THE SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF BENAZIR BHUTTO

National elections were held again in October 1993. In a close contest, the PPP won a
plurality—though not a majority—of seats in the National Assembly; Nawaz Sharif’s
new Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) was a somewhat distant second, though his
party received a slightly higher percentage of the popular vote. Fewer than half of
registered voters cast a ballot, and election results were close throughout the country.
Overall, however, Balochistan was the only province where the PPP failed to
outdistance the PML-N. In alliance with Junejo’s Pakistan Muslim League (J) (PML-J),
the PPP formed the new civilian government, and, after three years in the opposition,
Benazir Bhutto returned to the premiership.

On 19 October 1993, Benazir Bhutto was sworn as Prime minister for second term as in 1993 election the
PPP won majority of the seats.Benazir Bhutto learned a valuable experience and lesson from the
presidency of Ghulam Ishaq Khan, and the presidential elections were soon called after her re-elect. After
carefully examining the candidates, Benazir Bhutto decided to appoint Farooq Leghari as for her
president, in which, Leghari sworned as 8th President of Pakistan on November 14, 1993 as well as first
Baloch to have became president since the country’s independence.
When Benazer became the prime minister that was the time of great racial tension in Pakistan and If
Bhutto’s government fails, everyone knows there will be no new elections. The army will take over. The
racial violence in Karachi was reached at peak and became a biggest problem for Benazir Bhutto to
counter. The MQM attempted to make an alliance with Benazir Bhutto under her own conditions, but
Benazir Bhutto refused. Soon the second operation, Operation Blue Fox was launched to politically
vanished the MQM from country’s political spectrum. The results of this operation remains inconclusive
and resulted in thousands killed or gone missing, with majority contains Urdu-speaking.
The corruption grew during her government, and her government became increasingly unpopular and
corruption scandals became public. One of the most internationally and nationally reported scandals was
the Agosta Submarine scandal. Benazir Bhutto was an economist by profession, she took the charge of
economic and financial affairs on her hand. During her second term, Benazir Bhutto continued to follow
former Prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Privatization policies. The process of privatization of the
nationalized industries was associated with the marked performance and improvement, especially the
terms of labor productivity. However, the privatized money was avoided not spent on people’s living
standard, and it was in 1997, when it was founded that the amount gained in privatization had gone
somewhere else and it was no where to be found in government’s account.
Benazir Bhutto sought to strengthen the relations with socialist states, and Benazir Bhutto first visit Libya
to strengthened the relations with then-Socialist Peoples Republic of Libya. Benazir Bhutto also
strengthened relations with communist state Vietnam and visited Vietnam to sign the mutual trade and
international political cooperation between both countries. She also wanted to have good relations with
India but due to Kashmir issue and Indian nuclear programe she failed to get desired results.
During her second term, Benazir Bhutto’s relations with the Pakistan Armed Forces took a different and
pro-Benazir approach, when she carefully appointed General Abdul Waheed as chief of Army Staff and
other Army official. She worked with Army on different issues.
The year of 1996 was crucial for Benazir Bhutto’s policy on Afghanistan when Pakistan-backed extremely
religious group, the Taliban, took power in Kabul in September 1996. It was during Benazir Bhutto’s rule
that the Taliban gained prominence in Afghanistan and many of her government, including her
authorization, had backed the Taliban for gaining the control of Afghanistan. She continued her father’s
policy on Afghanistan taking aggressive measures to curb down the anti-Pakistan sentiments in
Afghanistan. Under her government, Pakistan had recognized the Taliban regime as legitimate
government in Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban to open an embassy in Islamabad.
In November 1996, Bhutto’s government was dismissed by Leghari primarily because of corruption and
Murtaza’s death, who used the Eighth Amendment discretionary powers to dissolve the government.
Benazir was in shocked and she turned to Supreme Court hoping for gaining Leghari’s actions
unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court justified and affirmed President Leghari’s dismissal.

Second term as Prime Minister, 1993–96[edit]

Though the PPP won the most seats (86 seats) in the election but fell short of an outright majority,
with the PML-N in second place with 73 seats in the Parliament.[61] The PPP performed extremely
well in Bhutto's native province, Sindh, and rural Punjab, while the PML-N was strongest in industrial
Punjab and the largest cities such as Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.[62] On 19 October 1993,
Benazir Bhutto was sworn as Prime Minister for second term allowing her to continue her reform
initiatives.[62]

Benazir Bhutto learned a valuable experience and lesson from the presidency of Ghulam Ishaq
Khan, and the presidential elections were soon called after her re election. After carefully examining
the candidates, Benazir Bhutto decided to appoint Farooq Leghari as for her president, in which,
Leghari sworned as 8th President of Pakistan on 14 November 1993 as well as first Baloch to have
became president since the country's independence. Leghari was an apolitical figure who was
educated Kingston University London receiving his degree in same discipline as of Benazir Bhutto.
But unlike Khan, Leghari had no political background, no experience in government running
operations, and had no background understanding the civil-military relations. In contrast, Leghari
was a figurehead and puppet president with all of the military leadership directly reporting to Benazir
Bhutto.[61]

She first time gave the main ministry to the minorities and appointed Julius Salik as Minister for
Population Welfare. The previous governments only give ministry for minority affairs as a minister of
state or parliamentary secretary. J. Salik is a very popular leader among minorities and won the
MNA seat by getting highest votes throughout Pakistan.

Domestic affairs[edit]
Benazir Bhutto was Prime Minister at a time of great racial tension in Pakistan. [2] Her approval poll
rose by 38% after she appeared and said in a private television interview after the elections: "We are
unhappy with the manner in which tampered electoral lists were provided in a majority of
constituencies; our voters were turned away."[62] The Conservatives attracted voters from religious
society (MMA) whose support had collapsed.[62] The Friday Times noted "Both of them (Nawaz and
Benazir) have done so badly in the past, it will be very difficult for them to do worse now. If Bhutto's
government fails, everyone knows there will be no new elections. The army will take over". [61] In
confidential official documents Benazir Bhutto had objected to the number of Urdu speaking class in
1993 elections, in context that she had no Urdu-speaking sentiment in her circle and discrimination
was continued even in her government. Her stance on these issues was perceived as part of rising
public disclosure which Altaf Hussain called "racism". Due to Benazir Bhutto's stubbornness and
authoritative actions, her political rivals gave her the nickname "Iron Lady" of Pakistan. No response
was issued by Bhutto, but she soon associated with the term.[2] The racial violence in Karachi was
reached at peak and became a biggest problem for Benazir Bhutto to counter. The MQM attempted
to make an alliance with Benazir Bhutto under her own conditions, but Benazir Bhutto refused. Soon
the second operation, Operation Blue Fox was launched to wipe the MQM from country's political
spectrum. The results of this operation remains inconclusive and resulted in thousands killed or gone
missing, with majority being Urdu speaking. Bhutto demanded the MQM to surrender to her
government unconditionally. Though the operation was halted in 1995, but amid violence continued
and, Shahid Javed Burki, a professor of economics, noted that "Karachi problem was not so much
an ethnic problem as it was an economic question."[63][64] Amid union and labour strikes beginning to
take place in Karachi and Lahore, which were encouraged by both Altaf Hussain and Nawaz Sharif
to undermine her authority,[65] Benazir Bhutto responded by disbanding these trade union and issuing
orders to arrest the leaders of the trade unions, while on the other hand, she provided incentives to
local workers and labourers as she had separated the workers from their union leaders successfully.
Benazir Bhutto expanded the authoritative rights of Police Combatant Force and the provisional
governments that tackled the local opposition aggressively. Bhutto, through her Internal Security
Minister Naseerullah Babar, intensified the internal security operations and steps gradually putting
down the opposition's political rallies, while she did not complete abandoned the reconciliation
policy. In her own worlds, Benazir Bhutto announced: "There was no basis for (strikes)... in view of
the ongoing political process...".[66]

In August 1993, Benazir Bhutto narrowly escaped an assassination attempt near her residence in
the early morning. While no one was injured or killed, the culprits of this attempt went into hiding. In
December 1993, disturbing news began to surface in the Swat valley when Sufi Muhammad, a
religious cleric, began to mobilise the local militia calling for overthrow of the "un-Islamic rule of [Iron]
Lady". Benazir Bhutto responded quickly and ordered the Pakistan Army to crackdown the militia,
leading to the movement crushed by the Army and the cleric was apprehended before he could
escape.[67]

However, corruption grew during her government, and her government became increasingly
unpopular amid corruption scandals which became public. One of the most internationally and
nationally reported scandals was the Agosta Submarine scandal. Benazir Bhutto's spouse Asif Ali
Zardari was linked with former Admiral Mansurul Haq who allegedely made side deals with French
officials and Asif Ali Zardari while acquiring the submarine technology. It was one of the
consequences that her government was dismissed and Asif Ali Zardari along with Mansurul Haq
were arrested and a trial was set in place. Both Zardari and Haq were detained due to corruption
cases and Benazir Bhutto flew to Dubai from Pakistan in 1998.

Women's issues[edit]
During her election campaigns, she had promised to repeal controversial laws (such
as Hudood and Zina ordinances) that curtail the rights of women in Pakistan.[68] Bhutto waspro-
life and spoke forcefully against abortion, most notably at the International Conference on Population
and Development in Cairo, where she accused the West of "seeking to impose adultery, abortion,
intercourse education and other such matters on individuals, societies and religions which have their
own social ethos."[69] However, Bhutto was not supported by the leading women organisations, who
argued that after being elected twice, none of the reforms were made, instead controversial laws
were exercised more toughly. Therefore, in 1997 elections, Bhutto failed to secure any support from
women's organisations and minorities also gave Bhutto the cold-shoulder when she approached
them. It was not until 2006 that the Zina ordinance was finally repealed by a Presidential Ordinance
issued by Pervez Musharraf in July 2006.[70]

Bhutto was an active and founding member of the Council of Women World Leaders, a network of
current and former prime ministers and presidents.[71]

Economic issues[edit]
The total GDP per capita stood between 8.4% (in the 1970s) and 8.3% (in 1993–96), periods of nationalisation.

Bhutto was an economist by profession; therefore during her terms as prime minister, she herself
took charge of the Ministry of Finance. Bhutto sought to improve the country's economy which was
declining as time was passing. Benazir disagreed with her father's nationalization and socialist
economics. Soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Benazir attempted to privatize major
industries that were nationalized in the 1970s.[72] Bhutto promised to end the nationalisation
programme and to carry out the industrialisation programme by means other than state intervention.
But controversially Bhutto did not carry out the denationalizationprogramme or liberalization of the
economy during her first government. No nationalized units were privatized, few economic
regulations were reviewed.[73]

During the periods of 1993–96, the local production of coal remained steady.

Pakistan suffered a currency crisis when the government failed to arrest the 30% fall in the value of
the Pakistani Rupee from ₨. 21 to ₨.30 compared to the United States dollar. Soon economic
progress became her top priority but her investment and industrialisation programs faced major
setbacks due to conceptions formed by investors based upon her People's Party nationalisation
program in the 1970s. By the 1990s, Khan and Bhutto's government had also ultimately lost
the currency war with the Indian Rupee which beat the value of Pakistan rupee for the first time in
the 1970s. Bhutto's denationalisation program also suffered from many political setbacks, as many
of her government members were either directly or indirectly involved with the government
corruption in major government-owned industries, and her appointed government members allegedly
sabotaged her efforts to privatise the industries.[72]
 “ ”
Justice is economic independence. Justice is
social equality...

—Bhutto, 1996, Cited source[74]

Overall, the living standard for people in Pakistan declined as inflation and unemployment grew at an
exponential rate particularly as UN sanctions began to take effect. During her first and second term,
the difference between rich and poor visibly increased and the middle class in particular were the
ones who bore the brunt of the economic inequality. According to a calculation completed by
the Federal Bureau of Statistics, the rich were statistically were improved and the poor declined in
terms of living standards.[72] Benazir attributed this economic inequality to be a result of ongoing and
continuous illegal Bangladeshi immigration. Bhutto ordered a crackdown on and deportation of illegal
Bangladeshi immigrants. Her action strained and created tensions in Bangladesh–Pakistan relations,
as Bangladesh Prime MinisterKhaleda Zia refused to accept the deportees and reportedly sent two
planeloads back to Pakistan. Religious parties also criticised Bhutto and dubbed the crackdown as
anti-Islamic.[75]

This operation backfired and had devastating effects on Pakistan's economy. [75] President Khan saw
this as a major economic failure despite Khan's permission granted to Bhutto for the approval of her
economic policies. Khan blamed Bhutto for this extensive economic slowdown and her policy that
failed to stop the illegal immigration. Khan attributed Bhutto's government members corruption in
government-owned industries as the major sink hole in Pakistan's economy that failed to compete
with neighbouring India's economy.[72]

Privatization and era of stagflation[edit]

The GDP growth rate was at ~4.37% in 1993, which fell to ~1.70% in 1996, before Bhutto's dismissal.

During her second term, Bhutto continued to follow former prime minister Nawaz
Sharif's privatisation policies, which she called a "disciplined macroeconomics policy". After the 1993
general elections, the privatisation programme of state-owned banks and utilities accelerated; more
than ₨ 42 billion was raised from the sale of nationalised corporations and industries, and another
US$20 billion from the foreign investment made the United States.[76][77] After 1993, the country's
national economy again entered in the second period of the stagflation and more roughly began bite
the country's financial resources and the financial capital.[78] Bhutto's second government found it
extremely difficult to counter the second era of stagflation with Pressler amendment and the US
financial and military embargo tightened its position.[78] After a year of study, Bhutto implemented and
enforced the Eighth Plan to overcome the stagflation by creating a dependable and effective
mechanism for accelerating economic and social progress. But, according to American ambassador
to Pakistan, William Milam's bibliography, Bangladesh and Pakistan:Flirting with Failure in South
Asia, the Eighth Plan (which reflected the planned economy of the Soviet Union) was doomed to
meet with failure from the very beginning of 1994, as the policies were weak and incoherent. [79]

On many occasions, Bhutto resisted to privatise globally competitive and billion-dollar-worth state-
owned enterprises (such as Pakistan Railways and Pakistan Steel Mills), instead the grip of
nationalisation in those state-owned enterprises was tightened in order to secure the capital
investment of these industries. The process of privatisation of the nationalised industries was
associated with the marked performance and improvement, especially the terms of labour
productivity.[76] A number of privatization of industries such as gas, water supply and sanitation, and
electricity general, were natural monopolies for which the privatization involved little competition.
[76]
Furthermore, Benazir denied that privatisation of the Pakistan Railways would take place despite
the calls made in Pakistan, and was said to have told Planning Commission chief Naveed Qamar,
"Railways privatization will be the 'blackhole' of this government. Please never mention the railways
to me again". Bhutto always resisted privatisation of United Bank Limited Pakistan (UBL), but its
management sent the recommendation for the privatisation which dismayed the labour union. The
United Group of Employees Management asked Bhutto for issue of regulation sheet which she
denied. The holding of UBL in government control turned out to be a move that ended in "disaster"
for Bhutto's government.[80]

Foreign policy[edit]
Benazir Bhutto's foreign policy was controversial. As for her second term, Benazir Bhutto expanded
Pakistan's relations with the rest of the world. As before like her father, Benazir Bhutto sought to
strengthen the relations with socialist states, and Benazir Bhutto's first visit to Libya strengthened the
relations between the two countries. Benazir also thanked Muammar al-Gaddafi for his tremendous
efforts and support for her father during before Zulfikar's trial in 1977. Ties continued with Libya but
deteriorated after Nawaz Sharif became prime minister in 1990 and again in 1997. In Pakistan,
Gaddafi was said to be very fond of Benazir Bhutto and was a family friend of Bhutto family, but
disliked Nawaz Sharif due to his ties with General Zia in the 1980s.[81]

Benazir Bhutto is said to have paid a state visit to North Korea in early 1990 and in 1996, and
according to journalist Shyam Bhatia, Bhutto smuggled CDs containing uranium enrichment data to
North Korea on a state visit that same year in return for data on missile technology. [82] According to
the expert, Benazir Bhutto acted as female "James Bond", and left with a bag of computer disks to
pass on to her military to North Korea.[32]
Benazir Bhutto in the United States, 1989

Major-General Pervez Musharraf closely worked with Benazir Bhutto and her government in
formulating the foreign strategy with Israel. In 1993, during Benazir Bhutto's state visit to the United
States, Major-General Pervez Musharraf who was tenuring as the Director-General of the Pakistan
Army's Directorate-General for the Military Operation (DGMO), was ordered by Bhutto to join this
state visit. As unusual and unconventional it was for the Director of the Directorate-General for
Military Operations (DGMO) to join this trip, Benazir Bhutto and her DGMO had chaired a secret
meeting with Israeli officials in New York in 1993 who especially flew to Washington. Under her
guidance, General Musharraf had intensified the ISI's liaison with Israel's Mossad. A final meeting
took place in 1995, and General Musharraf had also joined this meeting with Benazir Bhutto after
she ordered General Musharraf to fly to New York immediately.[83] Benazir Bhutto also
strengthened relations with communist state Vietnam and visited Vietnam to sign the mutual trade
and international political cooperation between both countries. In 1995, Benazir Bhutto paid a state
visit to United States where she held talks with U.S. President Bill Clinton. During the visit, Benazir
Bhutto urged the United States to amend the Pressler Amendment and emphasized United States to
launch a campaign against the extremism. Though, the Prime Minister criticized U.S.'s
nonproliferation policy and demanded that the United States honour its contractual obligation. [41]

During her second term, the relationship with Indian Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao further
deteriorated. As like her father, Benazir Bhutto used the rhetoric opposition to India, campaigning
international community against the Indian nuclear programme. On 1 May 1995, Benazir Bhutto
used harsh language and publicly warned India for her "continuation of [Indian] nuclear programme
would have terrible consequences".[84] India responded to this statement as interfering in India's
"internal matter", and the Indian Army fired a RPG near at the Kahuta which further escalating the
events leading into the full-fledged war.[85] When the news reached Benazir Bhutto, she responded by
high-alerting the Air Force Strategic Command which ordered heavily armed Arrows, Griffins, Black
Panthers and the Black Spiders (all of these squadrons are part of the Strategic Command) to begin
air sorties and to patrol the Indo-Pakistan border on day-and-night regular missions. On 30 May,
India test fired the Prithvi-1 missile near the Pakistan border, which was condemned by Benazir
Bhutto. Following this test, Benazir responded by deploying Shaheen-I missiles; however, these
missiles were not armed. Benazir Bhutto permitted PAF to deploy the Crotale missile defence and
the Anza-Mk-III near the Indian border, which escalated the conflict, but it had produced effective
results that kept the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force from launching any surprise attack.[2]

In 1995, the ISI reported to Bhutto that Narasimha Rao had authorised nuclear tests, and that the
tests could be conducted any minute.[2] Benazir responded by putting the country's nuclear arsenal
programme on high-alert[86] emergency preparations were made by the government, and Benazir
Bhutto ordered the Pakistan Armed Forces to stay on high-alert.[84] However, after the United States
intervened, the Indian operations for conducting the nuclear tests were called off and the Japanese
tried to provide mediation between both countries. However, in 1996, Benazir Bhutto met with
Japanese officials and warned India about conducting the nuclear tests, and for the first time,
Benazir Bhutto revealed that Pakistan has achieved "parity" with India in its "capacity" to produce
nuclear weapons and their "delivery capability." While talking to the Indian press, Benazir Bhutto
said that Pakistan "cannot afford to negate the parity we maintain with India" in the nuclear area.
Benazir Bhutto's statements represented a departure from Pakistan's previous policy of "nuclear
ambivalence."[84] Soon after learning this news, Prime minister Benazir Bhutto issued a statement
concerning the tests in which she reportedly told the international press that she condemned the
Indian nuclear tests, as she put it:

if (India) conducts a nuclear test, it would forced her (Pakistan) to.. "follow suit...The day will never
arise... when we (Pakistan)...have to use our knowledge to make and detonate a [nuclear] device
and export our [nuclear] technology..."

—Benazir Bhutto, 6 January 1996, [84]

Benazir Bhutto also intensified her policy on Indian Kashmir by rallying against India. [87] Benazir
Bhutto, accompanied by her then-Speaker of the National Assembly Yousaf Raza Gillani (future
prime minister) at the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting at the United Nations, gave a vehement
and intensified criticism to India which upset and angered the Indian delegation headed by prime
minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.[87] Vajpayee responded by saying: "It is Pakistan which is flouting the
United Nations resolution by not withdrawing its forces from Kashmir...You people create problems
every time. You know the Kashmiri people themselves acceded to India. First, the Maharajah, then
the Kashmiri parliament both decided to go with India".[87]

In 1996, Benazir Bhutto attacked the Indian nuclear programme and warned India of "tragic
consequences". Bhutto criticised Indian held-Kashmir and described it as the worst example of
"Indian intransigence". Benazir also countered Indian allegation for Pakistan's putative nuclear
test as "baseless allegation". Bhutto criticised India as a bid to hide its plan to explode a nuclear
device, and failure to cover up its domestic problems including its failure in suppressing the freedom
struggle in Kashmir.[88]

Relations with military[edit]

During her first term, Benazir Bhutto had strained relationship with the Pakistan Armed Forces,
especially with Pakistan Army. Army chief Mirza Aslam Beg had cold relations with the elected prime
minister, and continued to undermine her authority. As for the military appointments, Benazir Bhutto
refused to appoint General Beg as the Chairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff Committee, instead
invited Admiral Iftikhar Ahmed Sirohey to take the chairmanship of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[89][90] In
1988, Benazir Bhutto appointed Air Chief Marshal Hakimullah as the Chief of Air Staff and
Admiral Jastural Haq as the Chief of Naval Staff. In 1988, shortly after assuming the office, Benazir
Bhutto paid a visit toSiachen region, to boost the moral of the soldiers who fought the Siachen
war with India. This was the first visit of any civilian leader to any military war-zone area since the
country's independence in 1947.[91] In 1988, Benazir appointed Major-General Pervez Musharraf as
Director-General of the Army Directorate General for Military Operations (DGMO); and then-
Brigadier-General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani as her Military-Secretary.[92] In 1989, the Pakistan Army
exposed the alleged Operation Midnight Jackal against the government of Benazir Bhutto. When she
learned the news, Benazir Bhutto ordered the arrest and trial of former ISI officer Brigadier Imtiaz
Ahmad and Major Amir Khan, it was later revealed that it was General Beg who was behind this plot.
General Beg soon paid the price in 1993 elections, when Benazir Bhutto politically destroyed the
former general and his career was over before taking any shifts in politics.[93] During her first term,
Benazir Bhutto had successfully removed senior military officers including Lieutenant-Generals
Hamid Gul, Zahid Ali Akbar Khan, General Jamal A. Khan, and Admiral Tariq Kamal Khan, all of
whom had anti-democratic views and were closely aligned to General Zia, replacing them with
officers who were educated in Western military institutes and academies, generally the ones with
more westernised democratic views.[94]

During her second term, Benazir Bhutto's relations with the Pakistan Armed Forces took a different
and pro-Bhutto approach, when she carefully appointed General Abdul Waheed Kakar as the Chief
of Army Staff. General Abdul Waheed was an uptight, strict, and a professional officer with a views
of Westernized democracy. Benazir also appointed Admiral Saeed Mohammad Khan as Chief of
Naval Staff; General Abbas Khattak as Chief of Air Staff. Whilst, Air Chief Marshal Farooq Feroze
Khan was appointed Chairman Joint Chiefs who was the first (and to date only) Pakistani air
officer to have reached to such 4 star assignment. Benazir Bhutto enjoyed a strong relations with the
Pakistan Armed Forces, and President who was hand-picked by her did not questioned her
authority. She hand-picked officers and promoted them based on their pro-democracy views while
the puppet President gave constitutional authorisation for their promotion. The senior military
leadership including Jehangir Karamat, Musharraf, Kayani, Ali Kuli Khan, Farooq Feroze Khan,
Abbas Khattak and Fasih Bokhari, had strong Western-democratic views, and were generally close
to Bhutto as they had resisted Nawaz Sharif's conservatism. Unlike Nawaz Sharif's second
democratic term, Benazir worked with the military on many issues where the military disagreement,
solving many problems relating directly to civil–military relations. Her tough and hardline policies on
Afghanistan, Kashmir and India, which the military had backed Benazir Bhutto staunchly. [94]
After the assassination was attempted, Benazir Bhutto's civilian security team headed
under Rehman Malik, was disbanded by the Pakistan Army whose X-
Corps' 111thPsychological Brigade— an army brigade tasked with countering the psychological
warfare— took control of the security of Benazir Bhutto, that directly reported to Chief of Army Staff
and the Prime Minister. Benazir Bhutto ordered General Abdul Waheed Kakar and the Lieutenant-
General Javed Ashraf Qazi director-general of ISI, to start a sting and manhunt operation to hunt
down the ringmaster, Ramzi Yousef. After few arrests and intensive manhunt search, the ISI finally
captured Ramzi before he could flew the country. In matter of weeks, Ramzi was secretly extradited
to the United States, while the ISI managed to kill or apprehend all the culprits behind the plot. In
1995, she personally appointed General Naseem Rana as the Director-General of the ISI, who later
commanded the Pakistan Army's assets in which came to known as "Pakistan's secret war in
Afghanistan". During this course, General Rana directly reported to the prime minister, and led the
intelligence operations after which were approved by Benazir Bhutto. In 1995, Benazir also
appointed Admiral Mansurul Haq as the Chief of Naval Staff, as the Admiral had personal contacts
with the Benazir's family. However, it was the Admiral's large-scale corruption, sponsored by her
husband Asif Zardari, that shrunk the credibility of Benazir Bhutto by the end of 1996 that led to end
of her government after all.[94]

Policy on Taliban[edit]
1996 was crucial for Bhutto's policy on Afghanistan when Pakistan-backed extremely religious
group Taliban took power in Kabul in September.[95] She continued her father's policy on Afghanistan
taking aggressive measures to curb the anti-Pakistan sentiments in Afghanistan. During this time,
many in the international community at the time, including the United States government, viewed the
Taliban as a group that could stabilize Afghanistan and enable trade access to the Central Asian
republics, according to author Steve Coll.

He claims that her government provided military and financial support for the Taliban, even sending
a small unit of the Pakistan Army into Afghanistan. Benazir had approved the appointment of
Lieutenant-General Naseem Rana who she affectionately referred to him as "Georgy Zhukov"; and
had reported to her while providing strategic support to Taliban. During her regime, Benazir Bhutto's
government had controversially supported the hardline Taliban, and many of her government
officials were providing financial assistance to the Taliban.[95] Fazal-ur-Rehman, a right-wing cleric,
had a traditionally deep influence on Bhutto as he convinced and later assisted her to help the
regime of Taliban she established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.[97] In a reference written by
American scholar, Steve Coll in Ghost Wars, he dryly put it: "Benazir Bhutto was suddenly the
matron of a new Afghan faction—the Taliban."[98]

Under her government, Pakistan had recognised the Taliban regime as legitimate government in
Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban to open an embassy in Islamabad. In 1996, the newly
appointed Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef presented her diplomatic
credentials while he paying a visit to her.[95] Other authors also wrote extensively on Benazir Bhutto's
directives towards Taliban, according to one author, that it was later founded and became a
historical fact that it was Benazir, a Western-educated woman, who set in motion the events leading
to 9/11 incident in the United States.[99]

However in 2007, she took an anti-Taliban stance, and condemned terrorist acts allegedly
committed by the Taliban and their supporters.[100]

Coup d'état attempt[edit]

In 1995, Benazir Bhutto's government survived an attempted coup d'état hatched by renegade
military officers of the Pakistan Army. The culprit and ringleader of the coup was a junior level officer,
Major-General Zahirul Islam Abbasi, who had radical views. Others included Brigadier-Generals
Mustansir Billa, and Qari Saifullah of Pakistan Army. The secret ISI learned of this plot and tipped off
the Pakistan Army and at midnight before the coup could take place, it was thwarted. The coup was
exposed by Ali Kuli Khan, theMilitary Intelligence chief, and Jehangir Karamat, Chief of General
Staff. The Military Intelligence led the arrest of 36 army officers and 20 civilians in Rawalpindi;
General Ali Kuli Khan reported to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto early morning and submitted his
report on the coup. After learning this, Benazir was angered and dismayed, therefore a full-fledged
running court martial was formed by Benazir Bhutto. Prime Minister Benazir issued arrests of
numbers of religiously conservative’s leaders and therefore denied the amnesty and clemency calls
made by the Army officers. By the 1996, all of the dissident officers were either jailed or shot dead
by the Pakistan Army and a report was submitted to the Prime minister. General Kuli Khan and
General Karamat received wide appreciation from the prime minister and were decorated with the
civilian decorations and award by her.

Death of younger brother[edit]

In 1996, the Bhutto family suffered another tragedy in Sindh Province, Benazir Bhutto's stronghold
and political lair. Murtaza Bhutto, Benazir's younger brother, was controversially and publicly shot
down in a police encounter in Karachi. Since 1989, Murtaza and Benazir had a series of
disagreements regarding the PPP's policies and Murtaza's opposition towards
Benazir's operations against the Urdu-speaking class. Murtaza also developed serious disagreement
with Benazir's husband, Zardari, and unsuccessfully attempted to remove his influence in the
government. Benazir and Murtaza's mother, Nusrat, sided with Murtaza which also dismayed the
daughter. In a controversial interview, Benazir declared that Pakistan only needed one Bhutto, not
two, though she denied giving or passing any comments. Her younger brother increasingly made it
difficult for her to run the government after he raised voices against Benazir's alleged corruption.
Alone in Sindh, Benazir lost the support of the province to her younger brother. At the political
campaign, Murtaza demanded party elections inside the PPP, which according to Zardari, Benazir
would have lost due to Nusrat backing Murtaza and many workers inside the party being willing to
see Murtaza as the country's Prime minister as well as the chair of the party. More problems arose
when Abdullah Shah Lakiyari,Chief Minister of Sindh, and allegedly her spouse created disturbances
in Murtaza's political campaign. On 20 September 1996, in a controversial police encounter, Murtaza
Bhutto was shot dead near his residence along with six other party activists. As the news reached all
of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto hurriedly returned to Karachi, and an emergency was proclaimed in the
entire province. Benazir Bhutto's limo was stoned by angered PPP members when she tried to visit
Murtaza's funeral ceremonies.[101] Her brother's death had crushed their mother, and she was
immediately admitted to the local hospital after learning that her son had been killed. [102] At Murtaza's
funeral, Nusrat accused Benazir and Zardari of being responsible, and vowed to pursue prosecution.
[102][103][104]

President Farooq Leghari, who dismissed the Bhutto government seven weeks after Murtaza's
death, also suspected Benazir and Zardari's involvement.[103] Several of Pakistan's leading
newspapers alleged that Zardari wanted his brother-in-law out of the way because of Murtaza's
activities as head of a breakaway faction of the PPP.[103] In all, after this incident, Benazir Bhutto lost
all support from Sindh Province. Public opinion later turned against her, with many believing that her
spouse was involved in the murder, a claim her spouse strongly rejected.[101]

Second dismissal[edit]
In spite of her tough rhetoric to subdue her political rivals and neighbouring India and Afghanistan,
the Bhutto government's corruption heightened and exceeded its limits during her second regime;
the most notable figures among those suspect were Asif Ali Zardari and Admiral Mansurul Haq.
Soon after the death of her younger brother, Bhutto widely became unpopular and public opinion
turned against her government. In Sindh, Bhutto lost all the support from the powerful feudal lords
and the political spectrum turned against her. In 1996, the major civil–military scandal became
internationally and nationally known when her spouse Zardari was linked with then-navy chief and
former Admiral Mansurul Haq. Known as Agosta class scandal, many of higher naval admirals and
government officials of both French and Pakistan governments were accused of getting heavy
commissions while the deal was disclosed to sell this sensitive submarine technology to Pakistan
Navy.[105]

On 20 July 1996, Qazi Hussain Ahmed of Jamaat e Islami announced to start protests against
government alleging corruption. Qazi Hussain resigned from senate on 27 September and
announced to start long march against Benazir government. Protest started on 27th October 1996
by Jamaat e Islami and opposition parties. On 4 November 1996, Bhutto's government was
dismissed by President Leghari primarily because of corruption and Murtaza's death, [103] who used
the Eighth Amendment discretionary powers to dissolve the government. Benazir was surprised
when she discovered that it was not the military who had dismissed her but her own hand-picked
puppet President who had used the power to dismiss her. She turned to the Supreme Court hoping
for gaining Leghari's actions unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court justified and affirmed President
Leghari's dismissal in a 6–1 ruling.[106] Many military leaders who were close to Prime minister rather
than the President, did not wanted Benazir Bhutto's government to fall, as they resisted the Nawaz
Sharif's conservatism.[94] When President Leghari, through public media, discovered that General
Kakar (Chief of Army Staff), General Khattak (Chief of Air Staff), and Admiral Haq (Chief of Naval
Staff) had been backing Benazir to come back in the government; President Leghari aggressively
responded by dismissing the entire military leadership by bringing the pro-western democracy views
but neutral military leadership that would supervise the upcoming elections. This was the move that
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (elected in 1997) did repeat in 1999, when Nawaz Sharif had deposed
General Jehangir Karamat after developing serious disagreements on the issues of national security.

Criticism against Benazir Bhutto came from the powerful political spectrum of the Punjab
Province and the Kashmir Province who opposed Benazir Bhutto, particularly the nationalisation
issue that led the lost of Punjab's privatised industries under the hands of her government. Bhutto
blamed this opposition for the destabilisation of Pakistan.[105]Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Committee General Jehangir Karamat at one point intervened in the conflict between President and
the Prime Minister, and urged Benazir Bhutto to focus on good governance and her ambitious
programme of making the country into a welfare state, but the misconduct of her cabinet ministers
continued and the corruption which she was unable to struck it down with a full force. Her younger
brother's death had devastating effect on Benazir's image and her political career that shrunk her
and her party's entire credibility. At one point, Chairman of Joint Chiefs General Jehangir Karamat
noted that:[94]

In my opinion, if we have to repeat of past events then we must understand that Military leaders can
pressure only up to a point. Beyond that their own position starts getting undermined because the
military is after all is a mirror image of the society from which it is drawn.

—General Jehangir Karamat commenting on Benazir's dismissal

Soon after her government was ended, the Naval intelligence led the arrest of Chief of Naval Staff
and acquitted him with a running court-martial sat up at the Naval Judge Advocate General
Corps led by active duty 4-star admiral.[105] Many of her government members and cabinet ministers
including her spouse were thrown in jails and the trials were sat up at the civilian Supreme Court.
Faced with serious charges by the Nawaz Sharif's government, Bhutto flew to Dubai with her three
young children while her spouse was thrown in jail. Shortly after rising to power in a 1999 military
coup, General Pervez Musharraf characterized Bhutto's terms as an "era of sham democracy" and
others characterized her terms a period of corrupt, failed governments. [107]
Second term as leader of the opposition, 1996–
99[edit]
Benazir Bhutto suffered wide range public disapproval after the intense corruption cases were made
public, and it was clearly seen after Bhutto's defeat in 1997 parliamentary elections. Soon, Bhutto left
for Dubai taking her three children with her, while her husband was set to face trial. [108]

Bhutto assumed the position of Leader of Opposition in parliament despite living in Dubai, working to
enhance her public image while being supportive of public reforms. In 1998, soon after
India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests, Bhutto publicly called for Pakistan's own tests, rallying and
pressuring Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take the decision. Bhutto learnt from sources close to
Sharif that the prime minister was reluctant to carry out the tests. Therefore, it was felt, her public
call for the Test would increase her popularity. However, this move backfired when the Prime
Minister indeed authorised and gave orders to the scientists from PAEC and KRL to conduct the
tests. A wide range of approvals of these tests was conceived by the Prime Minister; the public
image and prestige of Nawaz Sharif was at its peak point.[109] As for Bhutto, it was another political
defeat and her image gradually declined in 1998.[108]

However, 1999 would bring dramatic changes for Bhutto as well as the entire country. Bhutto
criticized Sharif for violating the Armed Forces's code of conduct when he illegally appointed General
Pervez Musharraf as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Nuclear scientist Abdul
Qadeer Khan also criticised the Prime Minister.[101] In early months of 1999, Sharif remained widely
popular as he tried to make peace with India. However, this all changed when Pakistan became
involved with unpopular and undeclared war with India. This conflict, known as Kargil war, brought
international embarrassment for the country, and the prime minister's public image and prestige was
destroyed in matter of two months. Bhutto gave rogue criticism to the prime minister, and called the
Kargil War, "Pakistan's greatest blunder".[101]

Ali Kuli Khan, Director-General of ISI at that time, also publicly criticised the prime minister and
labelled this war as "a disaster bigger than East Pakistan".[110] Bhutto, now joined by religious and
liberal forces, made a tremendous effort to destroy the prestige and credibility of her political enemy,
according to historian William Dalrymple.[108] In August 1999, Sharif soon faced an event that
completely shattered what remained of his image and support. Two Indian Air Force MiG-21 fighters
shot down a Pakistan Navy reconnaissance plane, killing 16 naval officers. Bhutto criticised Sharif
for having failed to gather any support from the navy. The Armed Forces began to criticise the prime
minister for causing the military disasters. During this time, Bhutto's approval ratings were favourable
and the Armed Forces chiefs remained sympathetic towards Bhutto as she continued to criticise the
now-unpopular Sharif.[101]
Bhutto was highly confident that her party would secure an overwhelming victory in the coming
Senate elections on 1999 on Sharif's conservatives in the Senate due to widespread unpopularity of
the prime minister. Controversially, when the coup d'état was initiated by the Pakistan Armed
Forces, Bhutto did not issue any comments or criticism, rather remaining silent in support of General
Musharraf, as noted by Dalrymple.[108] Sheremained supportive towards Musharraf's coordinated
arrests of Sharif's supporters and staff in Pakistan. Ultimately, Musharraf destroyed Sharif's political
presence in Sindh and Kashmir provinces. Many political offices of Sharif's constituency were
forcefully closed and his sympathisers were jailed. In 2002, Bhutto and the MQM made a side-line
deal with Musharraf that allows both to continue underground political activities in Sindh and
Kashmir, and to fill the gap after Musharraf had destroyed Sharif's presence in the both provinces.
The effects of the arrests was seen clearly in the 2008 parliamentary elections, when Nawaz Sharif
failed to secure support back in those two provinces.[101]

Charges of corruption[edit]
After the dismissal of Bhutto's first government on 6 August 1990 by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan
on the grounds of corruption, the government of Pakistan issued directives to its intelligence
agencies to investigate the allegations. After national elections held shortly after, Nawaz Sharif
became the Prime Minister and intensified prosecution proceedings against Bhutto. Pakistani
embassies through western Europe, in France, Switzerland, Spain, Poland and Britain were directed
to investigate the matter. Bhutto and her husband faced a number of legal proceedings, including a
charge of laundering money through Swiss banks. Though never convicted, her husband, Asif Ali
Zardari, spent eight years in prison on similar corruption charges. After being released on bail in
2004, Zardari suggested that his time in prison involved torture; human rights groups have supported
his claim that his rights were violated.[111]

A 1998 New York Times investigative report[112] claims that Pakistani investigators have documents
that uncover a network of bank accounts, all linked to the family's lawyer in Switzerland, with Asif
Zardari as the principal shareholder. According to the article, documents released by the French
authorities indicated that Zardari offered exclusive rights toDassault, a French aircraft manufacturer,
to replace the air force's fighter jets in exchange for a 5% commission to be paid to a Swiss
corporation controlled by Zardari. The article also said a Dubai company received an exclusive
license to import gold into Pakistan for which Asif Zardari received payments of more than $10
million into his Dubai-based Citibank accounts. The owner of the company denied that he had made
payments to Zardari and claims the documents were forged.

Bhutto maintained that the charges levelled against her and her husband were purely political. [113]
[114]
An Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) report supports Bhutto's claim. It presents information
suggesting that Benazir Bhutto was ousted from power in 1990 as a result of a witch hunt approved
by then-president Ghulam Ishaq Khan. The AGP report says Khan illegally paid legal advisers 28
million rupees to file 19 corruption cases against Bhutto and her husband in 1990–92. [115]

Yet the assets held by Bhutto and her husband continue to be scrutinised and speculated about. The
prosecutors have alleged that their Swiss bank accounts contain £740 million. [116] Zardari also bought
a neo-Tudor mansion and estate worth over £4 million in Surrey, England.[117][118] The Pakistani
investigations have tied other overseas properties to Zardari's family. These include a $2.5 million
manor in Normandy owned by Zardari's parents, who had modest assets at the time of his marriage.
[112]
Bhutto denied holding substantive overseas assets.

Despite numerous cases and charges of corruption registered against Bhutto by Nawaz Sharif
between 1996 and 1999 and Pervez Musharraf from 1999 until 2008, she was yet to be convicted in
any case after a lapse of twelve years since their commencement. The cases were withdrawn by the
government of Pakistan after the return to power of Bhutto's PPP in 2008.

Early 2000s in exile[edit]

Benazir Bhutto interview duringSocialist International meeting in 2007.

By the end of the 1990s, the one-time populist prime minister Nawaz Sharif had become widely
unpopular, and following the military coup, Sharif's credibility, image and career was destroyed by
General Musharraf. Musharraf formed the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PMLQ) in order to politically
banish the former prime minister's party support across the country. The PMLQ had consisted of
those who were initially part of Sharif's party but then moved with Musharraf in order to avoid
persecution and going to jail. 2000 brought positive changes for Bhutto who widely became
unpopular in Pakistan in 1996. In the 2000s, following the declassification of secret Hamoodur
Rahman Commission's papers and other secret documents of the 1970s, Bhutto's support in
Pakistan began to rally. Her image in the country widely became positive and the PPP seemed to be
coming back in the government as soon the 2002 elections were scheduled to take place. Amid
fears of Bhutto coming back, a threatened Musharraf released many of the political prisoners of the
liberal-secular force, the MQM. Musharraf saw MQM as the vital political weapon of holding back of
PPP. But MQM had only support in Karachi at that time, and lacked its support in urban areas of
Sindh, which remained a vital threat for Musharraf. Therefore, in 2002, President Musharraf
amended Pakistan's constitution to ban prime ministers from serving more than two terms. This
disqualified Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif from ever holding the office again. This move was widely
considered to be a direct attack on them.

While living in Dubai Bhutto cared for her three children and her mother, who was suffering
from Alzheimer's disease. She also travelled to give lectures in the U.S. and kept in touch with the
PPP's supporters. She and the children were reunited with her husband in December 2004 after
more than five years.[119][120][121][122] In 2006, Interpol issued a request for the arrest of Bhutto and her
husband on corruption charges, at the request of Pakistan. The Bhuttos questioned the legality of
the requests in a letter to Interpol.[123]On 27 January 2007, she was invited by the United States to
speak to President George W. Bush and Congressional and State Department officials.[124] Bhutto
appeared as a panellist on the BBC TV programme Question Time in the UK in March 2007. She
has also appeared on BBC current affairs programme Newsnight on several occasions. She
rebuffed comments made by Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq in May 2007 regarding the knighthood of
Salman Rushdie, citing that he was calling for the assassination of foreign citizens.[125][126][127]

In mid 2007, Bhutto declared her intention to return to Pakistan by the end of the year. However
Musharraf said he would not allow her to ahead of the country's general election, due late 2007 or
early 2008. Still, it was speculated that she may have been offered the office of Prime Minister again.
[128][129]
At the same time, the US appeared to be pushing for a deal in which Musharraf remained
president, but stepped down as military head, and either Bhutto or one of her nominees became
prime minister.

On 11 July 2007, the Associated Press, in an article about the possible aftermath of the Red Mosque
incident, wrote:

Bhutto, the former prime minister and opposition leader expected by many to return from exile and
join Musharraf in a power-sharing deal after year-end general elections, praised him for taking a
tough line on the Red Mosque. "I'm glad there was no cease-fire with the militants in the mosque
because cease-fires simply embolden the militants," she told Britain's Sky TV on Tuesday. "There
will be a backlash, but at some time we have to stop appeasing the militants." [130]

This remark about the Red Mosque was seen with dismay in Pakistan as reportedly hundreds of
young students were burned to death and remains are untraceable and cases are being heard in
Pakistani supreme court as a missing persons issue. This and subsequent support for Musharraf led
Elder Bhutto's comrades like Khar to criticise her publicly. Bhutto however advised Musharraf in an
early phase of the latter's quarrel with the Chief Justice, to restore him. Her PPP did not capitalise on
its influential CEC statesman,Aitzaz Ahsan, the chief Barrister for the Chief Justice, in successful
restoration. Rather, he was seen as a rival of Bhutto, and was isolated on that issue with PPP.

2002 election[edit]
The Bhutto-led PPP secured the highest number of votes (28.4%) and won 80 seats (23%) in the
national assembly during the October 2002 general elections.[131] Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-
N) managed to win only 18 seats. Some of the elected candidates of PPP formed a faction of their
own, calling it PPP-Patriots, which was being led byFaisal Saleh Hayat, the former leader of Bhutto-
led PPP. They later formed a coalition government with Musharraf's party, PML-Q.

Return to Pakistan[edit]
Possible deal with the Musharraf government[edit]
In mid-2002 Musharraf implemented a two-term limit on prime ministers. Both Bhutto and
Musharraf's other chief rival, Nawaz Sharif, had already served two terms as prime minister. [132]

In July 2007, some of Bhutto's frozen funds were released.[133] Bhutto continued to face significant
charges of corruption. In an 8 August 2007 interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation,
Bhutto revealed the meeting focused on her desire to return to Pakistan for the 2008 elections, and
of Musharraf retaining the Presidency with Bhutto as Prime Minister. On 29 August 2007, Bhutto
announced that Musharraf would step down as chief of the army.[134][135] On 1 September 2007, Bhutto
vowed to return to Pakistan "very soon", regardless of whether or not she reached a power-sharing
deal with Musharraf before then.[136]

On 17 September 2007, Bhutto accused Musharraf's allies of pushing Pakistan into crisis by their
refusal to permit democratic reforms and power-sharing. A nine-member panel of Supreme
Court judges deliberated on six petitions (including one from Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's
largest Islamic group) asserting that Musharraf be disqualified from contending for the presidency of
Pakistan. Bhutto stated that her party could join one of the opposition groups, potentially that of
Nawaz Sharif. Attorney-general Malik Mohammed Qayyum stated that, pendente lite, the Election
Commission was "reluctant" to announce the schedule for the presidential vote. Bhutto's
party's Farhatullah Babarstated that the Constitution of Pakistan could bar Musharraf from being
elected again because he was already chief of the army: "As Gen. Musharraf was disqualified from
contesting for President, he has prevailed upon the Election Commission to arbitrarily and illegally
tamper with the Constitution of Pakistan."[137]

My dialogue with Musharraf aims to move the country forward from a dictatorship that has failed to
stop the tribal areas from becoming havens for terrorists. The extremists are even spreading their
tentacles into Pakistan's cities.

—Benazir Bhutto while writing for The Washington Post, [138]

Musharraf prepared to switch to a strictly civilian role by resigning from his position as commander-
in-chief of the armed forces. He still faced other legal obstacles to running for re-election. On 2
October 2007, Gen. Musharraf named Lt. Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, as vice chief of the army starting 8
October with the intent that if Musharraf won the presidency and resigned his military post, Kayani
would become chief of the army. Meanwhile, Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed stated that officials
agreed to grant Benazir Bhutto amnestyversus pending corruption charges. She has emphasised
the smooth transition and return to civilian rule and has asked Pervez Musharraf to shed uniform.
[139]
On 5 October 2007, Musharraf signed the National Reconciliation Ordinance, giving amnesty to
Bhutto and other political leaders—except exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif—in all court cases
against them, including all corruption charges. The Ordinance came a day before Musharraf faced
the crucial presidential poll. Both Bhutto's opposition party, the PPP, and the ruling PMLQ, were
involved in negotiations beforehand about the deal.[140] In return, Bhutto and the PPP agreed not to
boycott the Presidential election.[141] On 6 October 2007, Musharraf won a parliamentary election for
President. However, the Supreme Court ruled that no winner can be officially proclaimed until it
finishes deciding on whether it was legal for Musharraf to run for President while remaining Army
General. Bhutto's PPP party did not join the other opposition parties' boycott of the election, but did
abstain from voting.[142] Later, Bhutto demanded security coverage on-par with the President's. Bhutto
also contracted foreign security firms for her protection.

Return to Pakistan and the assassination attempt[edit]

While under house arrest, Benazir Bhutto speaks to supporters outside her house.

Bhutto was well aware of the risk to her own life that might result from her return from exile to
campaign for the leadership position. In an interview on 28 September 2007, with reporter Wolf
Blitzer of CNN, she readily admitted the possibility of attack on herself.[143]

After eight years in exile in Dubai and London, Bhutto returned to Karachi on 18 October 2007, to
prepare for the 2008 national elections.[144][145][146][147]

En route to a rally in Karachi on 18 October 2007, two explosions occurred shortly after Bhutto had
landed and left Jinnah International Airport. She was not injured but the explosions, later found to be
a suicide-bomb attack, killed 136 people and injured at least 450. The dead included at least 50 of
the security guards from her PPP who had formed a human chain around her truck to keep potential
bombers away, as well as six police officers. A number of senior officials were injured. Bhutto, after
nearly ten hours of the parade through Karachi, ducked back down into the steel command center to
remove her sandals from her swollen feet, moments before the bomb went off. [148]She was escorted
unharmed from the scene.[149]
Bhutto later claimed that she had warned the Pakistani government that suicide bomb squads would
target her upon her return to Pakistan and that the government had failed to act. She was careful not
to blame Pervez Musharraf for the attacks, accusing instead "certain individuals within the
government who abuse their positions, who abuse their powers" to advance the cause of Islamic
militants. Shortly after the attempt on her life, Bhutto wrote a letter to Musharraf naming four persons
whom she suspected of carrying out the attack. Those named included[citation needed] Chaudhry Pervaiz
Elahi, a rival PML-Q politician and chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab province, Hamid Gul, former
director of the Inter-Services Intelligence, and Ijaz Shah, the director general of the Intelligence
Bureau, another of the country's intelligence agencies. All those named are close associates of
General Musharraf. Bhutto had a long history of accusing parts of the government, particularly
Pakistan's premier military intelligence agencies, of working against her and her party because they
oppose her liberal, secular agenda. Bhutto claimed that the ISI has for decades backed militant
Islamic groups in Kashmir and in Afghanistan.[149] She was protected by her vehicle and a "human
cordon" of supporters who had anticipated suicide attacks and formed a chain around her to prevent
potential bombers from getting near her. The total number of injured, according to PPP sources,
stood at 1000, with at least 160 dead (The New York Times claims 134 dead and about 450 injured).

A few days later, Bhutto's lawyer Senator Farooq H. Naik said he received a letter threatening to kill
his client.

2007 state of emergency and response[edit]

On 3 November 2007, President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency, citing actions by
the Supreme Court of Pakistan and religious extremism in the nation. Bhutto returned to the country,
interrupting a visit to family in Dubai. She was greeted by supporters chanting slogans at the airport.
After staying in her plane for several hours she was driven to her home in Lahore, accompanied by
hundreds of supporters. While acknowledging that Pakistan faced a political crisis, she noted that
Musharraf's declaration of emergency, unless lifted, would make it very difficult to have fair elections.
She commented that "The extremists need a dictatorship, and dictatorship needs extremists." [150][151][152]

On 8 November 2007, Bhutto was placed under house arrest just a few hours before she was due to
lead and address a rally against the state of emergency.

The following day, the Pakistani government announced that Bhutto's arrest warrant had been
withdrawn and that she was free to travel and to appear at public rallies. However, leaders of other
opposition political parties remained prohibited from speaking in public.

Preparation for 2008 elections[edit]

A picture of tv showing the breaking news after the murder of Benzair Bhutto on CNN.

On 2 November 2007, Bhutto participated in an interview with David Frost on Al Jazeera,

stating Osama Bin Laden had been murdered byAhmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who is one of the men
convicted of kidnapping and killing U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl. Frost never asked a follow up
question regarding the claim that Bin Laden was dead.[153] Her interview could later be viewed
on BBC's website, although it was initially altered by the BBC as her apparent claim about Bin
Laden's death was taken out. But, once people discovered this and started posting about her
statement on YouTube, the BBC replaced its version with the version that was originally aired on Al
Jazeera.[154] Several commentators have noted that as she had just been speaking about one of the
sons of bin Laden, in all likelihood, Bhutto simply misspoke and instead intended to say, "Omar
Sheikh, the man who murdered Daniel Pearl," rather than "...the man who murdered bin Laden" –
such an important revelation about bin Laden's fate would certainly not have been stated so
casually. Additionally, in subsequent interviews, Bhutto spoke about bin Laden in the context of him
being alive.[155]

The big thing is I’m back home and I’m glad that General Musharraf’s regime has not interrupted my
welcome.

—Benazir Bhutto while talking to The Daily Telegraph, [156]

On 24 November 2007, Bhutto filed her nomination papers for January's Parliamentary elections;
two days later, she filed papers in the Larkana constituency for two regular seats. She did so as
former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, following seven years of exile in Saudi Arabia, made
his much-contested return to Pakistan and bid for candidacy.[157]

When sworn in again on 30 November 2007, this time as a civilian president after relinquishing his
post as military chief, Musharraf announced his plan to lift the Pakistan's state of emergency rule on
16 December. Bhutto welcomed the announcement and launched a manifesto outlining her party's
domestic issues. Bhutto told journalists in Islamabad that her party, the PPP, would focus on "the
five E's": employment, education, energy, environment, equality.[158][159]

On 4 December 2007, Bhutto met with Nawaz Sharif to publicise their demand that Musharraf fulfill
his promise to lift the state of emergency before January's parliamentary elections, threatening to
boycott the vote if he failed to comply. They promised to assemble a committee that would present
to Musharraf the list of demands upon which their participation in the election was contingent. [160][161]

On 8 December 2007, three unidentified gunmen stormed Bhutto's PPP office in the southern
western province of Balochistan. Three of Bhutto's supporters were killed.[162]

Assassination[edit]

Mausoleum of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto and other Bhutto family members in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh,
Sindh, Pakistan

Memorial at the site of the assassination

On 27 December 2007, Benazir Bhutto was killed while leaving a campaign rally for the PPP
at Liaquat National Bagh in the run-up to the January 2008 parliamentary elections. After entering
her bulletproof vehicle, Bhutto stood up through its sunroof to wave to the crowds. At this point, a
gunman fired shots at her, and subsequently explosives were detonated near the vehicle killing
approximately 20 people.[163]Bhutto was critically wounded and was rushed to Rawalpindi General
Hospital. She was taken into surgery at 17:35 local time, and pronounced dead at 18:16.[164][165][166] The
cause of death, whether it was gunshot wounds, the explosion, or a combination thereof, was not
fully determined until February 2008. Eventually, Scotland Yard investigators concluded that it was
due to blunt force trauma to the head as she was tossed by the explosion.[167] She was buried
alongside her father in Naudero near Larkana.[168]
The events leading up to Benazir Bhutto's death correlated with the protest in 1992. In the month of
December, Bhutto met with Nawaz Sharif and expressed frustration with their government. In
response, a rally was conducted in Rawalpindi, the same place as 1992.

Al-Qaeda commander Mustafa Abu al-Yazid claimed responsibility for the attack,[169] and the
Pakistani government stated that it had proof that Baitullah Mehsud, affiliated with Lashkar i Jhangvi
—an al-Qaeda-linked militant group—was the mastermind.[170] However this was vigorously disputed
by the Bhutto family, the PPP that Bhutto had headed, and by Mehsud. [171] On 12 February 2011, an
Anti-Terrorism Court in Rawalpindi issued an arrest warrant for Musharraf, claiming he was aware of
an impending assassination attempt by the Taliban, but did not pass the information on to those
responsible for protecting Bhutto.[172]

After the assassination, there were initially a number of riots resulting in approximately 20 deaths, of
which three were of police officers.[173] President Musharraf decreed a three-day period of mourning.

Bhutto's 19-year-old son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari succeeded his mother as titular head of the PPP,
with his father effectively running the party until his son completes his studies at Christ Church,
Oxford.[174]

On Friday 26 April 2013 a court ordered house arrest for Musharraf in connection with the death of
Benazir Bhutto [175]

On the morning of 3 May 2013, Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali, special prosecutor in charge of the
investigation of Mrs Bhutto's murder was killed in Islamabad when attackers on a motorcycle
sprayed his car with bullets as he drove to the courthouse.[176]

Controversies[edit]
Atomic proliferation with North Korea[edit]
The defence cooperation between North Korea and Pakistan started sometime in 1994 and the
country led by Benazir Bhutto and her personal role had much more deeper and controversial role in
North Korea's nuclear programme. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had lasting friendship with Kim Il-sung—
founder of the North Korean communist state. In a state visitpaid by Benazir Bhutto in 1994, Benazir
Bhutto closed the deal with the transfer of North Korean missile technology in return of nuclear
technology, an allegation Benazir Bhutto had strongly dismissed. According to Zahid Hussain, author
of "Frontline Pakistan", there was a huge respect for Benazir Bhutto in the North Korean military, and
they persuaded Bhutto to go and meet with Kim Jong-il.[177]

Shyam Bhatia, an Indian journalist, alleged in his book Goodbye Shahzadi that in 1993, Bhutto had
downloaded secret information on uranium enrichment, through Pakistan's former top scientist Dr.
Abdul Qadeer Khan, to give to North Korea in exchange for information on developing ballistic
missiles (Rodong-1) and that Benazir Bhutto had asked him to not tell the story during her
lifetime. David Albright of the Institute of Science and International Security said the allegations
"made sense" given the timeline of North Korea's nuclear program. George Perkovich of
the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace called Bhatia a "smart and serious guy." Selig
Harrison of the Center for International Policy called Bhatia "credible on Bhutto." The officials at
the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, D.C. sharply denied the claims and the senior U.S. State
Department officials dismissed them, insisting that, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, who had been earlier
accused of proliferating secrets to North Korea (only to deny them later, prior to Bhatia's book), was
the source.[178] In spite of Pakistan Government's denial. In 2012, senior scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan,
summed up to The News International that "the transfer of atomic technology was not so easy that
one could put it into his pocket and hand it over to another country." Abdul Qadeer Khan also
asserted that: "The-then prime minister (Mohtarma) Benazir Bhutto summoned me and named
the two countries which were to be assisted and issued clear directions in this regard."[179]

The members of PPP and the government itself strongly dismissed all the "allegations" made by
Qadeer Khan regarding Benazir Bhutto's role in atomic proliferation. The Foreign Office categorically
rejected Qadeer Khan's claim, and maintained to the fact that "the proliferation activity was an
individual act, and did not carry authorization of any Pakistan Government, at any stage."[180] The
spokesperson of peoples party, Farhatullah Babar, also rebutted the claims as "a desperate attempt
to wash his own guilt."[181]

Position on 1998 tests[edit]

In May 1998, India detonated its five nuclear devices in the Pokhran test range, and established
itself as the world's sixth nuclear power.[182] The Bhutto-headed Central Executive Committee of the
PPP publicly called for Pakistan's nuclear tests in response.[182] It was later confirmed that Bhutto and
the PPP had political gains for the calls of conducting atomic tests to increase their popularity
numbers on the country's political scoring board, which had been shattered in the 1996 scandals.
However, Bhutto's calls for the tests gained momentum on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to order and
authorise the nuclear testing programme, which bloomed the Prime minister's reputation at a record
level, despite Bhutto being first to publicly call for them.[183]

In recent declassified and undated papers released by Wikileaks in 2011, Bhutto falsely assured the
American diplomats that she was against conducting nuclear tests, as the similar assurances given
by Nawaz Sharif to American diplomats. But it later turns out that Bhutto did not keep to that
commitment and made another public calls for Pakistan to conduct tests in reply to Indian nuclear
tests (see Pokhran-II). Bhutto justified that the "eat grass" statements – frequently used by her father
Zulfikar Bhutto and rival Nawaz Sharif – have been used to assure people of Pakistan that austerity
measures would be adopted but national security would not be compromised. In an undated leaks,
Bhutto was sought by the American diplomats multiple times to soften her stance and support for
nuclear tests, and cautioned Bhutto that her reaction to India's tests had been criticized in the West
media. At that meeting, Bhutto and her party's elite officials notified the senior U.S. diplomats that
"PPP publicly state that the issue of tests was too important to be used as a "political football". While
talking to an unnamed American diplomat, Bhutto said that: "The time for the test had passed and it
would have a disastrous impact on Pakistan's national economy and an international reputation. She
maintained and famously quoted: "I cannot say these things publicly, but neither will I call for a
(nuclear) detonation".[183]

After observing the successful detonation and her rival's public speech, Bhutto calculated her rival's
popularity in Pakistan after the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had authorized the tests. Bhutto
asserted that these tests "had erased the existed doubts and fear from the minds of people of
Pakistan who questioned Pakistan's deterrence capability after1971 collapse".[184]

Legacy[edit]
Commenting on her legacy, William Dalrymple writes that "it's wrong for the West simply to mourn
Benazir Bhutto as a martyred democrat since her legacy was far murkier and more complex".
[108]
Despite her western and positive image in the world, Bhutto's controversial policies and support
have made her legacy much more complicated.[185] Benazir Bhutto failed to revert the controversial
Hudood Ordinance—a controversial presidential ordinance enforced which is criticised for to
subordinate and suppressing woman's rights.[108] In 2009, the CBS News, described her legacy as
"mixed", and commented that: "it's only in death that she will become an icon—in some ways people
will look at her accomplishments through rose-tinted glasses rather than remembering the corruption
charges, her lack of achievements or how much she was manipulated by other people." In spite of
criticism, Benazir Bhutto, the Iron Lady, remains respected among her rivals, and is often
remembered with good wishes. Her rivals always referred to her as "BB" and have never called her
by her actual name in accordance to her respect. Benazir Bhutto is often seen as a symbol of
women's empowerment and today parties from across Pakistan's political spectrum allow women to
be part of their organisation and to fully participate in elections. [185]

Her efforts and struggle to save her father and democracy remain a lasting legacy that is deeply
respected among her rivals. The Pakistan government honored Bhutto on her birthday by renaming
Islamabad's airport as Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Muree Road of Rawalpindi as Benazir
Bhutto Road and Rawalpindi General Hospital as Benazir Bhutto Hospital. Prime Minister Yousaf
Raza Gillani, a member of Bhutto's PPP, also asked President Pervez Musharraf to pardon convicts
on death row on her birthday in honour of Bhutto.[186] The city of Nawabshah in Sindh was
renamed Benazirabad in her honour. A university in the Dir Upper district of NWFP was founded in
her name.Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), a program which provides benefits to the
poorest Pakistanis, is named after Bhutto.[187]