BUSINESS AND POLITICS

A women speak her mind: Khushbakht Shujaat

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 03:26:00 -0800

K.K: Would you like to tell our readers about the early days of your life and how you started your career?
KS: Actually, whatever I am today was not my choice and you can say that I came accidentally into the media. There was no television when I was at school and during those days, we used to listen to the only available radio channel (Radio Pakistan). In the year 1965 when I was in college, television came to our lives and this was also the time when I was about to choose my career.
At that time I decided to become a doctor so I took admission in Chittagong Medical College in East Pakistan, where I started my medical studies and lived in a hostel. But after six months of my studies, riots triggered in East Pakistan so my father decided to call me back and I was unable to continue my medical studies. I always wanted to become a doctor and it was a serious setback for me.

However, I then decided to go for my second priority, which was to choose Journalism as my career. I took admission in the University of Karachi's Mass Communication Department and restarted my studies. Dr. Sharif-ul-Mujahid, Head of Mass Communication Department at that time, after reviewing my performance, said that after an interval of three consecutive years, Khushbakht has attained first division. I got first position in Bachelor of Arts Studies and also received top position in my psychology papers at Karachi University.

I wanted to become a journalist and fortunately, I got the opportunity to work for television. I can say that my dream of becoming a journalist became a reality when I joined television.
K.K: Please tell us something about the nature of your involvement in the art and cultural activities?
KS: My involvement in the cultural activities were gifted to me by my family. Love of culture cannot be taught by anyone as this develops naturally in a person's soul. My father and mother belonged to different Riyasats (States) in India so our home depicted a mix of cultures. We were brought up in an environment in which we always respected our elders, loved our youngsters, and were taught to be soft-spoken in all circumstances. My mother was a very cultured woman as she never received any formal education but learned a number of Persian diwans and poetries of Allama Iqbal by heart. My father was not only a very vocal debator in the Aligarh University but was also fond of music.
I opened my eyes in a cultural environment. I have always followed the standards and values of my parents and have considered them as role models. It is useless to teach cultural norms to a child as this would never give positive results however, a child can learn these norms if you become a role model by implementing the same on yourself.
K.K: You have served as the first woman vice president of Arts Council of Pakistan for three consecutive tenures; tell us about your experience?
KS: It was a wonderful experience of my life. Becoming the first woman Vice President was my lifetime achievement which gave me a boost as this took me to places where people have failed to reach even after a long struggle. It was really an honor for me to become the first woman elected vice president.
Before I took charge of Arts Council of Pakistan, it was a lackluster institution but we worked hard for the restoration of cultural colors at the Arts Council of Pakistan. The reason for lack of motivation was that it had been dominated and governed by men but I am of the opinion that a woman representation is a must to restore the true colors of Arts, which proved correct when I was elected its Vice President.
I must appreciate the members of Arts Council for reposing confidence in me by electing me as Vice President for three consecutive years. During my tenure at Arts Council, sometimes I was a bit worried as the members trusted me and gave me the responsibility and I felt I should come up to their expectations. Overall, it was a wonderful experience of my life.
K.K: Do you think that the Arts Council is doing enough to promote the culture of Pakistan, if not, can you please give us your opinion on what needs to be done and what is missing?
KS: Definitely not, as there is a need for doing a lot more to promote the cultural and entertainment activities at the Arts Council. During my tenure, we started a project titled 'Koocha-e-Saqafat' and the paperwork of the project was presented to the Governor Sindh for which Dr. Ishrat ul Ebad approved seed money of Rs0.5m. But the work done under the project is not satisfactory, which needs attention as no development work has been carried out under the project. There is also room for setting up Arts Galleries at the council. We started this project but it is still incomplete while the standards of programs staged at the Arts Council need improvement and there is a dire need to implement incentives offered to the artists. Events in the Arts Council are taking place but there is a need to improve the standards of these programs.
K.K: Do you think that women have today succeeded in attaining a position for themselves? If not, what hurdles do you see and what measures would you recommend to bring about positive changes in our society?
KS: Sixty years of independence have passed but we still ask this question from each other, which clearly shows that the Pakistani women have certainly not succeeded in attaining a deserving position for themselves. There are sill a number of hurdles, but I must say that Pakistani woman is not in that particular position anymore where she stood some sixty years ago as the situation has improved. I can only appreciate women themselves, who continued their struggle in all circumstances and fought for their rights. The governments, from time to time, have failed to provide sufficient support to Pakistani women. The present government has enhanced representation of women at the provincial and national assemblies but this would be useless, if there was no say of women at various decision-making levels.
I must mention the self-proclaimed, clerics, Aalims and Feudals who have played a leading role in creating hurdles in way of women and have always deprived women from her basic rights, which have been granted by our religion. Women have made untiring efforts in their fight for their rights in this male dominated society.
K.K: Have you ever faced any difficulty or tough time while offering your skills for the showbiz world?
KS: Never, as I always received support from my respected family members including my father, brothers, husband and sons. I must salute and pay glowing tribute to those women who were not being supported by their families, these women succeeded inspite of all odds to achieve a special place in the society.
K.K: How has your experience been working for the media? Can you please tell us of some of your talk shows and which one of them is your favorite?
KS: It was a wonderful experience to work for television for a period of 35 years. I started my career in the showbiz world from Radio Pakistan by discharging my services for a program titled 'Buzm-e-Talba'. I was supported by my elder brother and Yawar Mehdi, who introduced me to the showbiz world. I always consider television and radio as part of my family. I really had a splendid time working for television and radio.
With the passage of time things have changed drastically at PTV. There was a time when PTV always considered talent and seniority but nowadays, due to the ongoing race amongst TV channels, PTV is not bothered about the seniority or talent of artists, as they are also busy in accumulating financial gains. If proper respect is not given to an artist, he would never give you the needed performance. I must put this on record that in the past three to four years, a number of unscrupulous elements have taken charge of PTV and have completely destroyed the image of PTV. These elements do not know how to respect the senior artists, who have been associated with PTV since its inception. PTV was the only TV channel which was worth-viewing with all members of the family but it has alas lost its glory.
Amongst all the shows that I hosted my favorite ones are 'Chehray' and 'Meena Bazar'.
K.K: Although you have been associated with TV and radio for a number of years but we have never seen you as an actress. Why was the acting department left out?
KS: I received a number of offers on various occasions to act in TV dramas and even, Fatima Surraiya Bajia offered me to act in her drama in which Bajia said that she would also cast Shujaat Ali Baig as an actor, if I was not being permitted by my family to act in the drama. But I never expressed my interest to work as an actress as this was against our family's norms. I only enjoy watching dramas and movies.
K.K: How would you define your life? Are you satisfied from what you have achieved or you want to do more? What zeal keeps you on the move all the time?
KS: My life was very challenging as it underwent various changes. These changes can be gauged from a number of reasons as initially, I was planning to become a doctor but became a media woman. This is not all as the challenges continued to strike my life when the Arts Council of Pakistan came to my life and I became its first woman Vice President and recently I have also joined Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which is yet another challenging task of my life. I have always accepted these challenges of life with a smile on my face and have always worked hard with all my dedication to ensure perfection in my work. I have never left any of my work unfinished.
Nobody can claim that they have lived a satisfactory life as there are always new tasks waiting for you. It has always been my intention to take out my own newspaper and establish a women institute, where girls should get training on our traditional and cultural norms. Inshallah, I will be establishing this institute in the future. I also wanted to give free schooling facility to the underprivileged and needy children of the society and this will Inshallah become a reality within this year. My intentions for future are now very clear as I want to dedicate the rest of my life in serving humanity.
K.K: You have become a fine example for Pakistani women to follow. Can you share the secret of your life that gives you the confidence to deal with different situations?
KS: Politeness, sweet attitude and capability to convince people through words and actions are the secrets to move forward and confidently face people. A woman should have one thing in her mind that she is not being recognized because of her position and stern attitude but she should be known for her soft and polite nature. Women must also ensure that they are not being misused by any one for gaining political or any other benefit.
K.K: Where do you see our women in the next five to ten years?
KS: Our women have succeeded in enhancing their representation in the parliament but I am of the opinion that the elected women representatives at assemblies should be highly competent, well versed and well aware of the cultural and political events of the country so that their say at the parliament becomes more effective and suggestions receive consideration. Enhancing number of seats to women at the parliament will not be effective until they become wise enough to raise their voice and give concrete suggestions on national issues.
K.K: You have recently joined a political party, how did that come about?
KS: Politics has always been in my life, as I served on various political positions during my college days and I also contested in the Arts Council's election. When I met the MQM leader, Altaf Hussain, I became conscious on how a massive population has suffered from time to time but continued to struggle for their democratic rights. I must appreciate the sacrifices made by MQM leaders, who have fought for the cause of the common man. The most impressive thing to note here is that all MQM leaders have emerged from middle class or lower class families and they do not come from a political family. They did not receive political acumen from their fathers or grandfather but were self-made politicians, who have attained special positions and truly raise their voice for the common man. After seeing all this, I felt that I should join MQM which was the true representative of the people. However, I must mention here that I made the decision of joining MQM after taking permission from Shujaat Ali Baig as I have never taken any decision of my life without his permission.
K.K: You started from showbiz and now you are in education. How did this transformation happen?
KS: During my showbiz career, most of my programs were based on educational issues and in my first appearance at PTV; I was introduced as a student of Karachi University representing the young Pakistani women, which was really an honor for me. So I can say that I have been associated with the field of education since past 35 years as majority of my programs were pertaining to the educational sector. It had always been Shujaat's and my intention to open up a schooling facility but due to some domestic constraints, we were unable to do so but as soon as our kids became independent, we thought this was the right time to open a school, which we did. I am really enjoying myself in moulding the future of Pakistan at my school by providing quality education to children.
K.K: Kids University caters to the well to do. Don't you feel that some brilliant students, who cannot afford expensive schooling, should be provided an opportunity to get subsidized education at Kids University?
KS: At the Kids University, I give special discounts to children whose parents cannot afford to pay fee charged by the school. This discount deal is only between the school and parents whereas it is kept secret in front of the child so that the child should not become victim of inferiority complex, which can sabotage a child's intelligence. The discount quota is defined annually at Kids University. It has been my observations that in a number of instances, I found well to do families taking discounts from my school by declaring that they cannot afford our fee but on the other hand, they are taking expensive dinners at places like Pizza Hut every night, which is highly unfair as the discount granted to these students deprive a deserving student from this facility. To give free education to underprivileged children, I have decided to utilize all resources available at our school to give free education, books and uniforms to the poor children. The education will voluntarily be given by the teachers of Kids University and the project would commence from June/July in which classes will be given in the afternoon.
K.K: Who would you hold responsible for your successful and exemplary life? Tell us about the support you have been given by your husband, Shujaat Ali Baig?
KS: Shujaat has always cooperated with me and guided me at each and every step of my life. He also supported all my dreams till they became a realty. Shujaat Ali Baig always encouraged me when I was working for TV, contesting Arts Council's Elections, setting up school, and joining the MQM. I can hold my elder brother, father and mother responsible for my early grooming, which proved very fruitful after my marriage and credit for a successful life after marriage goes to Shujaat, who always appreciated and encouraged me.
K.K: In the end, would you like to say anything or give any message to our readers, particularly women readers?
KS: In the end, my message to Pakistani women is that they should develop and enhance their skills while efforts should be undertaken at all levels to remove hurdles in way of Pakistani women. Working woman should live a balanced life and she should efficiently deal with her professional and domestic affairs through balanced approach. A woman should act like a woman and avoid becoming a man through her politeness and soft-spoken nature, which is her real beauty.

'HBL: The biggest & The Best" Shujat Ali Baig Executive Vice President Habib Bank Limited

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 03:13:00 -0800

'HBL: The biggest & The Best"
Shujat Ali Baig
Executive Vice President
Habib Bank Limited

Interview by: K.K

SHUJAT unveils the distinctive stature of Habib Bank in the industry; he sketches a promising future for the economy in long-run; and shares the hidden traits of his multidimensional personality; in an exclusive interview with The KAROBAR ONLINE

HBL has undergone colossal transformation in its corporate culture; the biggest bank has become undoubtedly the best bank of Pakistan. All departments have been revolutionized with talented in-house workforce and state-of-the-art e-business solutions; making the bank customer-friendly in the true sense of its meaning. Shujat considers integrity and progressiveness the key values driving the growth of HBL. Now, the human resource of HBL has two things in plenty: high productivity and customer-centric behavior.

Shujat's Life in Spotlight
The larger than life personality of Mr. Shujat has much more flavours than banking, although he has life-long association with banking especially HBL which became the launching pad of his professional career. "Doing job and studying simultaneously is a tough task but I took challenges as opportunities which paid off in long-run," he remarks. His remarkable contribution to Education as a Caretaker Minister for Education, Sindh, brought him into limelight as a philanthropist who dedicated his life for the betterment of educational standards in Pakistan. "My mother instilled in me the love of books that shaped my life in a way that promotion of education became my supreme objective," he discloses. The family started the dream project of "Kids University" to give their objective the garb of reality. Moreover, an organisation called "Qalm Dost" is another brainchild of Mr. Shujat; the organization is dedicated to promote Urdu and other regional languages throughout Pakistan.

We know the art of progressing in crisis
Sound business model and prudent policies enabled HBL to weather the financial storm that has shaken the entire globe financially. To bring efficiency in our operations we have rationalized HBL branches. Our performance and operation standards are better than some of the leading banks in the region.
We are religiously following our mission which is to make our customers prosper; our staff excel and create value for stakeholders. HBL has revamped the operational infrastructure to keep itself abreast with the latest technological developments unfolding in banking industry. After all, we know the art of progressing in crisis.

K.K: What are the three major qualities that a banker must have to progress in professional life?
SHUJAT ALI: Never pass on your responsibility to others. Always take personal interest and responsibly to achieve the task assigned to you, because everybody's responsibility is nobody's responsibility and this behavior of putting task on your colleague's shoulders results in procrastination and inefficiency. Secondly, never sign a document without reviewing it comprehensively because you never know what is going on under your nose; always remember that blind faith sometimes brings blind results, so be careful while dealing with documents. Thirdly, always keep cordial relationships with everybody in the organization from Peon to President. Humble people are always accepted wholeheartedly.

Only An Educated Pakistan will Be a Prosperous Pakistan

The prosperity of Pakistan lies in the equal treatment of rich & poor regardless of their ethnicity and financial status. The diversity of our people is our asset but our ignorance is making it a problem. We must realize that only an educated Pakistan can be a prosperous Pakistan, so education is the engine for sustainable growth.
Pakistan is the country of opportunities. We need dedicated entrepreneurs to materialize our economic dreams. I urge the business fraternity not to lose hope and bring back their investments to the country that has given us our identity. I advise the businessmen not to panic because the future is always greener for those who think, not for those who panic.

BIOGRAPHY OF MR SALEEM BAIG HAMDANI.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 2 Jan 2011 05:45:00 -0800

BIOGRAPHY OF MR SALEEM BAIG HAMDANI.

BY KASHIF KHAN

We wish to inform that Mr. Saleem baig hamdani the most famous poet of karachi city. He is not only the poet also the independence poem poet, he wrote HUMDS, NAATS and also NOHA for moharram ul haram, further more he display himself as a English and Hindi poet.

He said that poem is involved in him and he involves in poem and then he starts writing. Mostly his poems are published in newspapers, novels, and magazines and peoples like his poems very much. We also read his articles regarding his company, he have a verse command in English, hindi,gujrati,farsi,arbi,purtagual,memoni and also highly level of Urdu.

The life of Mr. Saleem baig hamdani is full of entertainment, success hard work he know how to live the life and gain more information about lifestyle. He started his professional career in 1986 to 2005 with Pakistan beverages limited (Pepsi cola) as a zonal sales manager and in this period his managing director Mr.

Yaseen Kassam Teli purchase a new plant named pakola product limited which success in still going on.

As a zonal sales manager he gains an excellent experience and now he is a DISTRIBUTION MANAGER in pakola product limited and providing his treasure of experience.

Furthermore, he will describe about his life by himself. He said ALLAH SUBHANA HO TALLAH provides me lot and how much I pray for him is little. I spend my life in various styles I did B.A and my wish to become a lawyer but I can’t just because of starting my career in sales & marketing.

In my school life I am involve in many hobbies for e.g. friendship,photography,old coins,stamp collection ,library etc. I have and ancient stock of postage stamps and coins which almost 200 years of era. I donate 200 books in subject of history, famous poets, biography of QUAID-E-AZAM MOHAMMAD ALI JINNAH to ALLAMA USMAN LIBRARY (NAZIMABAD). One of my achievement is become a member of QUAID-E-AZAM SCOUTTS and certified with the certificates.

Singing passion is started in 1965 and then I join Music College and learn music. My first music teacher Mr SYED ARIF ALI SAHAB who teach me BANGO, KONGO & JAZZ DRUM then USTAD MOHAMMAD HUSSAIN KUTTCHI starts teaching me DHOLAK then USTAD KHURSHEED ALI KHAN SAHAB the famous TUBLA NAWAZ OF RADIO PAKISTAN start teaching me TABLA. After all this education I got and opportunity to learn singing with LATE USTAD YAQOOB (BENJO NAWAZ).

Acting is the second challenge for me who turn my way to stage drama in 1966 and with the compliments of Mr. Khalil Baqar I play role in drama SHAMA BUJH GAEY as a willen and get a huge success and after this DRAMA NAIK PARVEEN, ZINDAGI KYA HAY also a part of my life.

Until now I continuously join a music paradise which is located in Karachi city and start professionally as an actor, musician. In 1970 MR UMER SEHARYAR the famous MEMONI & GUJRATI drama director invite me to work with him as a member of RUNG BHOOMI and provide me a roll in his first MEMONI drama KABAB MAIN HADDI as a comedian and I did the parody of holly wood famous comedian actor Mr. Charlie Chaplin which is very successful and the same role I apply on LUKHNAY KHOOTA on public demand. My entrance in memoni media field is just because of MR. UMER SHERYAR he provide me a chance to work with the most famous actor & actresses of that time. My Urdu drama KANGLA IN BANGLA is also a famous drama in history and for this I get more popularity.

Pakistan television most famous producer MEHAR RIZVI invite me for learn ENGLISH & CLASSICAL DANCE with him. I also work in Sindhi drama SIR TEEN SUT production of zulfiqar naqvi back ground singer Mohammad Yusuf Sindhi & rubina qureshi and prove myself as all rounder.

In 1973 I work as a producer with janab umer sheryar director

memoni drama LADIES FIRST lyric of ADAM SOMROO. The goodwill of this drama of no any male actor instead of female actresses and this drama become very successful and I entered in Pakistan television and Mr MOHSIN ALI provide me a role in PTV drama TABEER.

I am founder member of ACTOR EQUITY with LATE QURBAN JEELANI and also ex-director of Mr SYED ARIF ALI MUSIC COLLEGE and my introduce dance program is very famous on Pakistan television.

My favorite producers are BAKHTIAR AHMED, DADA QASIM JALALI, ALI RIZVI, ZULFIQAR NAQVI, MEHAR RIZVI, MOHSIN ALI, ARIF RANA, SHAHID IQBAL and my favorite actors are TALAT HUSSAIN, SUBHANI BA YONUS, WAKEEL FAROOQI, QURBAN JEELANI, SALEEM NASIR.

My time spending when directors,singers,musician,artists at my home. I have only two close friends in my life MR ABU BAKAR KARIM & MR AQEEL JALALVI.

1978 I work in QASIM JALAI amazing production AAKHRI CHATAN as a CHANGEZ KHAN Ambassador and buyer and this is my last drama of my career. Till now I am with my family my children’s and say to ALL MIGHTY ALLAH who provide me a soft heart managing director Mr YASEEN TELI SAHAB and with him my life still going.

Dear friends the book of Mr SALEEM BAIG HAMDANI is not complete INSHALLAH we trying to hear more about him after all he is honest,hardworker and loyal with all who concern with him.

Agha Feroze Akhtar From helicopter to motorcycle: a photographer`s journey

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 13:46:00 -0800

LARKANA, Dec 27: An exhibition of rare photographs of the Bhutto family taken by Agha Feroze Akhtar, the family photographer of the Bhuttos, was major source of attraction for the visitors to Garhi Khuda Bukhsh Bhutto on Monday.

After offering fateha at the graves of Benazir Bhutto, her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and brothers Mir Murtaza and Shanawaz, people were seeing going to the exhibition held near the mausoleum.
The collection of photographs portrayed the ups and downs of the Bhutto family. Looking at the pictures, it seemed as if history was moving before your eyes.
Taken since 1971 to date, he has a collection of 35,000 photos, Agha Feroze told Dawn, and said that only 4,000 rare photographs had been put on display in the exhibition.
He said that a large number of PPP workers had visited his exhibition but “I anxiously waited for Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Had he spared a few moments for the exhibition, I would have requested him to provide employment to my children.”
Currently PRO to Sinh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, the photographer said that he had been jailed several times for his association with the Bhutto family.
“During Gen Zia`s martial law and on other occasions also.”
When asked about the origin of his association with the Bhutto family, he said that he was a prisoner of war in Bangladesh after the debacle of East Pakistan and was released and brought home due to the efforts made by the then prime minister Z.A. Bhutto.
“This is why I started loving Z.A. Bhutto. I took first photograph of the Bhutto family in 1975,” he said.
Born in 1958, Agha Feroze can speak 17 languages. “I had learnt the languages by listening to programmes of different radio stations.” he said.
He said that he came close to Begum Nusrat Bhutto when she employed him as a Persian-Urdu translator to help her write speeches for her mass contact campaign after her husband`s elected government was toppled by Gen Ziaul Haq and he was arrested in a murder case.
Comparing his past with the present, he said: “In yesteryears I flew in helicopters with Benazir Bhutto but now I travel on an old motorcycle.”
Going into flashback, he said that once Benazir Bhutto had offloaded a top bureaucrat from a plane to accommodate him. Sometimes he was solely flown in a helicopter to cover an event,” he said.

Dr Fehmida Mirza first woman speaker of the National Assembly

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 13:37:00 -0800

Dr Fehmida Mirza of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), who made history after being elected as the first woman speaker of the National Assembly, belongs to the politically influential Qazi family of Badin district of the Sindh province.

Her family is known for active participation in the movement for independence of Pakistan. Dr Mirza’s grandfather Qazi Abdul Qayyum was the first Muslim president of Hyderabad Municipality.

Born on December 20, 1956, she passed her matriculation examination from St Mary Convent School, Hyderabad, in 1972 and did FSc from Nazareth College, Hyderabad, in 1974 before getting MBBS degree from the Liaquat Medical College, Jamshoro. She practiced medicine from 1982 to 1989 and has been holding medical camps in her home district since 1989 till date regularly.

“The post requires a woman’s tolerance and patience,” she told media after filing her nomination papers for office of the National Assembly speaker.

Dr Mirza, who was certain to win comfortably because of her party’s majority in the 342-member house, pledged to be completely non-partisan as custodian of the house. She was elected to the National Assembly on a PPP ticket from the coastal district of Badin in 1997, 2002 and 2008. Her spouse Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, who was elected member of the Sindh Assembly in the February 18, 2008 election, is a close aide of PPP Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari.

Dr Mirza is a businesswoman and is the chief executive officer of her Mirza Sugar Mills in Badin. She runs several welfare projects in her constituency, one of the poorest districts of Pakistan. “My election as the National Assembly speaker sends a very good message both home and abroad,” she said, recalling that her party has always stood for visibility of women as top decision-makers.

In election for office of the National Assembly speaker, Dr Fahmida Mirza received 249 out of 324 votes, of which 319 were valid and five votes were declared invalid while her opponent Asrar Tareen received 70 votes.

After election as the National Assembly speaker, Dr Mirza has to resign from her party office because as the constitutional and ceremonial head of the house a speaker has to remain impartial.

Her uncle Qazi Muhammad Akbar was a member of the provincial assembly and served as a minister for home, finance, public works and information at various times. Her father Qazi Abid started his political career as chairman of the Hyderabad Division Council, later served as federal minister for education, water & power, food & agriculture and information.

Her brother Qazi Asad has served as secretary-general of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), the top body of Pakistani newspaper owners, nine times and also held the office of the secretary-general of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors. He had also been a PPP member of the National Assembly and in that capacity served as chairman of the Standing Committee on Information. Her cousin Qazi Aslam has been secretary-general of the APNS four times.

“I was just thinking that [assassinated former Pakistan prime minister] Benazir Bhutto must be so happy. I wanted to thank God and her,” these were the sentiments that overwhelmed the PPP parliamentarian as she walked up to the podium to take oath as the speaker of Pakistan’s 13th National Assembly on March 19.

Later in an interview, she said: “Had (Bhutto) been alive, she would have been delighted,” tears welling up in her eyes, adding that the former prime minister always wanted women in high places.

“It’s like a historic moment and the speakership is not completely sinking in at the moment,” is how Dr Fehmida summed up her feelings on having assumed custodianship of the 342-member House, the largest ever in Pakistan’s parliamentary history.

When her attention was drawn to the constant comparisons being drawn between her and Bhutto or the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she smiled and said: “It is a great feeling and I am honoured. Obviously when I am compared and I am told that I resemble, it is an honour for me.”

Noting that perhaps this is something people are looking for in Bhutto’s absence, Dr Mirza observed: “She has been my inspiration, my leader and my friend.”

Charming and graceful, she was candid enough to admit that her semblance to Bhutto worked as an added advantage in her constituency — Badin. “Even in my constituency when I would cover my head and wear glasses people used to say that I resemble her. So this was the advantage I had in my constituency as well.”

“It is a great feeling,” was her response when asked how it felt being the first woman speaker of a male-dominated House where the words “Madam Speaker” echoed for the first time in Pakistan’s history on March 19, 2008.

Dr Mirza hastened to add that coming through the general elections she never thought in terms of gender. On a lighter note she went on to add: “Like somebody said there is a man in every woman.”

Having made history as the first woman parliamentarian to be elected speaker of the National Assembly in Pakistan, in the region and in the Islamic world, she is mindful of the huge responsibility the job entails.

That is precisely the reason Dr Mirza says she was initially reluctant when told that she would be the party candidate for the office of Speaker National Assembly.

“My first reaction was it is a big responsibility. For me if I take any job then I have to deliver and the last seven years have been hell for me,” she noted. However, finally she decided to take the plunge into the unchartered territory.

Dr Mirza says she learnt of her nomination for speakership a week before it was made. According to her this milestone move was the result of a conscious decision by the PPP leadership to nominate a woman parliamentarian as speaker of the House. Primarily a decision to honour the legacy of Bhutto in the wake of her assassination.

A few other names were also considered for the prized slot but in the end consensus emerged on Dr Mirza’s name because of her impressive electoral record. She swept three consecutive national elections (in 1997, 2002 and 2008), each time winning a general National Assembly seat in open electoral contest from Badin.

Dr Mirza sounded quite optimistic that proceedings of the House would be dignified with a woman parliamentarian in the Speaker’s chair at the National Assembly. That members would “behave” and not indulge in “unparliamentary” language. The Speaker was confident that “more tolerance and patience” would ensure order in the House.

Her main priority was clearly stated as she said: “I will be a fair-minded custodian of the House without political partisanship.” Specific steps in this direction would include giving representation to all the political parties and giving a voice to women parliamentarians.

Her recommendation to all political parties would be to give women representation and let them speak on diverse issues. In this context Dr Fehmida Mirza particularly mentioned the important ‘Question Hour’ and proposed that of the three supplementary questions one must be allocated to women members whose representation in the present National Assembly stands at 22.75 per, the highest ever.

Notably this is even higher than the 2007 global average of 17 per cent for female representation at the parliamentary level. Women hold 76 of 334 National Assembly seats decided in Pakistan’s February 2008 general elections. Of these, 16 were elected directly and 60 came on reserved seats.

Altaf Hussain, founder and self-exiled leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 13:26:00 -0800

http://improudpakistani.blogspot.comAltaf Hussain, founder and self-exiled leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) formerly known as the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, was born on September 17, 1953 in Karachi. He has seven brothers and four sisters.

His parents Nazir Hussain and mother Khurshid Begum both belonged to religious families of Agra, the city in Utter Pradesh state of India known for wonderful Taj Mahal. The father and grandfather, Mufti Muhammad Ramzan, of Altaf Hussain were Muftis of the city. His mother and maternal grandfather Haji Hafiz Rahim Bukhsh were also religious persons belonging to a known family of the city.

After the creation of Pakistan on August 14, 1947, parents of Altaf Hussain migrated to Pakistan with whole family and settled to a middle class locality of Karachi known as Ibn-e-Sena Lane. Altaf Hussain’s father died on March 13, 1967 while his mother passed away on December 5, 1985.

Altaf Hussain’s elder brother Nasir Hussain was a government employee so when the government allotted him a quarter at Jahangir Road, they shifted to Jahangir Road quarters. The founder of MQM and his family shifted to house in Block 8 of Azizabad neighbourhood in Federal B Area. The same house later became the MQM head office, also known as Nine-Zero (90), in Karachi.

He graduated from the Islamia Science College in Karachi and later studied at the University of Karachi in Department of Pharmacy but had to leave his higher education because of politics.

In 1970s, according to the MQM, Altaf Hussain joined the Pakistan Army under the compulsory National Cadet Service Scheme introduced by General Yahya Khan. His services were assigned to 57 Balochistan Regiment as soldier number 2642671. When his regiment was posted in Karachi from Hyderabad after completion of training, it was sent to erstwhile East Pakistan via ships.

According to the MQM version of the story, in interview for final selection, officers asked wherefrom his parents and when he said from India, the selection officer said he was Indian or Mohajir not Pakistani. He said he was Pakistani because was born in the country but the officer rejected him.

His political career started when he was a student at the University of Karachi and founded All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation (APMSO) on June 11, 1978. APMSO started gaining support of Urdu-speaking students (Mohajirs) and was able to win 92 seats in college elections in 1980. However, APMSO faced a strong opposition from Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami.

APMSO was restructured as Mohajir Qaumi Movement on March 18, 1984. On August 8, 1986, Altaf Hussain led first public convention of the party at Nishtar Park in Karachi.

Between 1990 and 1992, MQM was alleged to have been involved in widespread terrorist activities, including murder of dissidents, arson, torture and rape. Extortion had become so widespread within MQM circles that the army had to intervene.

Altaf Hussain credits himself as the first in Pakistan who introduced a new trend in the political culture by giving a non-feudal based political philosophy and forming a political party, which is the commonly associated as a representative of uneducated minorities. The party has been a coalition partner in governments of different parties.

MQM claims to be a political party of lower middle class population of Pakistan and boasts of sending poor and lower middle people to the Parliament for the first time in history of the country. It also claims to the third largest political party of the country and the second largest of the Sindh province.

On December 21, 1991 Altaf Hussain was attacked but he escaped. He fled Pakistan for Saudi Arabia on January 1, 1992 and after one month moved to London, United Kingdom. In 1992-93, Altaf Hussain’s brothers and nephews were killed and after a military operation was launched in Karachi on June 19, 1992, he sought political asylum in the United Kingdom because he faces criminal charges in Pakistan. Later he got citizenship of the UK and is still staying there.

Sindh Minority Affairs Minister Dr Mohan Lal Kohistani

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 13:22:00 -0800

Protest against minority affairs minister announced

By KASHIF KHAN

KARACHI: Different organisations of Hindus, Christians and Sikhs have announced that they would launch a protest campaign against the Sindh minority affairs minister for distributing financial assistance application forms for funds worth Rs 50 million - which his ministry has received for the welfare for minorities this year - to Pakistan People’s Party ministers and others close to him.

Last year, the minority affairs ministry had received Rs 100 million that were to be distributed among the underprivileged minority classes, and spent on renovation of temples, churches and gurdwaras and scholarships for minority students. However, the minority communities have claimed that they never received these funds.

Many people belonging to the minority communities took to the streets to protest against the misuse of these funds, and the higher authorities of the Sindh government had announced starting a probe into the matter, but no action was taken.

This year, Rs 50 million have been released to the ministry as part of its half-year budget for this purpose, but the minorities have claimed that Sindh Minority Affairs Minister Mohan Lal Kohistani had distributed 2,500 application forms for financial assistance among PPP ministers and leaders including Sindh Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani, Works and Services Minister Manzoor Ahmed Wassan and several MPAs and district presidents of the party.

The method to distribute these funds is simple. The ministry distributes the forms and a six-member committee, headed by the minority affairs minister and others, sign cheques worth Rs 5,000 each for the application forms received.

“Last year, not a single Sikh was given a penny, whereas there are around 3,000 Sikhs living in Sindh,” said Sikh Naujawan Saubha President Sardar Ramesh Singh. He said no Sikh was given a job, financial assistance and not a single gurdwara had been renovated so far.

“Even Hindus and Christians were ignored while distributing the funds,” said former MPA and All-Pakistan Minority Alliance Sindh Secretary General Michael Javed. He announced launching a protest drive against the provincial minister.

“The Sindh government should bring new favourable laws for religious minorities instead of distributing funds since they are misused,” said Pakistan Hindu Foundation President DM Maharaj.

“Not a single minority student was granted any scholarship and Lal distributed funds among the people of his hometown Thana Bola Khan,” said Minority Student Federation Sindh Secretary General Lekhraj Solanki. He said students would protest against Lal at the Hyderabad Press Club on Monday.

When contacted, the minority affairs minister admitted that the application forms had been given to PPP ministers and district presidents. “These minister and district presidents have minorities living in their constituencies as well, and the forms have been provided for them,” said Lal.

The minister rebutted the allegations that he was involved in the misappropriation of funds.

Nawabzada Mir Israr Ullah Khan Zehri Federal Minister for Postal Services

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 13:00:00 -0800

Nawabzada Mir Israr Ullah Khan Zehri

Federal Minister for Postal Services

Nawabzada Mir Israr Ullah Khan Zehri was born on December 15, 1965, in a well known Baloch family from Balochistan. He is the son of Chief of Jhalawan, Nawab Sardar Doda Khan Zehri. Zehri tribe exists not only in Balochistan but also in Sindh and Punjab. It has also its presence in some areas of Iran and Afghanistan. Jhalawan covers a vast territory of Balochistan and its important city is Khuzdar, the second largest city of Balochistan. He got his early education from St. Michel School Quetta and matriculation from Marie Classo School Karachi. He has done his graduation with major in Agriculture from UK.

Profile as Tribal Chief

Mir Israr Ullah Zehri initiated different projects for the welfare of the people in his area including establishment of Civil Dispensaries, Rural Health Centres and Primary Schools. He also started different schemes for the economic uplift of the area including provision of water and electricity for agriculture purposes and generation of employment opportunities in different sectors.

Profile as Politician

Mir Israr Ullah Zehri is the Central President of the Balochistan National Party (Awami). He started his parliamentary politics in 1990 when he was first elected as Member of Balochistan Provincial Assembly from Soarab, District Qallat. He was elected as member of the Provincial Assembly for three times.

Mir Israr Ullah Zehri also served as Provincial Minister in Balochistan Government from 1990 to 1999. During the period he held the portfolios of Health, Interior, Agriculture and Local Government.

His Vision as Political Leader

“I believe that the dream of a prosperous and developed Pakistan can only be achieved by first making Balochistan prosperous and developed. Its own reserves can better cater for the needs of the future Pakistan”.

Mir Israr Ullah Zehri envisions the prosperity and development of Pakistan in line with the progress and growth of Balochistan. Balochistan is a backward province but it has the richest mineral reserves in the world. A total of 315 mineral reserves are discovered so far but unfortunately we are only able to utilize 10 out of 315. He believes that we should try to serve our motherland with dedication and honesty so that we can stand proud with other nations of the world.

His Vision as Federal Minister for Postal Services

Pakistan Post is one of the oldest departments in the Sub-Continent and has a vast infrastructure with a dynamic access in every nook and corner of the country. Unfortunately proper attention was not given in the past at government level for the uplift of the department. I believe in team work and desire to equip Postal Services with modern technology so that the people can get better services at much cheaper rates. I will focus during my tenure to initiate new services for the people and make Pakistan Post a leading service provider in this sector. Its employees are the asset of Pakistan Post, their grievances will be properly addressed and in return I expect that they will serve the nation with full dedication and in true spirit, so that we can achieve our goal of serving people with Khidmat, Dianat and Amanat.

FARMAN HAYDER DEVOTED FRIENDS IN SELFISH LAND

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 11:53:00 -0800

DEVOTED FRIENDS IN SELFISH LAND

Farman Haider has been helping the needful in Abu Dhabi for more than nineteen years without distinguish of rears, languages and religions.

When he came in Abu Dhabi he promised to himself that when he would been able man he would help the others and now he fulfilled his promise. He worked markably for the betterment of people not only those who are free but for those who were in prison. He helped the people by money for re-settle the business whose business were nearly to be finished.

He gave the life dieing patient who were not able to get good cure due to lack of money. In his view education is very important so he mostly gives some donation to improve the education level and he encourage the student to get more and more education. According to him “In Abu Dhabi the function of Pakistani Educational Institution is not satisfactory”. He is actually a patriotic Pakistani. He feels proud when any action of his make Pakistan prosper and respected. His ideal personalities are Abdul Sattar Edhi, Ansar Burney, Andh chaudhri Abdul Rasheed, who are working great efforts for the welfare of the common man.

He said “Skill Full and hard working persons are still required in Abu Dhabi” In Abu Dhabi scientis, Scholar, Engineer, Teachers, Bankers Specialist of different fields are giving good name to the country of Pakistan not only this they are also providing foreign Exchange and in the progress of any country foreign exchange has value of Back bone.

He further said illegal arrival of any Pakistani make a great distress and also makes Pakistan defame.
Mr. Hyder, who first came to Abu Dhabi in 1986. He got position. In 1982 from Quetta. In Mechanical Technology Diploma. He worked in water & Electricity Department where Chief Engineer Sani Uddin Mirza helped him and guide him and got the job of Maintenance Supervision he employed as plant supervision at Tatel Tractbel Emirates O & M company for the last 14 years which is presently working on Al Taweelah A2 Project, Abu Dhabi,
He has three daughters and a son he admitted that due to welfare works he gives little time to his family.
Actually it is his great sacrifice for the humanity that he is not caring for his family.

He is helping the deprived people by morally, financially by physically. It is on pray May Allah bless him a lot of capability to achieve and bless him long life to full fill his mission to carrying out people from their trouble.

QAZI MUMTAZ IQBAL KABCA CONTROLLER (INTERVIEW)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 07:26:00 -0800

BIOGRAPHY OF SHAHEED Benazir Bhutto

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 02:51:00 -0800

Benazir Bhutto was born on 21 June 1953. She was a Pakistani politician who chaired the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a centre-left political party in Pakistan. Bhutto was the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state, having twice been Prime Minister of Pakistan (1988–1990; 1993–1996). She was Pakistan's first and to date only female prime minister. She was the eldest child of former Pakistani prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Nusrat Bhutto, and was the wife of current Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

Bhutto was sworn in as Prime Minister for the first time in 1988 at the age of 35, but was removed from office 20 months later under the order of then-president Ghulam Ishaq Khan on grounds of alleged corruption. In 1993 she was re-elected but was again removed in 1996 on similar charges, this time by president Farooq Leghari. She went into self-imposed exile in Dubai in 1998.

Bhutto returned to Pakistan on 18 October 2007, after reaching an understanding with President Pervez Musharraf by which she was granted amnesty and all corruption charges were withdrawn. She was assassinated on 27 December 2007, after departing a PPP rally in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, two weeks before the scheduled Pakistani general election of 2008 where she was a leading opposition candidate. The following year she was named one of seven winners of the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights.

Education and personal life

Benazir Bhutto was born at Pinto Hospital in Karachi, Dominion of Pakistan on 21 June 1953. She was the eldest child of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a Pakistani Shia Muslim of Sindhi Rajput descent, and Begum Nusrat Ispahani, a Shia Muslim Pakistani of Kurdish descent. Her paternal grandfather was Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto.

She attended the Lady Jennings Nursery School and Convent of Jesus and Mary in Karachi. After two years of schooling at the Rawalpindi Presentation Convent, she was sent to the Jesus and Mary Convent at Murree. She passed her O-level examinations at the age of 15. She then went on to complete her A-Levels at the Karachi Grammar School.

After completing her early education in Pakistan, she pursued her higher education in the United States. From 1969 to 1973 she attended Radcliffe College at Harvard University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree with cum laude honors in comparative government. She was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Bhutto would later call her time at Harvard "four of the happiest years of my life" and said it formed "the very basis of her belief in democracy". Later in 1995 as Prime Minister, she would arrange a gift from the Pakistani government to Harvard Law School. On June 2006, she received an Honorary LL.D degree from the University of Toronto.

The next phase of her education took place in the United Kingdom. Between 1973 and 1977 Bhutto studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, during which time she completed additional courses in International Law and Diplomacy. After LMH she attend St Catherine's College, Oxford and in December 1976 she was elected president of the Oxford Union, becoming the first Asian woman to head the prestigious debating society.

On 18 December 1987, she married Asif Ali Zardari in Karachi. The couple had three children: two daughters, Bakhtawar and Asifa, and a son, Bilawal.

Family

Benazir Bhutto's father, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was removed from office following a military coup in 1977 led by the then chief of army General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who imposed martial law but promised to hold elections within three months. Nevertheless, instead of fulfilling the promise of holding general elections, General Zia charged Mr. Bhutto with conspiring to murder the father of dissident politician Ahmed Raza Kasuri. Mr. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was sentenced to death by the martial law court.

Despite the accusation being "widely doubted by the public", and many clemency appeals from foreign leaders, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged on 4 April 1979. Appeals for clemency were dismissed by acting President General Zia. Benazir Bhutto and her mother were held in a "police camp" until the end of May, after the execution.

In 1985, Benazir Bhutto's brother Shahnawaz was killed under suspicious circumstances in France. In 1996, the killing of her other brother, Mir Murtaza, contributed to destabilizing her second term as Prime Minister. Murtaza, who had been outspoken in his accusations of corruption by his sister and her husband Zardari, was gunned down just outside of his home by police. This extrajudicial killing was almost certainly approved at the highest levels and it was widely believed to have been instigated directly by Bhutto's husband Zardari.

Struggle against martial law of General Zia-ul-Haq

After the overthrow of her father Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's government in a bloodless coup Benazir Bhutto spent the next eighteen months in and out of house arrest as she struggled to rally political support to force Zia to drop murder charges against her father. The military dictator ignored worldwide appeals for clemency and had Zulfikar Bhutto hanged in April 1979. Following the hanging of her father Bhutto was arrested repeatedly, however, following PPP's victory in the local elections Zia postponed the national elections indefinitely and moved Bhutto and her mother Nusrat Bhutto from Karachi to Larkana. This was seventh time Benazir had been arrested within two years of the military coup. Repeatedly put under house arrest, the regime finally imprisoned her under solitary confinement in a desert cell in Sindhi province during the summer of 1981. She described the conditions in her wall-less cage in her book "Daughter of Destiny":

"The summer heat turned my cell into an oven. My skin split and peeled, coming off my hands in sheets. Boils erupted on my face. My hair, which had always been thick, began to come out by the handful. Insects crept into the cell like invading armies. Grasshoppers, mosquitoes, stinging flies, bees and bugs came up through the cracks in the floor and through the open bars from the courtyard. Big black ants, cockroaches, seething clumps of little red ants and spiders. I tried pulling the sheet over my head at night to hide from their bites, pushing it back when it got too hot to breathe."

After her six month imprisonment in Sukkur jail, she remained hospitalized for months after which she was shifted to Karachi Central Jail, where she remained imprisoned till 11 December 1981. She was then placed under house arrests in Larkana and Karachi eleven and fourteen months respectively.

Movement for Restoration of Democracy

As restrictions on press and media were intensified and persecution of political activist increased Bhutto realized that only way to fight Zia's regime was to unite with a section of the opposition Pakistan National Alliance. The talks with PNA were successful and Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD) was established. The movement was widely supported by people of Pakistan and brutally repressed by the junta. The MRD included sections of Pakistani society that were outside Zia's preview of Islamization of the country, like Shiites, ethnic minorities such as Balochs, Pathans and Sindhis and Bhutto's own PPP. While Benazir spent most of the time under house arrests and imprisonments the MRD movement continued its protests against the regime. An estimated twenty thousand PPP workers were killed and between 40,000 to 150,000 people made political prisoners in crackdown by Zia.
Self-exile in London
In January 1984, after six years of house arrests and imprisonment, Zia succumbed to international pressure and allowed Bhutto to travel abroad for medical reasons. After undergoing a surgery she resumed her political activities and began to raise concerns about the mistreatment of political prisoners in Pakistan at the behest of Zia regime. The intensified pressure forced Zia into holding a referendum to give certain legitimacy to his government. The referendum held on 1 December 1984 proved a farce and due to only ten percent voter turnout despite use of state machinery.

Further pressure from the international community forced Zia into holding elections, for a unicameral legislature on a non-party basis. The PPP thus announced a boycott of the election on the grounds that they were not being held in accordance with the constitution of Pakistan. She continued to raise voice against human rights violations by the regime and addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg in 1985,

"When the conscience of the world is justly aroused against apartheid and against human rights violations.. then that conscience ought not to close its eyes to the murder by military courts which takes place in a country which receives.. aid from the West itself." The speech was responded by the Zia regime with announcement of death sentences of 54 PPP workers in a military court in Lahore.

Prime minister

First term

At left during Parliamentary session in 1998-1999. From left: Chaudhry Muhammad Barjees Tahir, Ajmal Khattak, Aitzaz Ahsan, Benazir Bhutto.
Benazir Bhutto on a visit to Washington, D.C. in 1989

Bhutto, who had returned to Pakistan after completing her studies, found herself placed under house arrest in the wake of her father's imprisonment and subsequent execution. Having been allowed in 1984 to return to the United Kingdom, she became a leader in exile of the PPP, her father's party, though she was unable to make her political presence felt in Pakistan until after the death of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. She had succeeded her mother as leader of the PPP and the pro-democracy opposition to the Zia-ul-Haq regime.

The seat from which Benazir contested for the post of Prime Minister, was the same one from which her father had previously contested, namely, NA 207. This seat was first contested in 1926 by the late Sardar Wahid Bux Bhutto, in the first ever elections in Sindh. The elections were for the Central Legislative Assembly of India. Sardar Wahid Bux won, and became not only the first elected representative from Sindh to a democratically elected parliament, but also the youngest member of the Central Legislative Assembly, aged 27. Wahid Bux's achievement was monumental as it was he who was the first Bhutto elected to a government, from a seat which would, thereafter always be contested by his family members. Therefore, it was he who provided the breakthrough and a start to this cycle. Sardar Wahid Bux went on to be elected to the Bombay Council as well. After Wahid Bux's untimely and mysterious death at the age of 33, his younger brother Nawab Nabi Bux Bhutto contested from the same seat and remained undefeated until retirement. It was he who then gave this seat to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to contest.

On 16 November 1988, in the first open election in more than a decade, Bhutto's PPP won the largest bloc of seats in the National Assembly. Bhutto was sworn in as Prime Minister of a coalition government on December 2, becoming at age 35 the youngest person—and the first woman—to head the government of a Muslim-majority state in modern times. In 1989, Benazir was awarded the Prize For Freedom by the Liberal International. Bhutto's accomplishments during this time were in initiatives for nationalist reform and modernization, that some conservatives characterized as Westernization.

Bhutto's government was dismissed in 1990 following charges of corruption, for which she was never tried. Zia's protégé Nawaz Sharif came to power after the October 1990 elections. She served as leader of the opposition while Sharif served as Prime Minister for the next three years.

Second term

In October 1993 elections were held again and her PPP coalition was victorious, her to continue her reform initiatives. 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. In 1996, amidst various corruption scandals Bhutto was dismissed by then-president Farooq Leghari, who used the Eighth Amendment discretionary powers to dissolve the government. The Supreme Court affirmed President Leghari's dismissal in a 6-1 ruling. Criticism against Bhutto came from the Punjabi elites and powerful landlord families who opposed Bhutto. She blamed this opposition for the destabilization of Pakistan. Musharraf characterized Bhutto's terms as an "era of sham democracy" and others characterized her terms a period of corrupt, failed governments.

Policies for women

During the election campaigns the Bhutto government voiced its concern for women's social and health issues, including the issue of discrimination against women. Bhutto announced plans to establish women's police stations, courts, and women's development banks. Despite these plans, Bhutto did not propose any legislation to improve welfare services for women. During her election campaigns, she promised to repeal controversial laws (such as Hudood and Zina ordinances) that curtail the rights of women in Pakistan. Bhutto was pro-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."

The Zina ordinance was finally repealed by a Presidential Ordinance issued by Pervez Musharraf in July 2006.

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

Policy on Taliban

The Taliban took power in Kabul in September 1996. It was during Bhutto's rule that the Taliban gained prominence in Afghanistan.She, like many leaders at the time, viewed the Taliban as a group that could stabilize Afghanistan and enable trade access to the Central Asian republics, according to author Stephen Coll. He claims that like the United States, her government provided military and financial support for the Taliban, even sending a small unit of the Pakistani army into Afghanistan.

More recently, she took an anti-Taliban stance, and condemned terrorist acts allegedly committed by the Taliban and their supporters.

Charges of corruption

After the dismissal of Bhutto's first government on August 6, 1990 by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan on the grounds of corruption government of Pakistan issued directives to its intelligence agencies to investigate the allegations. After fourth national elections, 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.

A 1998 New York Times investigative report 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 to Dassault, 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. 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.

Yet the assets held by Bhutto and her husband continue to be scrutinized and speculated about. The prosecutors have alleged that their Swiss bank accounts contain £740 million. Zardari also bought a neo-Tudor mansion and estate worth over £4 million in Surrey, England, UK. 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. Bhutto denied holding substantive overseas assets.

Despite numerous cases and charges of corruption registered against Bhutto by Nawaz Sharif between 1996–1999 and Pervez Musharraf from 1999 till 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 Pakistan Peoples Party in 2008.

Early 2000s in exile

In 2002, Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf amended Pakistan's constitution to ban prime ministers from serving more than two terms. This disqualified Bhutto from ever holding the office again. This move was widely considered to be a direct attack on former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. On 3 August 2003, Bhutto became a member of Minhaj ul Quran International (an international Muslim educational and welfare organization).

While living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, she cared for her three children and her mother Nusrat, who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, traveling to give lectures and keeping in touch with the PPP's supporters. They were reunited with her husband in December 2004 after more than five years. 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. On 27 January 2007, she was invited by the United States to speak to President George W. Bush and Congressional and State Department officials. 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.

Bhutto had declared her intention to return to Pakistan within 2007, which she did, in spite of Musharraf's statements of May 2007 about not allowing her to return ahead of the country's general election, due late 2007 or early 2008. It was speculated that she may have been offered the office of Prime Minister again.

Arthur Herman, a U.S. historian, in a controversial letter published in The Wall Street Journal on 14 June 2007, in response to an article by Bhutto highly critical of the president and his policies, described her as "One of the most incompetent leaders in the history of South Asia," and asserted that she and other elites in Pakistan hate Musharraf because he was a muhajir, the son of one of millions of Indian Muslims who fled to Pakistan during independence in 1947. Herman claimed, "Although it was muhajirs who agitated for the creation of Pakistan in the first place, many native Pakistanis view them with contempt and treat them as third-class citizens."

Nonetheless, by mid-2007, the U.S. appeared to be pushing for a deal in which Musharraf would remain as president but step down as military head, and either Bhutto or one of her nominees would become prime minister.

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

Benazir 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."

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 criticize 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 capitalize on its CEC member, Aitzaz Ahsan, the chief Barrister for the Chief Justice, in successful restoration. Rather he was seen as a rival and was isolated.

2002 election

The Bhutto-led PPP secured the highest number of votes (28.42%) and eighty seats (23.16%) in the national assembly in the October 2002 general elections. Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) managed to win eighteen seats only. Some of the elected candidates of PPP formed a faction of their own, calling it PPP-Patriots which was being led by Faisal Saleh Hayat, the former leader of Bhutto-led PPP. They later formed a coalition government with Musharraf's party, PML-Q.

Return to Pakistan

Possible deal with the Musharraf Government

In mid-2002 Musharraf implemented a two-term limit on Prime Ministers. Both Bhutto and Musharraf's other chief rival, Nawaz Sharif, have already served two terms as Prime Minister. Musharraf's allies in parliament, especially the PMLQ, are unlikely to reverse the changes to allow Prime Ministers to seek third terms, nor to make particular exceptions for either Bhutto or Sharif.

In July 2007, some of Bhutto's frozen funds were released. 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. On September 1, 2007, Bhutto vowed to return to Pakistan "very soon", regardless of whether or not she reached a power-sharing deal with Musharraf before then.

On September 17, 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 Babar stated 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."

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 October 8 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 amnesty versus pending corruption charges. She has emphasized the smooth transition and return to civilian rule and has asked Pervez Musharraf to shed uniform.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.In return, Bhutto and the PPP agreed not to boycott the Presidential election. 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. Later, Bhutto demanded security coverage on-par with the President's. Bhutto also contracted foreign security firms for her protection.

Return

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 September 28, 2007, with reporter Wolf Blitzer of CNN, she readily admitted the possibility of attack on herself.

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

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. She was escorted unharmed from the scene.

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 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 has 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. 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

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."

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.

During a telephone interview with National Public Radio in the United States, Ms. Bhutto said "I have freedom of movement within the house. I do not have freedom of movement outside the house. They've got a heavy police force inside the house, and we've got a very heavy police force - 4,000 policemen around the four walls of my house, 1,000 on each. They've even entered the neighbors' house. And I was just telling one of the policemen, I said 'should you be here after us? Should not you be looking for Osama bin Laden?' And he said, 'I'm sorry, ma'am, this is our job. We're just doing what we are told.'"

The following day, the Pakistani government announced that Bhutto's arrest warrant had been withdrawn and that she would be 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

On 2 November 2007, Bhutto participated in an interview with David Frost on Al Jazeera where she claimed Osama Bin Laden had been murdered by Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who is also 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.

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.

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 December 16. 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.

On 4 December 2007, Bhutto met with Nawaz Sharif to publicize 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 which would present to Musharraf the list of demands upon which their participation in the election was contingent.
On 8 December 2007, three unidentified gunmen stormed Bhutto's PPP office in the southern western province of Baluchistan. Three of Bhutto's supporters were killed.

Assassination

On 27 December 2007, Bhutto was killed while leaving a campaign rally for the PPP at Liaquat National Bagh, where she had given a spirited address to party supporters 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.[84] 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.

Bhutto's body was flown to her hometown of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in Larkana District, Sindh, and was buried next to her father in the family mausoleum at a ceremony attended by hundreds of thousands of mourners.

There was some disagreement about the exact cause of death. Bhutto's husband refused to permit an autopsy or post-mortem examination to be carried out. On 28 December 2007, the Interior Ministry of Pakistan stated that "Bhutto was killed when she tried to duck back into the vehicle, and the shock waves from the blast knocked her head into a lever attached to the sunroof, fracturing her skull". However, a hospital spokesman stated earlier that she had suffered shrapnel wounds to the head and that this was the cause of her death. Bhutto's aides have also disputed the Interior Ministry's account. On December 31, CNN posted the alleged emergency room admission report as a PDF file. The document appears to have been signed by all the admitting physicians and notes that no object was found inside the wound.

Al-Qaeda commander Mustafa Abu al-Yazid claimed responsibility for the attack, describing Bhutto as "the most precious American asset." The Pakistani government also stated that it had proof that al-Qaeda was behind the assassination. A report for CNN stated: "the Interior Ministry also earlier told Pakistan's Geo TV that the suicide bomber belonged to Lashkar i Jhangvi—an al-Qaeda-linked militant group that the government has blamed for hundreds of killings". The government of Pakistan claimed Baitullah Mehsud was the mastermind behind the assassination. Lashkar i Jhangvi, a Wahabi Muslim extremist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda that also attempted in 1999 to assassinate former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is alleged to have been responsible for the killing of the 54-year-old Bhutto along with approximately 20 bystanders, however this is vigorously disputed by the Bhutto family, by the PPP that Bhutto had headed and by Baitullah Mehsud. On 3 January 2008, President Musharraf officially denied participating in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto as well as failing to provide her proper security.

Reaction in Pakistan

After the assassination, there were initially a number of riots resulting in approximately 20 deaths, of which three were of police officers. Around 250 cars were burnt; angry and upset supporters of Bhutto threw rocks outside the hospital where she was being held. Through December 29, 2007, the Pakistani government said rioters had wrecked nine election offices, 176 banks, 34 gas stations, 72 train cars, 18 rail stations, and hundreds of cars and shops. President Musharraf decreed a three-day period of mourning.

On 30 December 2007, at a news conference following a meeting of the PPP leadership, Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari and son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari announced that 19-year-old Bilawal will succeed his mother as titular head of the party, with his father effectively running the party until his son completes his studies at Christ Church, Oxford. "When I return, I promise to lead the party as my mother wanted me to," Bilawal said. The PPP called for parliamentary elections to take place as scheduled on 8 January 2008, and Asif Ali Zardari said that vice-chair Makhdoom Amin Fahim would probably be the party's candidate for prime minister. (Bilawal is not of legal age to stand for parliament.)

On December 30, Bhutto's political party, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), called for the UK Government and the United Nations to help conduct the investigation of her death. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has been appointed chairman of his late mother's opposition political party in Pakistan. Bilawal is only 19 years old. On 5 February 2008, the PPP released Mrs. Bhutto's political will which she wrote two weeks before returning to Pakistan and only 12 weeks before she was killed, stating that her husband Asif Ali Zardari would be the leader of the party, until a new leader is elected.

International reaction

The international reaction to Bhutto's assassination was of strong condemnation across the international community. The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting and unanimously condemned the assassination. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa stated that, "We condemn this assassination and terrorist act, and pray for God Almighty to bless her soul." India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was "deeply shocked and horrified to hear of the heinous assassination of Mrs. Benazir Bhutto. ... My heartfelt condolences go to her family and the people of Pakistan who have suffered a grievous blow." British Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated, "Benazir Bhutto may have been killed by terrorists but the terrorists must not be allowed to kill democracy in Pakistan and this atrocity strengthens our resolve that terrorists will not win there, here or anywhere in the world." European Commission President José Manuel Barroso condemned the assassination as "an attack against democracy and against Pakistan," and "hopes that Pakistan will remain firmly on track for return to democratic civilian rule." US President George W. Bush condemned the assassination as a "cowardly act by murderous extremists," and encouraged Pakistan to "honor Benazir Bhutto's memory by continuing with the democratic process for which she so bravely gave her life." Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone expressed the sadness of Pope Benedict XVI, saying that "the Holy Father expresses sentiments of deep sympathy and spiritual closeness to the members of her family and to the entire Pakistani nation." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang said that China was "shocked at the killing of Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto" and "strongly condemns the terrorist attack."

Scotland Yard investigation

British detectives were asked by the Pakistan Government to investigate the assassination. Although expressing reservations as to the difficulty in investigating due to the crime scene having been hosed down and Asif Zardari refusing permission for a post mortem, they announced on 8 February 2008 that Benazir Bhutto had been killed on impact by the knob of the sun roof following the bomb explosion.

UN inquiry

A formal investigation by the UN commenced on July 1, 2009.

B. Bhutto was one of the key political figures of Pakistan's Nuclear Program. Bhutto maintained close and friendly relationships with many prominent Pakistan's nuclear scientists. Benazir Bhutto also carried messages to Munir Ahmad Khan from her father and back in 1979 as Prime Minister Z.A. Bhutto had instructed her daughter to remain in touch with the Chairman of PAEC.

Shyam Bhatia, an Indian journalist, alleged in his book Goodbye Shahzadi that in 1993, Bhutto had downloaded secretive information on uranium enrichment to give to North Korea in exchange for information on developing ballistic missiles. Bhatia alleges that Bhutto had asked him to not tell the story during her lifetime. Nuclear expert David Albright of the Institute of Science and International Security said the allegations "made sense" given the timeline of North Korea's nuclear development. 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 Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C. denied the claims and an United States official dismissed them, insisting that Abdul Qadeer Khan, who had been accused of proliferating secrets before to North Korea (only to later deny them prior to Bhatia's book), was the source.

Even when Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan's nuclear scandal came into public, Bhutto vowed that if she elected for Prime Minister of Pakistan as a third time she would allowed IAEA inspectors to investigate Dr. Khan. However, when her statement on-aired on Pakistani televisions, Bhutto faced a strong criticism from Pakistani civil society as well as strong response in her own party. A few hours later, she reverted her statement, her spokesperson Nahid Khan said that her statement was misunderstood.

Legacy

Commenting on her legacy, the acclaimed south Asia expert William Dalrymple commented 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".

The Pakistani government honoured Bhutto on her birth anniversary by renaming the Islamabad International Airport as Benazir Bhutto International Airport after her. 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.

The city of Nawabshah in Sindh was renamed Benazirabad in her honor. A university in the Dir Upper district of NWFP is opened in her name.

Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), a program which provides benefits to the poorest Pakistanis, is named after Bhutto.

Benazir Bhutto's books

* Benazir Bhutto, (1983), Pakistan: The gathering storm, Vikas Pub. House,
* Benazir Bhutto (1989). Daughter of the East. Hamish Hamilton.

Daughter of the East was also released as:

* Benazir Bhutto (1989). Daughter of Destiny: An Autobiography. Simon & Schuster.

At the time of Bhutto's death, the manuscript for her third book, to be called Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West, had been received by HarperCollins. The book, written with Mark Siegel, was published in February 2008.

* Benazir Bhutto (2008). Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West. HarperCollins.

"Democracy is the best revenge" Benazir Bhutto

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 02:51:00 -0800

"Democracy is the best revenge" Benazir Bhutto

The eldest of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s four children, Benazir Bhutto was born in Karachi on June 21, 1953. Her mother Begum Nusrat Bhutto was of Kurdish-Iranian origin while her paternal grandfather was Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto, a Sindhi and a key figure in Pakistan’s Independence Movement.

She attended Lady Jennings Nursery School and then the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Karachi. After two years of schooling at the Rawalpindi Presentation Convent, she was sent to the Jesus and Mary Convent at Murree. She passed her O-level examinations at the age of 15.

In April 1969, she was admitted to Harvard University’s Radcliffe College. In June 1973, she graduated from Harvard with a degree in political science. During her time at college, she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She attended Oxford University in the autumn of 1973 and graduated with an MA degree in philosophy, politics, and economics. She was elected President of the prestigious Oxford Union.

After completing university education, she returned to Pakistan shortly before her father was overthrown by General Ziaul Haq on July 5, 1977. She campaigned for her imprisoned father in 1977-79 along with her mother Nusrat Bhutto, who became chairperson of the PPP. From 1977 to 1984 she suffered long periods in detention. She provided a detailed account of this traumatic period in her autobiography: ‘Daughter of the East’ (1988).

Having been allowed in 1984 to go back to the United Kingdom, she became leader in exile of the PPP but was unable to make her political presence felt in Pakistan until the death of General Ziaul Haq on August 17, 1988 despite receiving a tumultuous homecoming in April 1986.

In July 1987, she married Asif Zardari, a member of a landowning family from Sindh.

Her party won 1988 elections although it did not obtain an absolute majority and much her energy was dissipated by her conflict with Punjab Chief Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was also leader of the national opposition Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (Islamic Democratic Alliance). Following the collapse of the PPP-Muttahida Qaumi Movement alliance in October 1989, there was mounting ethnic violence in her home province. The May 1990 Pucca Qila incident in Hyderabad intensified the violence throughout Sindh. President Ghulam Ishaq Khan cited the deteriorating law and order situation when he dismissed the Bhutto government on August 6, 1990. Benazir Bhutto was charged with corruption and misuse of power, while her husband was arrested on a kidnap charge.

When Nawaz Sharif became prime minister of the country after the October 1990 elections, there was continuous conflict between him and Benazir Bhutto during the next two years. In January 1993, however, a more conciliatory atmosphere emerged which saw Benazir Bhutto elected as chair of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. Zardari was released on bail shortly afterwards.

Benazir Bhutto returned to power following the October 1993 polls after the president dismissed Nawaz Sharif, his reinstatement by the Supreme Court in May and the deal brokered by the army in which both the president and premier resigned. Benazir’s relations with her mother were strained over her becoming sole PPP chair and by claim of her brother Murtaza Bhutto to his father’s political legacy when he returned from exile in November 1993.

The greatest threats to her government however emanated from the 1994-95 unchecked violence in Karachi and the deteriorating economic situation in 1996. She was dismissed from office by President Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari in November 1996 and her husband was arrested in connection with the death of her brother along with his six supporters in an encounter with police on September 19, 1996 as well as of accepting kickbacks. Again accused of nepotism and corruption, Benazir Bhutto was placed under house arrest, though never officially charged with anything.

It was during Benazir Bhutto’s rule that the Taliban gained prominence in Afghanistan due to her support. Benazir and the Taliban were openly opposed to each other when it came to social issues, however, she saw the Taliban as a group that could stabilise Afghanistan and then allow economic access to trade with Central Asian Republics. Her government provided military and financial support for the Taliban, even as far as sending a very small number of the army into Afghanistan. The Taliban took power in Kabul in September 1996.

Less than a year later, she again attempted to regain power but in February 1997 elections, Nawaz Sharif celebrated a landslide victory over the PPP as his Pakistan Muslim League (PML) won a resounding 134 of 217 seats in the National Assembly while the PPP was reduced to a mere 19 seats and virtually erased from the Punjab Assembly.

In 1999, Benazir and Zardari were convicted of corruption. Benazir appealed the verdict while living in exile in England and the United Arab Emirates. In 2001, the Supreme Court set aside the corruption charges against the couple and ordered their retrial but a Swiss court convicted them of money laundering in 2003. Benazir was barred from running in the 2002 parliamentary elections. Zardari was released from prison in 2004 and Benazir and her three children (Bilawal Zardari, Bakhtawar Zardari and Asifa Zardari) reunited with Zardari in December 2004 after more than five years.

Since then, Benazir and her family lived in Dubai, where she cared for her children and her mother, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. From Dubai she travelled around the world giving lectures and keeping in touch with the PPP supporters.

On the request of the Pakistan government, Interpol issued a request for her arrest and that of her husband in 2006. She is a dual national with Pakistani and British citizenship.

In 2002, General Pervez Musharraf introduced a new amendment to the Constitution, banning prime ministers from serving more than two terms. This disqualifies Benazir from ever holding the office again. However, the PPP got the highest number of votes and 62 seats in the National Assembly in the October 2002 general elections.

Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan from the UAE on October 18, 2007 and millions of people from across the country gathered in Karachi to welcome her. She was leading her homecoming process along with other party leaders onboard a bullet-proof lorry when a bomb blast occurred her vehicle, killing nearly 150 people. She was leading her party in January 8, 2007 elections and filed her nomination papers to contest election to the National Assembly on two seats. However, she also filed her nomination for election on a reserved seat for women.

Twice-elected Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was running campaign of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) for January 8, 2008 election and was shot dead when she left Liaquat Bagh -- a park named after the country's first prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan because he was shot dead while addressing a rally there on October 16, 1951 -- after addressing a rally on December 27, 2007.

She was waving to the supporters from the sunroof of her vehicle when the assailant fired two gunshots at her and simultaneously triggered a suicide blast. One of the two bullets pierced her skull. She had already died when rushed to the Rawalpindi General Hospital. She had a hole in the front side (almost) of her skull. The bullet left from the rear side tearing her brain apart.

Her dead body was handed over her spouse, Asif Ali Zardari, who had reached Rawalpindi from Dubai along with his three children -- Bilawal Zardari, Bakhtawar Zardari and Asifa Zardari. The body was taken to the Chaklala Airbase from where a C-130 plane flew it to Sukkur for onward journey onboard a helicopter to Larkana, hometown of Bhutto. She was laid to rest next to her father in their ancestral graveyard at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh. Thousands of people attended her funeral.

As the news of Bhutto’s death broke, violence gripped the country and at least 19 persons were killed and rioters burnt hundreds of shops, vehicles and government offices in various parts of the country in the first 24 hours since her death.

Benazir Bhutto authored two books, ‘Foreign Policy in Perspective’ (1978) and her autobiography, ‘Daughter of the East’ (1989). Several collections of her speeches and works have been compiled, including ‘The Way Out’ (1988). Three books about Benazir have been published in India: ‘Benazir’s Pakistan’ (1989); ‘The Trial of Benazir’ (1989); and ‘Benazir Bhutto: Opportunities and Challenges’ (1989).

Shahbaz Sharif - President of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) profile & pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 02:24:00 -0800

Shahbaz Sharif

Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, also known as Shahbaz Sharif is a well known Pakistani politician and currently President of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N). He is the brother of Nawaz Sharif, former Prime Minister of Pakistan. He is the incumbent Chief Minister of Pakistan's most populous province Punjab since 2008. Previously, he held this position from 1997 to 1999, when his government was overturned along with all other provincial and federal governments by dictator Pervaiz Musharraf then army chief of Pakistan, in a pre-planned coup.

History and Background

He was considered a very strict administrator and good chief minister of Punjab but he also get criticism that he was a powerful chief minister of Punjab because his brother was Prime Minister of Pakistan.

He has credit of renewing Lahore and lot of development work in Punjab. Despite all controversies, Shahbaz Sharif is remembered as the best cheif minister any province in Pakistan ever had.

Family

Mian Shahbaz Sharif is the second son of a Kashmiri, named Mian Muhammad Sharif. Shahbaz Sharif's first marriage was with his cousin Nusrat Shahbaz in 1973, with the approval of his father, the late Mian Muhammad Sharif. They have two sons, Hamza and Salman and three daughters. Hamza Shahbaz is in politics and is a member of the National Assembly. Salman Shahbaz, educated at Oxford, concentrates mainly on business. Shahbaz Sharif's second marriage was with Aaliya Honey in 1993-94. They have one daughter, Khadija. He divorced her while in exile in Saudi Arabia. It is claimed that Shahbaz Sharif has a third marriage with Tehmina Durrani but he never publicly admitted it. This is the third marriage for both of them.

First term Chief Minister of Punjab

He was considered a strict and demanding administrator as the chief minister of Punjab. He received some criticism because he took charge of the office when his brother was the Prime Minister of Pakistan [citation needed] He was ousted along with his brother in the 1999 military coup, which brought Pervez Musharraf to power. He had been a famous chief minster due to his strict administration, workaholic nature and public welfare projects all over the Punjab province. He is known as Khadama Punjab these days.

Exile

Shahbaz Sharif lived in exile in London with his brother, the exiled former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif after coming from Saudi Arabia. He once tried coming back to Pakistan following a High Court decision that he was free to come back whenever he wanted. On May 11, 2004 his plane landed at Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore but he was arrested and again deported to Saudi Arabia within a few hours.

President of Pakistan Muslim League (N)

Mian Shahbaz Sharif was elected President of PML (N) on 3 August 2002 while in exile in Saudi Arabia. He was re-elected President of PML(N) for a second term on 2 August 2006.

Popular among educated, civil & armed services and the middle-class, he is thought of as a strong future candidate to become Prime Minister, of Pakistan.

Return to Pakistan

In August 2007, Supreme Court of Pakistan gave its verdict which allowed Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif to return back to Pakistan.

On September 7, 2007, judge Shabbir Hussain Chatha ordered police to arrest Shahbaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz Sharif and produce him before the court, after the hearing in Lahore. The court ruled that "Shahbaz Sharif should be arrested (at) whichever airport he lands at." Nawaz Sharif too faces detention on the pair's planned return from exile to Pakistan on September 10, 2007, to challenge President Pervez Musharraf's 8-year military rule.

His brother Mian Shahbaz Sharif changed return plans at the last minute.

Sharif was not allowed to participate in the 2008 elections because of allegations against him. His son Hamza Sharif was supposed to run from a NA seat in Lahore but due to the death of a candidate the elections were postponed.

Second term as Chief Minister

On 8 June 2008, Shahbaz Sharif was elected as Chief Minister of Punjab, receiving 265 votes from the members of the 371-seat provincial assembly. He was the only candidate, and the Pakistan Muslim League-Q boycotted the vote. Speaking after his election, he called on Musharraf to resign. He won a vote of confidence on 9 June, receiving 266 votes.

Mian Shahbaz Sharif after becoming Chief Minister of Punjab was welcomed by the public and media who were keen to see how he pursues his unfinished agenda of public welfare and reforms in education sector.

His second term as Chief Minister lasted until 25 February 2009, when a three-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, headed by Justice Moosa K. Leghari, declared him ineligible to contest elections, took away his seat in the Punjab Assembly, and thereby removed him from office. On 31 March 2009, a five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court granted stay order on an earlier decision of the apex court, in which Mian Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif were disqualified from holding public office. As a result, Shahbaz Sharif returned to office as Chief Minister. He is fighting against corruption in the society in general and government functionaries in particular. He seems to have vision; a mega plan to transform Lahore into a true High-Tech City in Pakistan as well as an important high tech center in the entire world.

Bushra Ansari Actress/ Singer/ Entertainer/ Producer/ Anchor Person/ Writer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 02:22:00 -0800

Name: Bushra Ansari
Occupation: Actress/ Singer/ Entertainer/ Producer/ Anchor Person/ Writer
Websites: None
Detailed Profile: None
Wiki Page: Bushra Ansari

Bushra Ansari, is a Pakistani television compere, actress and producer. Bushra Ansari was born in Karachi. She is daughter of an eminent journalist and writer Ahmad Bashir. Bushra studied in Lahore at Lady Griffin School and then she did intermediate from famous Lahore College for Women University, completed her BA in 1977 from Waqarunnisa College in Rawalpindi.[1][2]

Bushra married TV producer Iqbal Ansari on June 11, 1978, who encouraged her to resume acting. Together her and Ansari have two daughters. Her younger daughter, Meera Ansari, is also an actor. She recently appeared in singer Amanat Ali's music video, Kohram.

Her first appearance was in one of his productions, and since then she has appeared in many programmes, including Angan Tehra, Show Time, Fifty Fifty, Show Sha, Rang Tarang, and Emergency Ward.Bushra is a popular and versatile actress, equally at ease with comedy or serious drama. She is an excellent singer, a lively compere, and a gifted mimic. She has also worked as a model. Bushra has visited many countries and won many awards, including the Pride of Performance Award in 1989.

Presently Bushra Ansari host a television show Brunch with Bushra on Geo TV. The show is On Air on every Sunday. Ansari also starts in the drama Makaan on Geo TV.

Bushra is a popular and versatile actress, equally at ease with comedy or serious drama. She is an excellent singer, a lively compere, and a gifted mimic. She has also worked as a model. Bushra has visited many countries and won many awards, including the Pride of Performance Award in 1989.

Presently Bushra Ansari host a television show Brunch with Bushra on Geo TV. The show is On Air on every Sunday. Bushra has won many awards & was recently awarded ‘Benazir Women Excellence Award’ for Best Entertainer.

Aafia Siddiqui

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 02:14:00 -0800

Name: Aafia Siddiqui

Occupation: Neuroscients

Date of Birth: March 2, 1972

Websites: Aafia Siddiqui

Detailed Profile:

Wiki Page: Aafia Siddiqui

Aafia Siddiqui a pakistani neuroscientist and a mother of three, accused of being an al-Qaeda member in US. She studied and stayed in the US for 10 years and did her PhD in genetics. Aafia was arrested by the intelligence agencies from karachi on March 30, 2003 on her way to catch a flight for Rawalpindi.

Sadia Imam Actress/ Model

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 02:09:00 -0800

Name: Sadia Imam
Occupation: Actress/ Model
Websites: None
Detailed Profile: None
Wiki Page: None

Sadia Imam is Pakistani Television actress and model. Sadia has not only played various roles in Drama Serials and Long Plays but has also participated as a model in commercials. She is very talented actress. She is a gorgeous young woman.
She is the sister of actress and comedian Aliya Imam and started her career in the early 90's in a negative role. The Pakistani public loved her and she became an instant hit. Since then Sadia Imam has worked in major leading roles with big stars and under famous production companies. She has starred opposite every famous leading actor in Pakistan.
Early life and career

She comes from Islamabad. She started doing radio shows from Islamabad when she was in sixth grade. When her sister, Aliya Imam, started doing TV plays, that's when Sadia was discovered. And surprisingly enough the one to spot her was a Karaci, the famous image-maker, Nabila. And one fine day Nabila called, and the official tele-operator of the family, as she's the youngest, Sadia answered the phone. This is when she was really discovered. In the tenth grade at the time, Sadia did her first ever shoot with Nabila and Tapu Javeri. And after one and a half years Sadia got her first break, a commercial for a tea brand that led her to the city of lights, Karachi. She says that she was only here in Karachi for three days and she has been living there since. Her first interaction with TV was through Zaheer Khan. She did Uljhan with producer Kazim Pasha for Karachi TV, and was encouraged by many to keep appearing on the screen. She was born in 1969.She also married 2005 in Australian citizen Pakistani born Aslam Khan.

Credits

Drama Serials

* Uljhan (PTV)
* Colony 52
* Jab Jab Dil Miley (PTV)
* Hum Se Juda Na Hona (PTV)
* Dil Dard Dhuan (ARY)
* Aangan Bhar Chandni (ARY)
* Tapish (PTV)
* Dohri (ARY)
* Koonj (Eveready Pictures) (Geo TV)
* Uljhan (PTV)
* Meray Naseeb Ki Barishain (GEO TV)

Sitcoms

* Dolls & Dude (Geo TV)
* Adha Chehra (PTV)

Soaps

* Sirf Aik Baar (TV One)

Producer credits

* Tapish (PTV)
* Kachi Neend Kay Khwab

Younus Khan Cricketer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 01:56:00 -0800

Name: Younus Khan
Occupation: Cricketer
Born On: 29-November
Websites: None
Detailed Profile: Younus Khan
Wiki Page: Younus Khan

Younus Khan is an aggressive middle-order batsman with flourishing stroke-play. He made his debut against Sri Lanka in 2000 and has progressed rapidly since. He was one of the few batsmen who retained his place in the team after Pakistan's disastrous 2003 World Cup campaign.

With a smiling and merry attitude, Younus Khan is capable of playing the big innings time and again. He is particularly strong in the arc from backward point to extra cover. Khan is a flamboyant batsman, but this is coupled with grit which makes him such a solid middle order bat.

Younus has cemented the number 3 spot in the team after a series of good performances in recent years, and is now the backbone of the Pakistan batting line-up along with the likes of Mohammad Yousuf.

Anwar Maqsood Playwright/ Lyricist/ Painter/ Poet/ Actor

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 01:54:00 -0800

Name: Anwar Maqsood
Occupation: Playwright/ Lyricist/ Painter/ Poet/ Actor Websites: None
Detailed Profile: Anwar Maqsood
Wiki Page: Anwar Maqsood
Anwer Maqsood is the most versatile Artist of the entertainment industry of Pakistan. He is a poet, anchor, writer, and an outstanding painter as well. He also writes plays on many sensitive and social issues. He is one of the Stout compare and script writer of Pakistan.

Zaid Hamid Political & Defence Analyst

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 01:52:00 -0800

Name: Zaid Hamid
Occupation: Political & Defence Analyst
Born On: 14- March
Websites: Zaid Hamid
Detailed Profile: Zaid Hamid
Wiki Page: Zaid Hamid

Mr. Zaid was a notable contributor in the Afghan jihad. He started his career after the war as a security professional covering subjects like electronic security solutions, security systems design, and training of security personnel. His years in the war significantly contributed in sharpening his expertise of perceiving security threats and developing successful counter measures. After a successful stint as area head of Security Alarms Systems Division of an eminent security company, he launched his own private consulting company in the late 1990s, called BrassTacks Security. This company specializes in corporate security systems design, security systems audit, and security intelligence reporting.

Mr. Zaid Hamid is a security consultant and strategic defense analyst. He is the founder of BrassTacks, a unique Pakistani Think Tank devoted to the study of regional and global political events and their implications for Pakistan's security and interests.

Shahid Masood Anchor Person/ Journalist

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 01:51:00 -0800

Name: Shahid Masood
Occupation: Anchor Person/ Journalist
Websites: None
Detailed Profile: Shahid Masood
Wiki Page: Shahid Masood

Dr.Shahid Masood is a famous Pakistani Political Analyst, Columnist and TV Anchor. He had been worked as Senior Executive Director and The Chief of ARY ONE WORLD. Dr.Shahid Masood is the anchor of Meray Mutabiq which is a famous show on Geo TV these days. He started his career as a journalist from Quami Akhbar. Dr. Masood also worked as The Chairman and Managing Director of Pakistan Television and advisor to Mr.Yousuf Raza Gillani (Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Moin-ud-Din Haider Ex- Governor Sindh, Ex- Interior Minister & Retd. Lt. General

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 01:49:00 -0800

Name: Moin-ud-Din Haider
Occupation: Ex- Governor Sindh, Ex- Interior Minister & Retd. Lt. General
Websites: None
Detailed Profile: None
Wiki Page: Moinuddin Haider

Lt. General Moin-ud-Din Haider got commission in the Pakistan Army in 1962 and served at various command and staff appointments. He did his Masters in Defence Studies from Royal College of Defence Studies, Seaford House, UK, and has the distinction of being the first Pakistani to get his thesis published in Seaford House Papers.

With a rich experience of 35 years service in the army, Lt. General Moin-ud-Din Haider was appointed the Governor of Sindh in 1997. He was the Federal Minister of Interior and Narcotics Control from 1999 to 2002.

Ashfaq Parvez Kayani Army General/ Cheif of Army Staff

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 01:47:00 -0800

Name: Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
Occupation: Army General/ Cheif of Army Staff
Websites: None
Detailed Profile: None
Wiki Page: Ashfaq Kiyani

General Kiyani is perceived as a purposeful and skilled commander and an example of professionalism. Excellence and perfection are said to be the trademarks of his personality. He is a keen sportsman, Kiyani is also the President of the Pakistan Golf Association.

Kiyani holds a masters degree in War Studies. During his career in the army, he has commanded an Infantry Battalion, an Infantry Brigade, an Infantry Division and the prestigious Rawalpindi Corps. General Kiyani has also served as deputy military secretary for Benazir Bhutto. In October 2007, he was promoted as a full general, and made the Vice Chief of Army Staff. He is currently the Cheif of Army Staff.

General Kiyani has won many awards such as Hilal-E-Imtiaz and Nishan-E-Imtiaz. Kayani is the former director of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, and Director General of Military Operations. In 2008, Newsweek named him the 20th most powerful person in the world.

Retd. Lt. General Hameed Gul Retd. General & Ex- Director General

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 01:46:00 -0800

Name: Retd. Lt. General Hameed Gul
Occupation: Retd. General & Ex- Director General ISI Websites: None
Detailed Profile: None
Wiki Page: Hameed Gul

Hameed Gul started his army career in 1954. He was the tank commander in the war of 1965 & has also been awarded with Sitara-E-Jurat & Sitar-E-Imtiaz . He later became the ISI commander.

Hameed Gul conducted the Zarb-E-Momin military exercise. He is also a vehement supporter of the Kashmir insurgency against India, and is accused by the United States of having ties to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Syed Talat Hussain Journalist/ Anchor Person

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 01:43:00 -0800

Name: Syed Talat Hussain
Occupation: Journalist/ Anchor Person
Websites: None
Detailed Profile: None
Wiki Page: Talat Hussain

Talat Hussain is presently the executive director News and Current Affairs of AAJ Television. He also contributes for Newsline, Time Magazine and occasionally contributes to India Today. He has worked with International channels like CNN and American Broadcasting as producer and has done extensive reporting for Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times.

As a media person he has vast experience in establishing news and current affairs systems. He has held key positions of Director, News & Current Affairs, with Pakistan Television Corporation, Prime Television (UK) and Telebiz.

Currently he is doing a show Live With Talat Hussain from Aaj T.V

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 01:41:00 -0800

Name: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
Occupation: Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party
Born On: 21 - September
Websites: None
Detailed Profile: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
Wiki Page: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who became the youngest chairman of the 40-year-old Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on December 30, 2007, was born on September 21, 1988, nearly three months before his mother Benazir Bhutto was elected the prime minister for the first time. He needs another six years for election to the National Assembly and, subsequently, as the prime minister. Bilawal, 19, is studying political science at Oxford where he was enrolled in the fall of 2007.

Both his maternal grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) and mother Benazir Bhutto had also studied there. When ZAB was sent to the gallows in 1979, Benazir Bhutto was a student at Harvard.

Bilawal will remain a figurehead chief of the PPP in the next few years. In the meantime, Asif Ali Zardari, his father who became the co-chairman, will effectively run the party.

After getting primary education at Islamabad’s Froebel’s School, Bilawal accompanied his mother to Dubai when she went into self-exile and studied at a school there.

The teenager PPP chairman likes target-shooting, swimming, horse-riding and squash, and regrets being away from Pakistan in part because it meant he played less cricket.

“My grandfather was a very courageous man and I consider myself very lucky because I have three powerful role models that will obviously influence my career choices when I am older,” he was quoted as saying once.

Seeing his mother perform in politics, Bilawal was groomed to step into her shoes. He became the third head of the PPP and thus followed his grandfather ZAB, who founded the party in 1967, led Pakistan as prime minister for four years in the 1970s and was hanged in 1979, and Benazir, who took over from her father, was assassinated in Rawalpindi on September 27, 2007.

Bilawal accepted the leadership of the PPP on December 30, 2007 and immediately vowed to fight for democracy as revenge for his mother’s assassination. At an emotional news conference where he was presented as chairman and his father as co-chairman of the PPP, Bilawal, untested in politics, said he was ready to lead.

At the same conference it was announced that henceforth Bilawal’s family name and that of his sisters, Bakhtawar and Asefa, would be Bhutto Zardari, instead of only Zardari.

“My mother always said that democracy is the best revenge,” Bilawal told the news conference at the family home in Naudero. “The party’s long and historic struggle for democracy will continue with a new vigour.”

Bilawal, who is more familiar with the high streets of Dubai and London than with Pakistan’s troubled electorate, said that like his mother he would be the symbol of the federation of Pakistan.

As a 16-year-old at high school, he told the Press Trust of India in an interview in 2004 that he felt justice and democracy held the key to resolving Pakistan’s problems.

Asked if he would one day enter the whirlpool of Pakistani politics, Bilawal, a taekwondo black-belt and horse-riding enthusiast like his father, was quoted as saying: “We will see, I don’t know. I would like to help the people of Pakistan, so I will decide when I finish my studies. I can either enter politics, or I can enter another career that would benefit the people.”