1993 to 1996. On both occasions, however, she was dismissed from office by the President for alleged corruption. The dismissals typified her volatile political career, which was characterised by numerous peaks and troughs. At the height of her popularity – shortly after her first election – she was one of the most high-profile women leaders in the world.
 
Young and glamorous, she successfully portrayed herself as a refreshing contrast to the overwhelmingly male-dominated political establishment of Pakistan. But after her second fall from power, her name came to be seen by some as synonymous with corruption and bad governance.
 
The determination and stubbornness for which Bhutto was renowned was first seen after her father was imprisoned and charged with murder by Gen Zia ul-Haq in 1977, following a military coup. Two years later he was executed. Bhutto was imprisoned just before her father’s death and spent most of her five-year jail term in solitary confinement. She described the conditions as extremely hard. During stints out of prison for medical treatment, Bhutto set up a Pakistan People’s Party office in London, and began a campaign against General Zia.
 
She returned to Pakistan in 1986, attracting huge crowds to political rallies. After Gen Zia died in an explosion on board his aircraft in 1988, she became one of the first democratically elected female prime ministers in an Islamic country. During both her stints in power, the role of Bhutto’s husband, Asif Zardari, proved highly controversial.
 
Bhutto also steadfastly denied all the corruption charges against her, which she said were politically motivated. She faced corruption charges in at least five cases, all without a conviction, until amnestied in October 2007. Benazir Bhutto was the last remaining bearer of her late father’s political legacy. Her brother, Murtaza – who was once expected to play the role of party leader – fled to the then-communist Afghanistan after his father’s fall.
 
From there, and various Middle Eastern capitals, he mounted a campaign against Pakistan’s military government with a militant group called al-Zulfikar. He won elections from exile in 1993 and became a provincial legislator, returning home soon afterwards, only to be shot dead under mysterious circumstances in 1996.