You can imprison a man, but not an idea. You can exile a man, but not an idea. You can kill a man, but not an idea.
— Daughter Of Destiny: An Autobiography
Benazir Bhutto was a Pakistani stateswoman who twice served as prime minister, from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996, and was the first woman elected to lead a democratic government in a Muslim-majority country. Educated at Harvard and Oxford, where she was President of the Oxford Union, she took over the Pakistan People's Party with her mother after her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was ousted in a coup and executed.
She was imprisoned repeatedly under military rule and spent years in exile. Both her governments were dismissed amid charges of corruption, and opinion on her remains divided. She was assassinated after a rally in Rawalpindi in 2007, while campaigning for elections, and is remembered as an icon of women's rights.
She was imprisoned repeatedly under military rule and spent years in exile. Both her governments were dismissed amid charges of corruption, and opinion on her remains divided. She was assassinated after a rally in Rawalpindi in 2007, while campaigning for elections, and is remembered as an icon of women's rights.
Benazir Bhutto doesn't cease to exist the moment she gets married. I am not giving myself away. I belong to myself and I always shall.
It's true that General Musharraf opposes my return, seeing me as a symbol of democracy in the country. He is comfortable with dictatorship. I hope better sense prevails.
I believe that democracies do not go to war; that's the lesson of history, and I think that a democratic Pakistan is the world community's best guarantee of stability in Asia.
Military dictatorship is born from the power of the gun, and so it undermines the concept of the rule of law and gives birth to a culture of might, a culture of weapons, violence and intolerance.
Whatever my aims and agendas were, I never asked for power.
My father was the Prime Minister of Pakistan. My grandfather had been in politics, too; however, my own inclination was for a job other than politics. I wanted to be a diplomat, perhaps do some journalism - certainly not politics.
The military destabilised my government on politically motivated charges.
I am constitutionally competent to contest the elections.
Democracy needs support, and the best support for democracy comes from other democracies.