Mustajab Nazir Dhoki
‘I must be strong. I must have fire in my eyes when I face them, not tears.’ A Storm of Swords
There are some passionate leaders who change the world in their own way. Mohtarma Shaheed Benazir Bhutto was born on 21st June, 1953. She is the great daughter of the great leader Shaheed ZA Bhutto. From early age she was capable of getting everything quickly.
She finished her O’ levels at the very young age of 15. She got her degree from the number one university of the world the Oxford University. After completing her graduation, she came back to homeland, Pakistan. She was a young girl age 18 when she visited India with her father and she attracted the media with her charm and personality.
In 1977 her father was arrested. At that time she was just 24, she didn’t lose hope. She stood strong along with her mother Begum Bhutto and these two strong ladies stood strong againt the brutaility of dictator Zia. In history we find few people who are fearless. One can not even imagine how this strong lady lived her life, losing her father at the age of 24, losing a young brother who is just 27 and murdered in a worst way, witnessing the dead body of another brother who is bloodsoaked, and her mother who was strong but the death of another son made her weak that she became the witness of Alzheimer’s.
Haters thought she’ll lose her power and she’ll fall weak. But all those great loses in her life, made her strong. As Shaheed Bibi said, “Bhutto represents everything the fundamentalists hate – a powerful, highly-educated woman operating in a man’s world, seemingly unafraid to voice her independent views and, indeed, seemingly unafraid of anything, including the very real possibility that one day someone might succeed in killing her because of who she is”.
She got married to President Asif Ali Zardari, the well known personality of Pakistan. After getting married she didn’t left her party, her people, her country. Being a woman made her strong but being a married woman made her stronger. She was no longer alone, fighting for peace and democracy. Her husband, President Asif Ali Zardari was always by her side and even after her murder, he is still struggling to what she fought for until her last breath. Throughout her life she did her best for this country.
Shaheed Bibi never believed in revenge. She never joined politics to get revenge of her father’s murder, she didn’t come back to Pakistan to get revenge of injustice that was done to her. She didn’t want to rule this country to show opposition, ‘yeah, I got this.’ All she wanted was to give everyone basic human rights.
She never discriminated anyone based on gender, caste, religion, or class. Her lifestyle is the proof that she belonged to everyone. Her speeches are the proof that she doesn’t belong to Sindhi people only but everyone. She struggled for Pakistan not for Sindh. She wanted to make Pakistan a democratic and independent state.
She once said ‘The people who resent me do so becayse I’m a woman, I’m young, and I’m Bhutto. Well, the simple answer is, it doesn’t matter that I’m a woman, it doesn’t matter that I’m young, and it’s a matter of pride that I’m a Bhutto.’ Yes, it is a matter of pride to be a Bhutto. Because Bhutto is not just a name it’s a struggle for this country from birth till death, struggle for basic human rights, struggle for peace, struggle for democracy and sacrifices of a one family to save many other families of Pakistan. Who will die for someone else? Who will sacrifice a whole damn family for a country? Who will give up on their youth to join politics and continue the mission of their parents? Its none other than Bhutto. I always say that Bhutto is a legacy. Because they sacrificed more for this country than others.
