CNews Karachi, Oct 18: After being in the political wilderness for eight years former Pakistan primer arrived at the Jinnah International Airport Karachi on Thursday. Enamoured by the massive response to her homecoming Bhutto said, “It’s a miracle that I am back. My agenda is the agenda of the Pakistan’s people”.
Bhutto, who arrived on an Emirates flight from Dubai along with a number of top PPP functionaries, said that her sole concern is to ensure victory to the people. “I want peace, progress and employment for the poorest of poor.” Benazir promises to help restore democracy by fighting general elections due early next year. Pakistan People Party (PPP) president Benazir Bhutto`s second homecoming in two decades had some of the trappings of her first return from exile in 1986 to successfully take on the dictatorship but this time challenges to the Muslim world`s first woman premier are more daunting. Hoping for her political revival after being in self-imposed exile in London for eight years, the charistmatic 54-year-old leader of the PPP is pinning her hopes to become the country`s premier for the third time after getting a rousing welcome in her hometown of Karachi. Lakhs had greeted Bhutto when she returned from London in 1986. Hailed as the "Daughter of the East" ever since she confronted military dictator Zia-ul-Haq in 1986 and became the country`s premier two years later when she was just 35, Bhutto left Pakistan on her own before a court convicted her of corruption charges in April 1999 when Nawaz Sharif was the Prime Minister. The conviction was later quashed and Bhutto`s brush with law turned a full circle this month. As part of a possible power-sharing deal, Musharraf signed a corruption amnesty on October 5 covering other cases against Bhutto, paving the way for her return. She is the second former Prime Minister to return to their homeland in Musharraf`s seven-year regime. Earlier, PML (N) leader Nawaz Sharif had arrived in Islamabad only to be bundled back to Saudi Arabia. He has announced that he would make a second attempt to return after November 15. Taking into consideration that there might be an assassination attempt by forces owing allegiance to al Qaeda and Taliban, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry has ensured that multi-layered security arrangements are put in place at the airport. Born on June 21, 1953, into a wealthy landowning family in southern Pakistan, the mother of three children inherited the political legacy of her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged by Gen Zia in 1979. Z A Bhutto had sent his eldest daughter to study politics and government at Oxford and Harvard. But his ouster in a 1977 military coup and execution over the death of a political rival put her, just in her twenties, on a violent brush with the country`s treacherous politics. Benazir was detained several times during the rule of Gen Zia-ul Haq then released into exile in England in 1984. Two years later, she returned to lead mass rallies for the restoration of civilian government. After Zia`s death in a mysterious plane crash in 1988, Bhutto led her party to an election victory and became the first woman to lead a modern Muslim nation. However, she soon clashed with Pakistan`s powerful military-led establishment and her administration was dismissed 20 months later amid allegations of corruption. She was re-elected in 1993. But three years later, her family suffered another blow when her brother Murtaza died in a gunbattle with police in Karachi. Her youngest brother, Shahnawaz, had died under mysterious circumstances in France a decade earlier. Benazir accused President Farooq Leghari of involvement in Murtaza`s death, and Leghari dismissed her second government amid fresh allegations of misrule. After defeat at the hands of archrival Nawaz Sharif in 1996, Bhutto was hit by a deluge of corruption allegations. She left in 1999, just before a court convicted her of corruption and banned her from politics. The verdict was later quashed, but she has stayed away. Bhutto says she has had on-off contacts with President Gen.Pervez Musharraf since he ousted Sharif in a 1999 coup, but that only now has the general agreed to restore democracy. "I know I am a symbol of what the so-called `Jihadists,` Taliban and al-Qaida, most fear," Bhutto once wrote in her autobiography "Daughter of the East." "I am a female political leader fighting to bring modernity, communication, education and technology to Pakistan." In the past year or so, Bhutto has emerged as a strong contender for power. A year back, she had joined hands with deposed premier Nawaz Sharif and signed the Charter of Democracy aimed at ending the rule of Musharraf. However, the pact fizzled out with talks of Bhutto`s leanings towards Musharraf. Bhutto now hopes to get another foothold on power and is expected to start campaigning for the upcoming polls. After a series of family tragedies, Bhutto is the last bearer of her father`s political legacy.
Bhutto, who arrived on an Emirates flight from Dubai along with a number of top PPP functionaries, said that her sole concern is to ensure victory to the people. “I want peace, progress and employment for the poorest of poor.” Benazir promises to help restore democracy by fighting general elections due early next year. Pakistan People Party (PPP) president Benazir Bhutto`s second homecoming in two decades had some of the trappings of her first return from exile in 1986 to successfully take on the dictatorship but this time challenges to the Muslim world`s first woman premier are more daunting. Hoping for her political revival after being in self-imposed exile in London for eight years, the charistmatic 54-year-old leader of the PPP is pinning her hopes to become the country`s premier for the third time after getting a rousing welcome in her hometown of Karachi. Lakhs had greeted Bhutto when she returned from London in 1986. Hailed as the "Daughter of the East" ever since she confronted military dictator Zia-ul-Haq in 1986 and became the country`s premier two years later when she was just 35, Bhutto left Pakistan on her own before a court convicted her of corruption charges in April 1999 when Nawaz Sharif was the Prime Minister. The conviction was later quashed and Bhutto`s brush with law turned a full circle this month. As part of a possible power-sharing deal, Musharraf signed a corruption amnesty on October 5 covering other cases against Bhutto, paving the way for her return. She is the second former Prime Minister to return to their homeland in Musharraf`s seven-year regime. Earlier, PML (N) leader Nawaz Sharif had arrived in Islamabad only to be bundled back to Saudi Arabia. He has announced that he would make a second attempt to return after November 15. Taking into consideration that there might be an assassination attempt by forces owing allegiance to al Qaeda and Taliban, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry has ensured that multi-layered security arrangements are put in place at the airport. Born on June 21, 1953, into a wealthy landowning family in southern Pakistan, the mother of three children inherited the political legacy of her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged by Gen Zia in 1979. Z A Bhutto had sent his eldest daughter to study politics and government at Oxford and Harvard. But his ouster in a 1977 military coup and execution over the death of a political rival put her, just in her twenties, on a violent brush with the country`s treacherous politics. Benazir was detained several times during the rule of Gen Zia-ul Haq then released into exile in England in 1984. Two years later, she returned to lead mass rallies for the restoration of civilian government. After Zia`s death in a mysterious plane crash in 1988, Bhutto led her party to an election victory and became the first woman to lead a modern Muslim nation. However, she soon clashed with Pakistan`s powerful military-led establishment and her administration was dismissed 20 months later amid allegations of corruption. She was re-elected in 1993. But three years later, her family suffered another blow when her brother Murtaza died in a gunbattle with police in Karachi. Her youngest brother, Shahnawaz, had died under mysterious circumstances in France a decade earlier. Benazir accused President Farooq Leghari of involvement in Murtaza`s death, and Leghari dismissed her second government amid fresh allegations of misrule. After defeat at the hands of archrival Nawaz Sharif in 1996, Bhutto was hit by a deluge of corruption allegations. She left in 1999, just before a court convicted her of corruption and banned her from politics. The verdict was later quashed, but she has stayed away. Bhutto says she has had on-off contacts with President Gen.Pervez Musharraf since he ousted Sharif in a 1999 coup, but that only now has the general agreed to restore democracy. "I know I am a symbol of what the so-called `Jihadists,` Taliban and al-Qaida, most fear," Bhutto once wrote in her autobiography "Daughter of the East." "I am a female political leader fighting to bring modernity, communication, education and technology to Pakistan." In the past year or so, Bhutto has emerged as a strong contender for power. A year back, she had joined hands with deposed premier Nawaz Sharif and signed the Charter of Democracy aimed at ending the rule of Musharraf. However, the pact fizzled out with talks of Bhutto`s leanings towards Musharraf. Bhutto now hopes to get another foothold on power and is expected to start campaigning for the upcoming polls. After a series of family tragedies, Bhutto is the last bearer of her father`s political legacy.
