Benazir Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto was a Pakistani politician who served as Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996. She was the first woman to head a democratic government in a Muslim majority nation. Ideologically a liberal and a secularist, she chaired or co-chaired the Pakistan Peoples Party from early 1980s until her assassination in 2007.

About Benazir Bhutto in brief

Summary Benazir BhuttoBenazir Bhutto was a Pakistani politician who served as Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996. She was the first woman to head a democratic government in a Muslim majority nation. Ideologically a liberal and a secularist, she chaired or co-chaired the Pakistan Peoples Party from the early 1980s until her assassination in 2007. She came to be regarded as an icon for women’s rights due to her political success in a male-dominated society. Her government was damaged by several controversies, including the assassination of her brother Murtaza, a failed 1995 coup d’état, and a further bribery scandal involving her and her husband Asif Ali Zardari. After a political rally in Rawalpindi, she was assassinated. The Salafi jihadi group al-Qaeda claimed responsibility, although the involvement of the Pakistani Taliban and rogue elements of the intelligence services was widely suspected. Benazir was born in Karachi to a politically important, wealthy aristocratic family. She studied at Harvard University and the University of Oxford, where she was President of the Oxford Union. Her father was the politician Zulfikar Ali Bhut to and her mother was Begum Nusrat Ispahani, of Iranian Kurdish parentage. She had three younger children: Sanam, Shahnaz, and Shahnawaz. The family were Sunni Muslims, although NusRat had been born into a Shia Muslim family converting to Sunnism before their marriage.

The first child was their first child, Benazazir, who was given the first child name of an aunt who died young. She attended the Lady Jennings Nursery School in Karachi before boarding at the Convent of Jesus and Mary Convent in Murree, near Murree. She is a mother of three and a grandmother of two. She died on December 27, 2007, at the age of 73. Her funeral was held at her family mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Baksh, in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details. In the U.S. call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255 or visit www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org. In Europe, call the Suicide Prevention Line on 1 (800) 273-TALK (8255). In the Middle East and Africa, contact the European Union on 0800-788-9090 or click here for details on how to get in contact with the European Parliament in London. For information on the European Commission in London, see: http://www.ec.europa.org/europa/parliament/europe/para-europa-europe-summit/en-announcement/en.html. For more information about the European Council of Ministers on Human Rights, visit: http:/www.european-commons.org/.