Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhuttowas the 11th and 13th Prime Minister of Pakistan, serving two non-consecutive terms in 1988–90 and then 1993–96. A scion of the politically powerful Bhutto family, she was the eldest daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a former prime minister who founded the centre-left Pakistan Peoples Party. She was the first woman democratically elected as head of a majority Islamic nation...
NationalityPakistani
ProfessionWorld Leader
Date of Birth21 June 1953
CityKarachi, Pakistan
CountryPakistan
Right now, they feel they have lost their voice, and their miseries have increased since my departure.
Military hardliners called me a 'security threat' for promoting peace in South Asia and for supporting a broad-based government in Afghanistan.
The best revenge is democracy.
My father was the Prime Minister of Pakistan. My grandfather had been in politics, too; however, my own inclination was for a job other than politics. I wanted to be a diplomat, perhaps do some journalism - certainly not politics.
Democracy is the best revenge. After Benazir Bhutto's death, her son's brief public remarks were captured on video, and they were reported in international newspapers. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari announced, "My mother always said, ' Democracy is the best revenge.
I'm not into smoke-filled rooms. I don't have the time for byzantine political intrigues.
I found that a whole series of people opposed me simply on the grounds that I was a woman. The clerics took to the mosque saying that Pakistan had thrown itself outside the Muslim world and the Muslim umar by voting for a woman, that a woman had usurped a man's place in the Islamic society.
The political parties have unanimously rejected the one-man constitutional changes.
And also I was brought up to believe that human beings are good, which is why it shocks me to the core when I see human beings behaving badly.
As a woman leader, I thought I brought a different kind of leadership. I was interested in women's issues, in bringing down the population growth rate... as a woman, I entered politics with an additional dimension - that of a mother.
I was a very shy girl who led an insulated life; it was only when I came to Oxford, and to Harvard before that, that suddenly I saw the power of people. I didn't know such a power existed, I saw people criticising their own president; you couldn't do that in Pakistan - you'd be thrown in prison.
Ultimately, leadership is about the strength of one's convictions, the ability to endure the punches, and the energy to promote an idea. And I have found that those who do achieve peace never acquiesce to obstacles, especially those constructed of bigotry, intolerance, and inflexible tradition.
The government I led gave ordinary people peace, security, dignity, and opportunity to progress.
The forces of moderation and democracy must, and will, prevail against extremism and dictatorship. I will not be intimidated...Despite threats of death, I will not acquiesce to tyranny, but rather lead the fight against it.