Benazir addressed a huge rally in Rawalpindi that turned out to be her last public address. During her address, she insisted that her prime goal was the restoration of democracy in the country and for that she was ready for any kind of sacrifice.
WITH THE death of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the hope of restoration of democracy in Pakistan in the near future has more or less ended. Bhutto, the last bearer of her father’s political legacy, fought for restoration of democracy till her last breath. Her death marks the tragic end of long political legacy of Bhutto family. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s death is not only a loss for Pakistan, but also for the whole democratic world. Her unexpected death has sent shockwaves across the world and her heinous assassination needs to be strongly condemned.
Born on June 21, 1953 to a wealthy landowning family in southern Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto inherited the political legacy of her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
History of Bhutto family has remained prone to tragedy. Benazir was fourth from the family to die in unusual circumstances. On April 4, 1979 Benazir’s father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged, following the order of the then acting President General Zia-ul-Haq. Within a year, Benazir’s brother Shahnawaz was killed under mysterious circumstances in France. In 1996, her other brother Mir Murtaza was killed during her second term as Prime Minister.
Following her father’s death, Benazir jumped into politics. During the rule of Zia-ul-Haq, Benazir was detained several times and released into exile in England in the year 1984. But two years later, Bhutto came back to country for the restoration of democratic government in Pakistan. After Zia-ul-Haq’s death in August 1988, Bhutto led her Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to victory in the elections held in November. Benazir Bhutto became the first woman Prime Minister to lead a Muslim nation.
Due to her aggressive attitude, Benazir clashed with the country’s military-led establishment and her government was dismissed within 20 months, in August 1990. The then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, in support of the Pakistan military, dismissed Benazir from office on charges of corruption and misuse of power. Benazir’s husband Asif Ali Zardari was also arrested on several charges. Soon afterwards, elections were held and Benazir’s party suffered a major defeat. Nawaz Sharif became Prime Minister.
In October 1993, she was again elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan. However, in November 1996, the then President Farooq Leghari ousted Benazir the second time on charges of corruption. Elections were held in February 1997 and Bhutto failed to regain power. In fact, she claimed that the general elections were fixed.
In April 1999, Bhutto was sentenced to five years in jail and banned from politics for five years as well. She was also fined $8.6 million on charges of corruption during her last term as prime minister. Asif Ali Zardari was also given the same sentence. Benazir continued to claim that she is innocent of corruption and in April 2001, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered new trails for her and her husband.
Despite the court order, Benazir Bhutto and her husband remained in exile from Pakistan. In 2002, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said that Benazir would not be allowed to fight the elections. During her exile, Benazir remained in London and Dubai. In 2004, Asif Ali Zardari was freed and he joined Bhutto.
Since the past year, Benazir Bhutto had emerged as a strong contender for the Prime Minister post and had also joined hands with her one-time political rival and deposed premier Nawaz Sharif.
Bhutto returned to Pakistan on October 18 this year and received a grand reception from her countrymen. Just after her arrival to Pakistan, she organised a rally that was attended by lakhs of people. People came out on the streets to get a glimpse of their leader.
The rally was attacked. She survived but about 150 people were killed and many were injured. At the time, Benazir complained that the government was not giving her proper security and the electronic gadgets provided to the security personnel were not working properly.
On Thursday, she addressed a huge rally in Rawalpindi that turned out to be her last public address. During her address, she insisted that her prime goal is the restoration of democracy in the country and for that she is ready for any kind of sacrifice.
After finishing her speech, she was about to leave the venue when she was attacked. Bullets hit her head and chest and then the suicide bomber blew himself apart near her car. Benazir Bhutto was rushed to hospital, where she was declared dead at 6.46 pm (IST).
Few hours after her death, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced a three days national mourning. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was very upset on the sad demise of Bhutto and blamed President Musharraf.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Pratibha Patil, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate LK Advani and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee expressed sorrow over Benazir Bhutto’s death. Not only the political leaders, but the Pakistani people and peace-loving people across the world are mourning the death of Bhutto.
By - Md Mudassir Alam
- merinews.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment