The Zia reference stems from events almost three decades ago, when America and other countries propped up another military dictator Gen Zia-ul-Haq who seized power in a military coup of 1977 and led Pakistan as a front-line state against the war on Communism in neighbouring Afghanistan. Zia hanged Bhutto’s father, the elected prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, in 1979 on trumped-up murder charges. The young Benazir spent five years in prison, and was later exiled. She was finally allowed to return when the Afghan war was over and the world began pressuring Zia towards democracy.

Zia’s death in a mid-air explosion in 1988 sparked off spontaneous street celebrations because of his repressive policies and his handing over of Pakistan to the forces of religious extremism. To many of us, Benazir Bhutto represented hope against these forces — despite accusations that her government had encouraged the Taliban during her second stint as prime minister.

As the world’s first Muslim woman prime minister, Bhutto was also a role model for the youth, especially women. Now, when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, a Pakistani school girl could reply: “a prime minister.” Not that Bhutto was an ordinary Pakistani woman. She was the daughter of an elected prime minister, hailing from a powerful and wealthy feudal family. Within these identities, there were multiple contradictions — starting with her identity as a woman. At the end of the day she was the best hope for democracy in Pakistan, representing the aspirations of millions for liberal politics in the country. She paid the ultimate price for her insistence on engaging with such politics.

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