Benazir: A Troubled Legacy

Hittu Saluja

Swaggering steps towards an uncertain future, steel to undo the national legacy of militarization by democratization and dominating over politics of vendetta, this time the daughter of the East, as she calls herself, is fully equipped for what many suggest a lethal home coming. Is it a mere divine intervention or perhaps a long awaited opportunity? Well, her daily revelations through media narrate a sure story of her correct timings to hit when the iron is hot and in case of Pakistan, when it is undergoing a metamorphosis. In fact, the deal-drama is a dilemma for political experts, media and most importantly people of Pakistan. These so called transitional power-sharing partnerships that she asserts to have made are nothing but sheer opportunism to crack the formula of power. She knows that change is brewing in Pakistan’s politics and if she wants to return, this is the high time for her to either take the calculated risk or remain an alien forever. That is why a few months before, when Musharraf claimed of a deal with Bhutto, she said that she wanted such a deal, but added it was "premature" to say one was imminent. Possibly, at that time she got the idea that undergoing a power-sharing deal with him would not be profitable. Instead, she along with her party was more interested in making a front against Musharraf by joining hands with her once bitter rival Nawaz Sharif. From a straw in the wind to a whisper in the ear to a well thought off strategy, Benazir is trying not to leave even a single stone unturned to heal lesions of the past and it is quite evident in her words, "This year, I will be back…I don`t know what will happen when I return — prison perhaps, but I will face whatever comes." Once known as the greatest hope of Pakistan, she has witnessed many crests and troughs in her public and personal life. She has already spent more than a decade in exile. From undemocratic ouster and subsequent lamented hanging of her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto by General Zia-ul-Haq in 1977 to momentous achievement of becoming the youngest and the first woman Prime Minister (head of the state) of an Islamic State in 1988 to her dismissal on charges of corruption and misadministration, all add to her tumultuous legacy and popular support. She still remembers her traumatic 30 minutes meet with her father the day before he was executed. She becomes melancholic while remembering “… last visit to his death cell, how he was ready to free me, telling me I was not obliged to follow him in politics, but it was then that I knew I must." She spent nearly 10 years in prison or under house arrest, essentially for being her father`s daughter. This dutiful daughter rather willingly bore the brunt of political heritage of her father. Those were precarious moments, which she handled with determination and reluctance to quit or surrender. Her periodical releases out of prison though for short durations for medical treatment, gave her the opportunity to commence a crusade against General Zia by setting up a Pakistan People`s Party office in London. She returned to Pakistan in 1986 in an emphatic manner drawing huge crowds to her political rallies. Her road to success was paved by the death of General Zia in an air crash on August 17, 1988 at Bhawalpur. That was a moment of thrill and exhilaration for a young leader who transformed crowd frenzy into vital votes and swept mandate in her favour by getting 94 out of 207 seats in the National Assembly. And that too at a time when she alleged the opposition wanted to take advantage of her vulnerability owing her first pregnancy. The road ahead was equally rough and slippery for her, for she maintains that in a patriarchal world as this, politics for a woman is even more challenging. It was all the more testing amongst Muslim religious leaders who believed she had taken a man`s place. She made her apprehension clear saying, "I found that a whole series of people opposed me simply on the ground that I was a woman. I don`t know how to deal with that, I can deal with political differences, but how do you deal with it when someone says I don`t like you because you`re a woman and you`ve taken a man`s place." The challenge indeed was more daunting as she faced criticism based on gender as well as on her way of working. Ultimately she could not tackle the growing political and administrative differences with President. On August 6, 1990 President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismissed her on charges of misadministration, which in actual sense, was sparked by various differences between her government and the President. Benazir returned to power for the second time in 1993 after the resignation of both President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on July 18, 1993. Fresh elections for the National and Provincial Assemblies were declared in Pakistan and she was benefited due to poll-boycott by MQM. In the absence of a clear majority by any of the political parties, Bhutto led Pakistan People Party formed the new government with the help of alliances. During her second tenure, Benazir again had to confront criticism and bashing from the opposition. Nawaz Sharif and his party men held various protests to dethrone her. Her political endeavours went in vain as opposition MQM left no chance to settle scores with her government. Gruesome and awful assassination of her brother Mir Murtaza Bhutto under mysterious circumstances in a police ambush on September 20, 1996 created severe backlash for her government as it happened during her own tenure and fingers were raised even on her husband Asif Ali Zardari. Adding further insult to her injuries, she was dismissed by then President Farooq Leghari on charges of corruption against her and her husband. Political experts could clearly see her downfall in her husband’s misdeeds. He is believed to have played a prominent role in her administration taking huge sums of money under her name. He was even infamously known as Mr. 10% owing to the cuts he pocketed. He is accused of misusing Bhutto’s name and stealing millions of dollars from the State treasury. She calls it a politically motivated vendetta and rivalry, though, with hushed voices she does accept that Zardari chose a different way. Political pundits and her colleagues suggested her to part ways with a ‘greedy’ husband but she chose to stand by the man who apparently eclipsed her political career amid allegations of corruption and infidelity. During both her stints in power, corruption charges against her spoilt not only her own political ambitions but also dimmed the hopes of the people of Pakistan who saw in her a spark and a charisma to make Pakistan de-Ziaite and modern. Bhutto may not attain the lost persona because of her own wrong decisions but she is quite hopeful of witnessing a second revolution in Pakistan emanating out of the duel between the military regime and justice system. Musharraf who once felt absolute now appears to be defeated by his own strategies. According to Bhutto, the political weather in Pakistan has never been as favourable as today and this is the right time to sow the seeds of power through negotiations and dialogue. And she has no aversion teaming with her bitter opponents or even with the military. In politics there are no permanent friends or foes and for Bhutto if power is not an addiction, it is definitely its opposite, as she says, "Whatever my aims and agendas were, I never asked for power. I think they need me. I don`t think it`s addictive. I think, if anything, it`s the opposite of addictive. You want to run away from it, but it doesn`t let you go. It`s doing it again." Today she seems to be craving for power as for her it’s a do or die situation. Benazir’s national reconciliation may have infused an intense urge beating her fears and apprehensions but has surely rendered an unfathomable, unstoppable fervor to conquer what she calls her rightful legacy. At 54, it may just be her chance.