As a shocked and numb Pakistan mourns the death of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, it is indeed difficult to find words that would provide comfort to a grieving nation at the sudden demise of one of its most iconic leaders. As tributes to the slain former prime minister focus on her political career and her courageous embrace of her father's legacy, it is also crucial to focus on what the life and death of Benazir Bhutto meant for Pakistani women.

The struggles that marked the end of Benazir Bhutto's life can well be considered personifications of the challenges facing Pakistani women in the sixtieth year of the country's existence. In the culmination of an ongoing struggle that lasted years, Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan on October 18, 2007 to combat both military authoritarianism and religious extremism.

These twin evils, and the fact that they eventually claimed her life, are representative indeed of the condition of Pakistani women, who are beset both by challenges from an authoritarian government that provides only lip service to their claims as well as religious extremists who would like to eliminate women from public political spaces.

Regardless of one's political leanings, the presence of a woman as the leader of the Pakistan People's Party presented an image of the Pakistani woman as courageous, valiant and equal in every way to a man. Undaunted by unruly crowds of men, Benazir Bhutto's indomitable spirit on the campaign trail represented to Pakistani women what every one of them was capable of.

For Westerners used to looking down on Muslim and 'eastern' women as inherently submissive and incapable of leadership, her presence alone was a trenchant counter-argument against age-old orientalist stereotypes. Her representation of Islam as a faith that venerates women and welcomes their leadership obliterated and exposed the medieval and extremist interpretation of groups such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Ultimately, her presence as an unfailing champion of democracy, unfazed even under the pressing challenges of exile as well as threats to her life, showed the strength of her ideological commitment to serving the Pakistani people. And for all this she paid a terrible price.

In her last months on the campaign path, Benazir Bhutto exposed just how devastating eight years of military rule have been for the Pakistani people, and Pakistani women in particular. In a country where political space is defined not by the rule of law but by the cadres of authoritarian military rulers who seek to appease religious extremists rather than challenge them, her re-emergence reminded people about meaningful religious moderation.

In carving out a nuanced position that opposed both military authoritarianism and religious extremism, her presence revealed how both these forces were coalescing to produce a repressive system which presented either theological fiat or dictatorial edict as the basis of governance. Benazir Bhutto's return to Pakistan sought to bring back people, especially women, into the political arena and re-invigorate democratic politics in a country where democracy and the will of the people remains yet a distant dream.

While the administration headed by General Musharraf may have claimed many successes in championing the cause of women, eight years provided little proof of any forms of progress. Repressive laws like the Zina and Hudood Ordinances remained on the books mildly altered but continually discriminatory.

Despite billions of dollars in foreign aid, no initiatives were launched to provide poor women with better education or opportunities for self-empowerment. While public claims were made to combat religious extremism, Taliban militias in the North West Frontier Province continued to prey on women. Women were ordered to wear burkas and and pro-Taliban radio stations continued to broadcast threats against women who failed to cover themselves up completely. Girls' schools were shut down, and those that refused to comply were attacked, while security forces failed to effectively clamp down on extremist activities. In essence, military authoritarianism always chose to prioritise appeasing religious extremism over empowering Pakistani women or coming to their aid.

In a country where women are routinely treated like chattel and exchanged to settle family disputes and tribal vendettas, where they earn far less than their male counterparts, where no laws exist to protect them when they enter the workplace, the presence of a woman at the epicentre of politics was an achievement and a glimmer of hope.

While it is true that Benazir may have been helped along by the political legacy of her father, her continued commitment to democratic politics and to the women of Pakistan demonstrated unequivocally that silence and submission are not the only choices for Pakistani women. A mother and a wife herself, faced by threats to her own life as well as to the well being of her family, Benazir Bhutto could have chosen a comfortable life away from the vagaries of politics and the demands of public service. Instead, she chose to put her own life at stake for the well being of a country whose future seems increasingly precarious and where women are successively condemned to greater invisibility despite their ongoing contributions to society.

In essence then, the life and death of Benazir Bhutto represented both the challenges faced by and the incredible potential of the Pakistani woman. Her life demonstrated to Pakistani women and to the world that a woman could lead a Muslim country and be a champion for democracy. Her death presents Pakistani women with a choice; they can choose to honour her legacy and realise their incredible potential by consciously choosing to oppose the forces of religious extremism and military authoritarianism or they can cower before the forces that seek to marginalise their existence.

salaams- i have often used bhutto as an example of a woman overcoming misogyny and claiming her power-

but then,after her example- to be honest, i draw a blank. i wish i did not, but i do.

"government that provides only lip service to their claims as well as religious extremists who would like to eliminate women from public political spaces."

ARE there any other women in politics to be removed from the public?
this seems to imply there are-

who are they?
can you give me some names or links?

id appreciate it.

im not very familiar with her career- only what i can access from america and i doubt i get the whole story-
can you relate what laws, or actions bhutto enacted to help empower pakistani women?
especially (actually only) the poor?
any anecdotes?

from a a practical POV, bhutto wasnt helped along because of her father- it was the reason she ascended.

i think the only message pakistani women (the poor ones, not the middle class or those who have the options and opportunities in life)
got from this assassination is, if you try to rise, even if youre famous and powerful-
you will be murdered.

i dont think its entirely fair to characterize the women as having a choice-

if the choices are standing up alone and unaided to military authority- or extremism-

?

just about every human on the planet, when faced with force- actual force, physical force-
"cowers" to some degree if they want to live to fight another day.

or, they just stand up- get beaten or killed- and then what?
theyre dead or broken.

so, my question is- what have the elite, the middle class women, the educated (including butto) actually DONE to help their poorer sisters?

theres no where else i can ask this question, without seeming to draw attention to a weakness in muslims-
but here i feel safe enough to ask

this is sincerely troubling me
peace

This seems to be a composite document, consisting of two main arguments:

a/ That Benazir was fighting against military authoritarianism and religious extremism, and

b/ She was acting as a role model of sorts to women in Pakistan; demonstrating that a woman could wield/express power in a society that values men more than women.

To address point A: The fact of her being a woman does not seem to lend particular significance to the claim that she was fighting military authoritarianism and religious extremism; there are plenty of men fighting the same in Pakistan.

To adress point B: Was she also acting as a role model for women when, facing corruption charges against her and her administration, she fled Pakistan?

After reading this article(press release?) I'm left wondering about the following:

1/ What did Benazir do to assist women in Pakistan during the times she was prime minister?

2/ What did Benazir say she would do to assist women in Pakistan if she were to become prime minister again?

Ms. Zakaria

I expect clearer expository writing from an attorney and teacher. Please address the points above. You seem to have written a fan letter about Benazir.

Bemusedly yours,
vadvaro

i became more distrubed after i left the post-

i wonder with some distress, at a woman telling other women to
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" honour her legacy and realise their incredible potential by consciously choosing to oppose the forces of religious extremism and military authoritarianism/" (authors quote)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
unless you are out there, in the streets, and bleeeding with them, getting imprisoned, or suffering with them (and i personally have- or i would be a hypocrite to say so)

i think it irresponsible and insentive to put this on the women

put it on the men-
if you have a forum to do so-
address and confront the men and the powerful with their behavior.


instead of blaming the already beleauguered victims-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"or they can cower before the forces that seek to marginalise their existence." (authors quote)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
what woman reading this can feel anything other than shame, for being afraid?

and who, man or woman, isnt afraid when threatened?

this does a disservice to the very women who are being already marginalized, weakened, beaten or threatened into submission

you dont make people brave by challenging their weakness-

you make people who are afraid brave, by being brave yourself-
giving them an example to follow-
uplifitng them- with your own courage so they recognize it themselves.

and by attacking their oppressors- with your words, with calling out their own hypocrisies, with knowledge of qu'ran to show them an alternative intelligently-
you attack their ignorance, misogyny and prejudice with directing them to their own religion- to inspiring the best in them-

by believing they can also be aspirants to a higher potential within themselves-

not attacking them (the women or oppressed)

well, ive said enough

Murder and violence in politics is wrong. Period. There is no justification for Bhutto's murder.

That said, turning the departed leader into an icon is also unseemly. More accurate potrayals by the brilliant writers William Dalrymple:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2233261,00.html

and Kamila Shamsie

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2233389,00.html

Here is an article written by Fatima Bhutto, the niece of Benazir, that appeared in the November 14, 2007 Los Angeles Times.
Fatima Bhutto wrote,

And I am suspicious of her talk of ensuring peace. My father was a member of Parliament and a vocal critic of his sister's politics. He was killed outside our home in 1996 in a carefully planned police assassination while she was prime minister. There were 70 to 100 policemen at the scene, all the streetlights had been shut off and the roads were cordoned off. Six men were killed with my father. They were shot at point-blank range, suffered multiple bullet wounds and were left to bleed on the streets.

My father was Benazir's younger brother. To this day, her role in his assassination has never been adequately answered, although the tribunal convened after his death under the leadership of three respected judges concluded that it could not have taken place without approval from a "much higher" political authority.

I forgot to include the link for that quote. here it is http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-bhutto14nov14,0,2482408.story?coll=la-opinion-center

Benazir did little or nothing to remove the Hudud and Zina laws. There were plenty of promises to do so but not much action.

Though this in itself shouldn't totally detract from what you have written here. Despite her Jama'at-i-Islami roots, my mother was a huge Benazir fan. I couldn't understand how she could reconcile such conflicting views. She responded: "Jab aadmiyon neh chooriyan pahanliyi hay, tho Allah Ta'ala ko aurthon ko sultaniyat dedi hai!" (trans: When men have started wearing bangles [i.e. have stopped behaving like men[, then God has had to send women to rule over them!)

I ve heard from two totally independent sources the following anectode, which must be true, for the people I heard from were not politically connected to Pakistan politics in anyway. A businessman from Dubai told us that in the 1990s, he tried to establish a large insurance company in Pakistan, did the research, laid the groundwork, worked thru the government red-tape, and finally when he reached the point where he was ready to open for business, he was invited to a meeting with BB. Who apparently asked him for a $10 million payment to allow the thing to go thru under some Government fees pretext or something.

Sounds pretty scary if this is true.

a friend of mine was raised with bhuttos husband, and is a heart surgeon in america.
many years ago, he went home with 3 million dollars ands the promised cooperation of his school chum to open a clinic for the people-

the money disappeared, and he was put o a plane back to america.

he came back pretty bitter and disillusioned.

Ms. Bhutto and Ms. Clinton have much in common, the right wing extremists loather for the sole fact that they are women (which gives me at least one reason to like them).
As a woman I am so ready for positive female leadership and it is a disappointment that neither of these women offer(ed) much more than the status quo.

i disagree that thereis much besides their gender and being loathed by right wingers that bhutto and hillary have in common-

hillary came up on her own, without a powerful family, and was a passionate lawyer for liberal human rights all her career-

she has a long history of fighting for the disenfranchised and sidelined
bhutto does not

it is specifically her fighting spirit and strong leadership that has gotten her to the forefront-

bill couldnt have made it without her to become president

and even if she doesnt become president, its not like shes going to disappear-

she will continue to play an important role in politics with or without the presidency (and theres always 2012)

as they say in politics, it aint over til its over

but i agree that the right wing attacks have been unfairly and monumentally against her

i noticed it several months ago when chris matthews attacked everything about her from her laugh to her clothing.

i recommend getting ahold of her talk the other day in iowa-

it was 2 solid hours of questions form the audience, and she answered everyone-

ive been ignoring hillary too- but i noticed that after every answer she said, "and here is how ill do it".

now i really like that- that is strong leadership and well thought out planning evidenced-
contrary wise, im still not sure at all what obama's plan is.

well, strangely enough- it aint over til its over.

peace4all- youve probably noticed by now the upset in NH

apparently what ive noticed in hillary that resurrected her for me was noticed in NH

a particularly interesting moment (for me anyway- especially after my remark about chris matthews)
was when he patted her on the cheek and they hugged.

she totally disarmed him-

peculiarly feminine ability and without guile

Benazir Bhutto was one of the most corrupt leaders of Pakistan. She was found guilty of corruption and exiled out of Pakistan! She, like most rich people in Pakistan, do not really care about the welfare of the public of Pakistan and only wanted to get more money for herself out of the billions of aid which Pakistan gets from the U.S. to fight against "terrorism". She was a politician, nothing more. She claimed to want more protection from Pakistani government during her visits, but then stuck her head outside of the car (why would you do that, if you ask for more protection in the first place)? Yes, no one deserves to die like she did, but sometimes people make their own beds and what goes around, comes around, as they say!