Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto (Urdu: بینظیر بھٹو) (b. June 21, 1953 in Karachi) was the youngest person and the first woman to lead a post-colonial Muslim state. She was elected Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1988, only to be deposed 20 months later. During her first term she founded the Peoples Program for the economic uplift of the masses. She also ended a ban on student and trade unions. Bhutto had a vision for a modern Pakistan. Her efforts to achieve this were hampered by political opponents and religious conservatives.
Bhutto was re-elected in 1993 following the resignation of President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif but was dismissed three years later amid various corruption scandals. Some of these scandals allegedly involved contracts awarded to Swiss companies during her regime about which she faces unresolved charges in Switzerland. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, spent eight years in jail until he was released November 2004. As yet, none of the corruption charges have been proven in a court of law. Bhutto maintains the charges were politically motivated.
Benazir Bhutto is considered by many as one of the most powerful women of the 20th century.
Early Years
Benazir Bhutto is the eldest child of deposed Pakistani premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (who was hanged by the Pakistan's military administration) and Begum Nusrat Bhutto, a former member of parliament and former deputy prime minister of Pakistan, who was of Kurdish-Iranian origin. Her paternal grandfather was Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto, an ethnic Sindhi.
Bhutto attended Lady Jennings Nursery School and then the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Karachi. After two years of schooling at the Rawalpindi Presentation Convent, she was sent to the Jesus and Mary Convent at Murree. She passed her O-level examination at the age of 15.
In April 1969, she was admitted to Harvard University's Radcliffe College. In June 1973, Benazir graduated from Harvard with a degree in political science where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She attended Oxford University in the autumn of 1973 and graduated with a masters degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. She was elected President of the prestigious Oxford Union, a poistion that many future British Prime Ministers held while students at Oxford.
Imprisonment and Exile
After completing university in 1977, Bhutto returned to Pakistan. This same year, martial law was declared and her father was arrested. In the course of her father's imprisonment and execution, she was placed under house arrest. Having been allowed in 1984 to go back to the United Kingdom, she became leader in exile of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), her father's party. While in London she and her brothers established a movement to resist the military dictatorship in Pakistan.
Bhutto returned to Pakistan in April of 1986 following the lifting of martial law. The response to her homecoming was tumultuous as she stirred up anti-Zia Ul Haq sentiment, publicly calling for his resignation. It was Zia's government that was responsible for the death of her father.
Elected Prime Minister
On November 16, 1988, in the first open election in more than a decade, Benazir's PPP won the single largest bloc of seats in the National Assembly. Bhutto was sworn in as Prime Minister of a coalition government on December 2, becoming at age thirty five, the youngest person and also the first woman to head the government of a Muslim-majority state in modern times.
Many Muslim men objected to the election of a woman as Prime Minister on the grounds that Muhammad had said that whoever entrusts their affairs to women will not prosper (Bukhari, 9:88, Hadith 119). Others cited Quran 2:228, that men are a degree above women. Traditionally, women's participation in politics was considered forbidden. This perspective made Bhutto a groundbreaker but it also created resistance by conservative Muslims.
Feminist Muslim scholar Fatima Mernissi and colleagues combatted this conservative outlook at the time by undertaking a detailed analysis of Hadith 119. Her conclusion was that the interpretation was of doubtful authenticity and that Islam had no restriction on women holding public office. This contrast of belief and understanding certainly affected Bhutto's ability to lead and make progress on her agenda.
During her first term, Bhutto ended a ban on unions. She was also heavily committed to getting electricity to rural areas and building schools throughout the country. Hunger, housing and healthcare were important to her. She envisioned a modern Pakistan. Unfortunately, her leadership and attempts to develop and modernize Pakistan were consistently resisted by the Islamic fundamentalist movement.
After being dismissed under charges of corruption by the country's military supported President of Pakistan Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who used the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan to dissolve parliament and force an election, Bhutto's party lost the elections held in October 1990. She served as the leader of the opposition while Nawaz Sharif became PM for the next three years.
In October 1993 elections were held again. The PPP coalition won, returning Bhutto to office until 1996, when once again her government was dismissed on corruption charges by then president Farooq Leghari, who also used the Eighth Amendment discretionary powers.
Charges of Corruption and Abuse of Power
Bhutto was charged and later cleared in a number of corruption cases in Pakistan. She has also been charged with laundering state owned money in Swiss banks, in a case that remains before a Swiss court. It is alleged that Bhutto and her husband stole hundreds of millions of dollars by demanding 'commissions' on government contracts and other dealings. Between 1994 and 2004, the couple faced about 90 cases combined, none of which have been proven. Bhutto maintains that all the cases are politically motivated and readily faces them.
Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, spent eight years in prison although he was never convicted. He was kept in solitary confinement and claims to have been tortured. Human rights groups also claim that Zardari's rights have been violated. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has since apologized for his involvement in the prolonged imprisonment of Zardari and the cases filed against Bhutto. This apology by Sharif gives credence to Bhutto's contention that the charges were politically motivated. Zardari was released in November 2004.
During Bhutto's tenure, through complex political realities, Muhajirs (ethnically mixed group of immigrants to Pakistan) in Karachi continued to be victims of discrimination, violence and ethnic cleansing even though they represented approximately half the population of Karachi.
There was belief among muhujirs, voiced by muhajir member of the Sindh assembly, Shoaib Bokhari, that the elite Sindh's including the Bhutto family, represented only 2% of the population but controlled 98% of the country. He also alleged that the federal government relied heavily on tax revenue from Karachi and its port but invested little in the commercial center in return.
In 1995, a campaign of violence against muhajirs involving police and military occurred which culminated in two thousand deaths throughout Karachi. Most appeared to be politically motivated extra judicial killings which were never investigated. There were many who felt that Bhutto did not do enough to stem the tide of ethnic and religious violence. However, this was not the worst of the violence against the muhajirs. Discrimination had been ongoing and violence had occurred in 1986 and peaked in 1992 with 18,000 muhajir killed.
Afghanistan Policy
It was during Bhutto's rule that the Taliban gained prominence in Afghanistan. Bhutto and the Taliban were openly opposed to each other. According to the Taliban codes, as a woman she had no right to be in power. The Pakistan military, however, were insistent and Bhutto agreed to provide some support. She and her government have said that they only provided moral support and nothing more. The Taliban took power in Kabul in September 1996. It has been suggested that Osama Bin Laden provided Nawaz Sharif with huge sums of money in order to 'buy support' and destabilize her government.
Policies for Women
During election campaigns, the Bhutto government voiced concerns over social issues of women, health and discrimination against women. Bhutto also announced plans to set up women's police stations, courts and women's development banks.
Despite these promises, Bhutto did not propose any legislation to improve welfare services for women. During her election campaigns, Bhutto promised to repeal controversial laws (such as Hudood and Zina ordinances) that curtail rights and discriminate against women in Pakistan. During her two terms in power, her party did not fulfill these promises due to immense pressure from the opposition.
However, her party did initiate legislation during General Musharraf's regime to repeal the Zina ordinance. These efforts were defeated by the right wing religious parties that dominated the legislatures at the time.
Post Political Career
In 2002 Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf who took power in a military coup d'état in October 1999 introduced a new amendment to Pakistan's constitution which bans prime ministers from serving more than two terms. This disqualifies Bhutto from ever holding the office again. Some said it was largely implemented because President Musharraf's desire is to exclude previous leaders from future politics. Bhutto has been sharply critical of Musharraf's government and has participated in anti-government campaigns.
Bhutto currently resides in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where she cares for her children and her mother. From there, she travels around the world giving lectures and keeping in touch with the Pakistan Peoples Party's supporters.
Benazir and her three children (Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa) were reunited with her husband and their father in December 2004 after a period of more than five years.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
Books by Ms Bhutto
- Benazir Bhutto (1978). Foreign Policy in Perspective. Lahoire: Classic.
- Benazir Bhutto (1988). The way out: Interviews, impressions, statements, and messages. Karachi: Mahmood Publications.
- Benazir Bhutto (1989). Daughter of the East. London: Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 0241123984.
- Benazir Bhutto (1989). Daughter of Destiny. NY: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0671669834.
- Benazir Bhutto (1990). Benazir Bhutto defends herself. Lahore: Rhotas Books.
- Benazir Bhutto (1993). Issues in Pakistan. Lahore: Jang Publishers.
External links
- Bhutto Biography
- Pakistan Peoples Party website
- Bhutto website
- Bhutto on Al-Qaeda
- Congressional Record on Lawlessness in Karachi
- Interview
- Asif Zardari Profile
- Profile
- Bhutto cleared of corruption
- Pakistani opposition protests Bhutto case
- Musharraf blocks PPP rallies
See also
Credits
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