Education and Personal Life

Benazir Bhutto was born to Begum Nusrat Ispahani, and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Karachi, on June 21, 1953. She attended the Lady Jennings Nursery School and then the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Karachi. 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 honors in comparative government.

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. In December 1976 she was elected president of the Oxford Union, becoming the first Asian woman to head the prestigious debating society.

On December 18, 1987, she married Asif Ali Zardari in Karachi. The couple had three children: Bilawal, Bakhtwar and Asifa.

Prime Minister

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 Pakistan People's Party(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.

On November 16, 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, she was awarded the Prize for Freedom by the Liberal International. Bhutto 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 never was tried.

After being dismissed by the then-president of Pakistan on charges of corruption, her party lost the October elections. She served as leader of the opposition while Nawaz Sharif served as Prime Minister for the next three years.

Elections were held again in October 1993 and her PPP coalition was victorious, returning Bhutto to office. She continued with her reform initiatives. In 1996 her government was once again dismissed on corruption charges. Criticism against Bhutto came from the Punjabi elites and powerful landlord families who opposed Bhutto. She blamed this opposition for the destabilization of Pakistan. Irshad Manji judged her attempts to modernize Pakistan a failure.

After being dismissed by the then-president of Pakistan on charges of corruption, Bhutto went into self-imposed exile in Dubai in 1998.

Return to Pakistan and Assassination

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

On November 24, 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.

On December 27, 2007, Bhutto was killed whilst leaving a campaign rally for the PPP at Liaqat National Bagh (Rawalpindi), 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 stage someone shots at her with pistol. Immediately afterwards, a suicide bomb blast occurred in which more than 20 people were killed. Bhutto was critically injured and was rushed to Rawalpindi General Hospital. She was taken into surgery at 17:35 local time, and declared dead at 18:16.

Tribute

Benazir Bhutto was a woman of immense personal courage and bravery. Knowing the threats to her life she risked everything in her attempt to win democracy in Pakistan. She would be remembered for her long struggle for return of democracy in Pakistan.