ChickSpeak

Benazir Bhutto died Thursday after a suicide bombing at a political rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She served as the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan and of made history as the first in this role in any Islamic Nation.

Bhutto’s message and beliefs may have been controversial, but her education, leadership and spirit were passion-filled and marked with dedication to participating in something that was far bigger than herself.

She had tremendous courage and spirit and throughout the course of her last days, would not let her government keep her from participating in the Primary Election Activities on Thursday, at which time she was assassinated.

We feature this woman in our Be Inspired Section not because of her specific beliefs or her political message, but because of her ability to overcome tragedy and defeat, as well her perseverance and drive. If anything, this story should show us that regardless of time or circumstance, we can all find the courage to overcome and achieve our goals and dreams! A brief history of Bhutto’s life is below as detailed by CNN:

Bhutto, 54, spent eight years in self-imposed exile in Great Britain and Dubai after President Farooq Leghari dismissed her second administration amid accusations of corruption, intimidation of the judiciary, a breakdown of law and order, and undermining the justice system.

She was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to five years in prison. The conviction was later overturned but she remained in exile until this year. She returned to Pakistan in October after President Pervez Musharraf signed an amnesty lifting corruption charges.

Bhutto said she “expected threats against her life as she prepared to lead a push for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan. ” After military dictatorship an anarchic situation developed, which the terrorists and Osama (bin Laden) have exploited, she told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, “They don’t want democracy, they don’t want me back, and they don’t believe in women governing nations, so they will try to plot against me. But these are risks that must be taken. I’m prepared to take them,” she said.

In October, she escaped an attempted suicide bombing near her entourage near Karachi. “Soon thereafter, I was asked by authorities not to travel in cars with tinted windows — which protected me from identification by terrorists — or travel with privately armed guards,” she wrote for CNN.com in November.

“I began to feel the net was being tightened around me when police security outside my home in Karachi was reduced, even as I was told that other assassination plots were in the offing. I decided not to be holed up in my home, a virtual prisoner,” she wrote. “I went to my ancestral village of Larkana to pray at my father’s grave. Everywhere, the people rallied around me in a frenzy of joy. I feel humbled by their love and trust.”

Musharraf declared a state of emergency and placed Bhutto under house arrest twice in November as anti-government rallies grew in Rawalpindi. The arrest warrant was lifted November 16. She filed a nomination paper for a parliamentary seat on November 25 and appeared headed for a power showdown with Musharraf before she was assassinated Thursday.

Bhutto followed in her fathers footsteps. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was former president and prime minister of Pakistan. He was hanged in 1979 for the murder of a political opponent two years after he was ousted as prime minister in a military coup. Benazir Bhutto was the de facto leader of her father’s Pakistan People’s Party.Her brother, Murtaza, was killed along with six others in a 1996 shootout with police at his home. Another brother, Shahnawaz, died mysteriously in France in 1985.

Bhutto is quoted as saying”I know the past is tragic, but I’m an optimist by nature,” Bhutto told Blitzer in September. “I put my faith in the people of Pakistan, I put my faith in God. I feel that what I am doing is for a good cause, for a right cause — to save Pakistan from extremists and militants and to build regional security.” “I know the danger is out there, but I’m prepared to take those risks.”

Benazir Bhutto earned degrees from Radcliffe College and Oxford University and received an honorary degree from Harvard University in 1989.

She leaves her husband of 20 years, Asif Ali Zardari, two daughters and a son.

Photo courtesy of PBS.org