Benazir Bhutto

A role model, an idol, and a go-getter…that’s how I will describe Lady Benazir Bhutto. I clearly remember the time Bhutto got assassinated in Pakistan. I had just completed my bachelors and came back home. It came as a shock to not just Pakistan but the entire world. She was such a quintessential personality and possessed radiant charisma.

My cousin recommended me a documentary on Bhutto and I decided to watch it. Not that I’m minutely interested in Pakistan and its politics but I simply wanted to know about her. The way she presented herself in public and articulated her speeches were astonishing. I was totally taken back when I saw what Bhutto’s father wanted to accomplish. He wanted to see Pakistan as a democratic nation. He wanted to change the look of Pakistan altogether. He was one of the few people who treated men and women equally. He didn’t mourn when the doctors announced, ‘it’s a girl’. He felt proud. He saw her completely capable of handling political affairs. He didn’t pester Benazir to wear a Burqa. According to him, it wasn’t necessary. Coming this from the PM of Pakistan is a big deal because they are the people that general public looks up to. Not in this day n age but in old times, yes.

One thing which petrified me while watching the documentary was a notorious law: a law which forced a women to provide four witnesses while she was getting raped; else she will go to jail for performing intercourse outside her marriage. Things like these were itching Benazir the most. She wanted to introduce equality in her country. She wanted to compose her nation as one world and not men’s world. She saw the downfall of her father; saw him serving jail time; and eventually saw him getting hanged till death. The pain didn’t end here. Bhutto and her family faced house arrest and afterwards confronted imprisonment in the worst cell of Pakistan. The conditions described in that jail can terrorize any human being. Fear of heat, ants, mosquitoes, cockroaches, bees, bugs and so on…

Regardless of all she bore; she still wanted to serve her country. When she became the Prime Minister, she wanted to show the world that a woman is no less than a man. She holds equal credibility and authority to run a country. Almost all of her family members got murdered but she never lost hope. Benazir was very focused in her life and wanted to bring her father’s dream alive. Coming from a political background, automatically classified you as a corrupt person. Corruption is a norm in a country like Pakistan. Benazir too, was entangled in corruption and controversies. However, she was the only face who could change the entire look of her country. A country where women’s are stoned to death and asked to hide their mind, body, and soul underneath a burqa. A country where education is expensive or optional or not available. A country where carrying guns is like carrying chocolates in your pocket.

Benazir knew her death awaits her in Pakistan. Nonetheless, she still went ahead with her heart. She wanted to see a new and reformed Pakistan.

Salute…!