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Benazir Buttu Life:
Benazir Bhutto, the eldest child of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was born
on June 21, 1953, at Karachi. She attended Lady Jennings Nursery
School and then 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 got
admission in the U. S. at Harvard University's Radcliffe College.
In June 1973, Benazir graduated from Harvard University with a
degree in Political Science. After graduating from Harvard, Benazir
joined Oxford University in the fall of 1973. Just before
graduation, Benazir was elected to the Standing Committee of the
most prestigious Oxford Union Debating Society.
In 1976, she graduated in P. P. E. (Politics, Philosophy and
Economics). In the autumn of 1976, Benazir returned once again to
Oxford to do a one-year postgraduate course. In January 1977, she
was elected the President of the Oxford Union. Benazir Bhutto
returned to Pakistan in June 1977. She wanted to join the Foreign
Service but her father wanted her to contest the Assembly election.
As she was not yet of age, Benazir Bhutto assisted her father as an
advisor.
In July 1977, General Zia-ul-Haq imposed Martial Law. During the
Martial Law, Benazir was allowed to proceed abroad on medical
grounds in January 1984, after spending nearly six and a half years
in jail. She went into exile in England for two years. In July
1984, her younger brother Shah Nawaz died under mysterious
circumstances in Paris. She came back to Pakistan to attend his
burial ceremony. A year later she came back to Pakistan to fight
the elections for National and Provincial Assemblies held by
General Zia-ul-Haq. When she returned on April 10, 1986, one
million people welcomed her at the Lahore airport. She attended
mammoth rallies all over Pakistan and kept in close touch with the
Movement for Restoration of Democracy. On December 18, 1987,
Benazir married Asif Ali Zardari in Karachi. She contested the
elections, which were held by Ghulam Ishaq Khan, who had taken over
as acting President after the death of General Zia in an air crash
on August 17, 1988, at Bhawalpur.
Benazir Bhutto approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan, seeking
enforcement of the fundamental rights guaranteed to the political
parties under Article 17(2) of the 1973 Constitution, to hold the
elections on Party basis. The Supreme Court gave its verdict in
favor of the political parties. The P. P. P., without forming an
alliance with any party, won 94 out of 207 seats in the National
Assembly. With the cooperation of eight M. Q. M. members and 13
members of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the P. P. P.
was able to get a clear majority in the National Assemblies.
Benazir Bhutto was nominated as the Prime Minister on December 2,
1988, and Ghulam Ishaq Khan was nominated the President of
Pakistan.
At the age of 35, she was the youngest and the first woman Prime
Minister to lead a Muslim nation in modern age. During her first
term, she started Peoples Program for economic uplift of the
masses. Benazir Bhutto also lifted a ban on student and trade
unions. The P. P. P. Government hosted the fourth S. A. A. R. C.
Summit held in Islamabad, in December 1988. On various issues,
differences between her Government and the Establishment led to her
dismissal by the President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, on August 6, 1990.
Benazir returned to power, by winning the October 1993 elections.
The P. P. P. had won the largest share with 86 seats and formed a
new Government with the help of alliances, but her own-nominated
President, Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari, dismissed her government
again in November 1996 on corruption charges. Her publications
include "Daughter of the East" and "Foreign Policy Perspective".
ASIF CHITRALI
Hinjil Karimabad Chitral
Currently Dubai UAE |
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[email protected]
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