Murder she wrote herself

Benazir: indeed a symbol of resistance

Five years ago, Benazir Bhutto, a legendary scion and trustee of Bhutto legacy and universally known as the Daughter of East embraced martyrdom at Liaqat Bagh, Rawalpindi; a martyrdom she wrote herself as is evident from the message that she sent to Mark Siegel before her return to Pakistan. The fact that she knew the risks to her life and yet decided to take them amply confirms her credentials as a courageous leader of the masses, who valued democracy and service to the people, more than her own life.

When her father was hanged in 1979 by General Zia and the PPP leadership of the day deserted their leader and the party, Benazir took up the mantle of PPP leadership. She exhibited unprecedented courage in standing up to the dictator. She proved to be a real woman by showing a remarkable commitment and resilience in pursuing the unfinished agenda bequeathed by her father, unruffled by the tragedy that had struck the family. That agenda was to protect and nourish democracy, ameliorate the lot of the poverty stricken masses and making them the real masters of their destiny.

The dictator used all resources at his command and the devious machinations to break the will of the young and frail woman, but she proved to be steel nerved. Even the incarceration of six and a half years could not make her yield to the dictates of the regime and dissuade her from her mission. Having failed to achieve his objective, the dictator finally allowed her to go in exile in January 1984. Meanwhile, the dictator, with the help of the reactionary forces, made incessant efforts to obliterate PPP as a political force entertaining the hope that by sending Benazir into exile and taming the opportunist PPP stalwarts, he would succeed in eliminating the Bhutto legacy. He was terribly wrong as by now Benazir had emerged as a symbol of resistance and hope against the dictatorial rule.

Her status as an undisputed leader of the masses was confirmed on her return from exile on April 10, 1986, when more than one million people thronged Lahore airport to greet and celebrate her homecoming. The dictator was shaken by this tumultuous welcome and support for the young lady, who by now was not known only as Bhutto’s daughter but as a leader in her own right. That popularity was translated into political triumph for her two years later when PPP emerged as the single largest party in the elections, held after the death of General Zia.

Benazir created history by becoming the youngest and the first woman prime minister of a Muslim country. Her election as Prime Minister of Pakistan symbolised great snub for the vested interests and the reactionary elements. It also sent a loud and clear message to the world that Pakistan was the most progressive Islamic country. But unfortunately, Benazir’s ordeal did not end by becoming the prime minister. The establishment and the forces inimical to democratic norms, who had made a tactical retreat in the face of the prevailing circumstances, reactivated themselves and manoeuvred the dismissal of her government by the military-backed President Ghulam Ishaq Khan. She continued to fight the forces of tyranny with exemplary commitment to her cause and made a comeback as prime minister in 1993, only to be dismissed by one of PPP’s own stalwarts at the behest of the establishment.

The circumstances created by her rival Mian Nawaz Sharif who succeeded her as prime minister in the ensuing elections, forced her into self-imposed exile in 1998. The successive setbacks in her political career hardly affected her stature as an unrivalled leader of the masses. Instead, her popularity among the masses skyrocketed and further strengthened her image as a torch bearer of democracy. Internationally, she was recognised as the most progressive leader of the Islamic world. She was termed as the most popular politician of the world in the New Guinness Book of World Records in 1996 and also included in the list of the hundred most powerful women of the world by the “Australian Magazine”.

The toppling of Nawaz Sharif government by General Musharraf added a new dimension to her woes. The dictator through a constitutional amendment put a bar on becoming prime minister for the third time, ostensibly to keep both Benazir and Nawaz Sharif out of the political arena. He also started vigorously pursuing the politically motivated false cases of corruption instituted by Nawaz Sharif against her and her husband in the Swiss Courts. However, undeterred by these developments she kept lobbying the world governments, especially the US to exert pressure on Musharraf to restore democracy in the country.

Finally she returned to Pakistan on October 18, 2007, as a result of US backed rapprochement with Musharraf in the backdrop of the lawyers’ movement which had considerably weakened Musharraf’s hold on power. Her second homecoming was a much bigger event than her return during Zia regime. Millions turned up to greet her. As predicted by her, an attempt was made to kill her through a bomb blast at her rally. She was lucky to escape the attack but about 140 people lost their lives. Even this close shave with death could not keep her away from the masses and she made a conscious decision to continue her election campaign, showing unmatched bravery and dedication to her ideals. But unfortunately, her epic struggle for democracy and the cause of poor ended with her martyrdom that nonetheless put the country back on the path of democracy and a representative rule.

As is evident, her political career was beset with severe trials and tribulations but she never faltered in her resolve to fight the anti-people entities. It was a story of unparalleled valour and sacrifice. She may have been eliminated physically but she has left an indelible mark on the political canvass of Pakistan which will forever continue to haunt the forces opposed to democracy and ascendancy of the masses besides acting as a beacon of light for the down-trodden masses yearning to see Pakistan marching on a sustainable path to popular rule that rewrites their destinies in conformity with the vision of Quaid-e-Azam. She was indeed a symbol of resistance against the forces of darkness, who sacrificed her life to keep the flame of democracy burning.

The writer is an academic.