Bhutto's Pakistan/Pakistan's Bhutto: Daughter of the East

Jayprakash Ray
Assistant Professor,
Swahid Maniram Dewan College,
Charing, Sivasagar, Assam
&
Research Scholar, Dept. of EFL,
Tezpur University, Tezpur
Assam
India

Abstract:
Benazir Bhutto’s autobiography Daughter of the East (1988) strings together tragedies of a
nation, a family, and a woman. The execution of her father by the military regime, the killing of
her two brothers Shahnawaz and Murtaza and the overthrow of her elected democratic
government by the military regime has been sewn together in the autobiography in such a way
that it seems that the tragedy of the Bhutto family was the tragedy of the Pakistani Nation. At the
same time, Benazir refuses to universalize her experiences. She feels that the tragedies that
occurred in her life cannot be universal as the Bhutto family was destined to suffer.
Keywords: destiny, legacy, patriarchy, nation, democracy

Despite the difficulties and sorrows, however, I feel blessed, I feel blessed that I could break the
bastions of tradition by becoming Islam’s firs elected woman Prime Minister.
(Benazir)
Bhutto’s autobiography functions around a narrative of destiny, mostly through a lens of a
predestined martyr….

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 (Rebecca Richards)
Benazir Bhutto’s autobiography The Daughter of the East: An Autobiography (1988) traces the
convergence of a nation with that of an individual The aim of this paper is to analyze the
complex intertwining of Benazir Bhutto’s life with many strands of Pakistan’s life as a nation
and as a postcolonial site. Even as it traces, Bhutto’s initiation into what she calls her destined
position, the narrative convergence of political legacies, nationalist historiography, and self
validation obtains a tension between origin and legitimization which in turn, challenges the
boundaries of personal and public space. It also analyzes the ideologies of personhood and
identity which are so internalized in the text that they seem natural and universal characteristics
of the cultures she worked in or with.
In her autobiography she strings together tragedies of a nation, a family, and a woman. The
execution of her father by the military regime, the killing of her two brothers Shahnawaz and
Murtaza and the overthrow of her elected democratic government by the military regime has
been sewn together in the autobiography in such a way that it seems that the tragedy of the
Bhutto family was the tragedy of the Pakistani Nation. At the same time, Benazir refuses to
universalize her experiences. She feels that the tragedies that occurred in her life cannot be
universal as the Bhutto family was destined to suffer. She appears to hold that things were
ordained in a particular way with fate or destiny playing no mean part:
Few in this world are given the privilege to effect change in society, to bring the modern
era to a country that had only the most basic infrastructure, to break down stereotypes
about the role of women and ultimately to give hope for change to millions who had no
hope before…. And I sense that the future holds still more challenges that must be met
for my country, Pakistan, and myself. (Benazir xi)
Bhutto feels compelled to look upon herself as a person authorized by providence to bring about
changes in Pakistani society. Given the turmoil she had lived through, including the untimely
deaths of her father and brothers, it was not out of place for her to decide that the whole structure
of government and society needed urgent changes. She had to on one hand, fight the military
regime opposed to democracy, and on the other, she had to fight the patriarchy upheld in the
country by the Muslim clerics and supported by the army government. Such is the reach of
patriarchy that it affects the life of the individual as well as the health of a nation. Anybody
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taking on the patriarchy has to fight with his/her back to the wall. In this case Benazir Bhutto,
who is hounded by the military regime, can look for sustenance only from divine sources. Hence
the daughter of the east is frequently referred to as the daughter of destiny.

Bhutto’s autobiography interrogates as it records the layers of patriarchal dominance in Pakistani

society. From the home to the government, at every step a woman has to negotiate patriarchal
interception. While she herself does not face it at home, at every step outside she is held to
account for just being herself. Bhutto describes the place of women in the Islamic male
dominated society, where she often stumbled on the traditional practices and customs which
were rigid and stubborn, giving women a little space to be in public sphere. While the average
Pakistani woman was expected to confine her interests to her home and family, Benazir was
brought up to fight patriarchal values which were dominated by the fundamentalist religious
thinkers. These men often referred to the Holy Quran and its teachings about the roles of women
in the society. Bhutto too, cites the religious books to pattern herself on some of the women from
that era who had been emancipated in their way. For example , she refers to Muhammad’s wife
Bibi Khadija who had been an entrepreneur in her time. However, she strongly objects to the
teachings of the fundamentalist Mullahs and their interpretation of the Holy book to sublimate
others:
We learned at an early age that it was men’s interpretation of our religion that restricted
women’s opportunities, not our religion itself. Islam infact had been quite progressive
towards women from its inception: the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) had forbidden the
killing of female infants common among the Arabs of the time, and called for education
for women and their right to inherit long before these privileges were granted to them in
the West. (34)
As Bhutto points out, it was not the Holy Book but men who tried to lay restrictions on women at
home and in society. It was through the liberal education given to her by her parents---which also
included religious education---which enables her to discriminate between the scripture and
patriarchy. Her parents had often cited examples from the Quran and the progressive ideals of
the Prophet Muhammad. Bhutto’s claims are endorsed by her biographer Suvorova who points
out that there have been political women in Islam in history. She cites the examples of Empress
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Nurjahan, Razia Sultana, Malika Asma and Malika Arwa etc. She reiterates that “the Islamic
societies of the time accepted female political leadership without overt protest” (Suvorova, 23).
Women empowerment is wrongly connected with westernization.
Benazir Bhutto faces opposition as she don’s her father’s mantle on his death. At the same time
she has to rise to meet the expectations of the masses who see her as their deliverer but still in a
gendered capacity as mother, sister, daughter. As Suvorava observes, “ In the expectations of the
masses , a woman leader should act in accordance with her gender role, which is marked by
‘motherly’ care, less harsh than ‘fatherly’ guidance; peacefulness and lack of aggression;
sensitivity to the interests and problems of other people” (Suvorova 26). She proudly proclaims
that she has been ‘Islam’s first elected woman Prime Minister’. Regarding her womanhood she
writes:
I am a woman proud of my cultural and religious heritage. I feel a special personal
obligation to contrast the true Islam–the religion of tolerance and pluralism–with the
caricature of my faith that terrorists have hijacked. I know that I am a symbol of what the
so-called ‘Jihadists’, Taliban and al Qaeda, most fear. I am a female political leader
fighting to bring modernity, communication, education and technology to Pakistan. I
believe that a democratic Pakistan can become a symbol of hope to more than one billion
Muslims around the world who must choose between the forces of the past and the forces
of the future.’ (Benazir xii)
.
She was successful in overcoming the manifested misogyny and patriarchy inherent in Islamist
politics. Rafiq Zakaria in his book Women and Politics in Islam: The Trial of Benazir Bhutto
(1989), tries to visualize the rise of an Islamic woman in the following words:
Benazir Bhutto is a study in contradictions. She is an aristocrat by birth, a socialist by
conviction and a people power revolutionary out of sheer necessity. She is a democrat
who appeals to feudal loyalties. She is a beautiful young woman who will allow no
romance into her life--- a politician in purdah. She is an expensively educated,
westernized woman who intends to rule a male-dominated, Islamic society. Now, after
Radcliffe and Oxford, after prison in Pakistan and exile in London, Bhutto 33—‘Pinky’

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 to her friends--- is home again, planning to topple a government that overthrew, and then
hanged the father she adored. (07)

She was trying to team up her party in the realm where males dominated and women had little to
say. She presents the journey of her life entangled with a nation struggling to see the rays of a
true democracy.
The Bhuttos have shaped the nation of Pakistan for better and for worse. The parallels in both of
their lives are enormous, as Benazir and her father rose to the incredibly tumultuous office of
Prime Minister only to be violently executed far too young. Benazir and Zulfikar both sacrificed
everything for Pakistan; their freedom, happiness and ultimately their lives in the zealous attempt
to bring democracy to Pakistan.
Benazir sees her life to be destined for the well being of Pakistani people. Zulfikar Bhutto
advised her daughter to escape from Pakistan. She describes this episode when Benazir and her
mother was given permission to meet Zulfikar Bhutto when he was confined in the Rawalpindi
jail and this was perhaps the last meeting between them before his execution. She writes in her
autobiography:
You have both suffered a lot, he says, ‘now that they are going to kill me tonight, I want
to free you as well. If you want to, you can leave Pakistan while the constitution is
suspended and Martial Law imposed. If you want peace of mind and to pick up your lives
again, then you might want to go to Europe. I give you permission .You can go.
(Benazir 09)
The elder Bhutto’s love and dedication as reflected in the autobiography of Benazir is to be seen
in the stoic dialogue which he utters before his wife and daughter in their last meeting. She
writes:
Tonight I will be free, he says, a glow suffusing his face. ‘I will be joining my mother,
my father. I am going back to the land of my ancestors in Larkana to become a part of its
soil, its scent, its air. There will be songs about me. I will be part of its legend’. He
smiles, ‘But it is very hot in Larkana. (Benazir 24)
Benazir considered herself to be the destined daughter who was to carry on the legacy of her
father another step forward. The autobiography implicitly and explicitly states that she felt her
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life had some greater purpose, some greater destiny in which her life was not her own life , but
rather devoted to the cause of Pakistan. In the opening lines of the Preface of her autobiography
she writes:
‘I didn’t choose this life, it chose me’.
‘Born in Pakistan, my life mirrors its turbulences, its tragedies and its triumphs.’
‘It’s not necessarily the life I would have chosen, but it has been a life of opportunity,
responsibility and fulfillment. And I sense that the future holds still more challenges that
must be met for my country, Pakistan, and myself.’ (Benazir xi)

She feels that her country is not an ordinary nation and she didn’t live an ordinary life. The
events and incidents of her life were extraordinary which could not be compared with that of
others. She remorsefully recollects that her Father and two brothers were killed and she along
with her mother had to spend their life in prison and long years in exile. Despite of difficulties
and sorrows she thinks that her life is a blessed one. She is blessed that she could break the
bastions of tradition by becoming Islam’s first elected woman Prime Minister. That election was
the tipping point in the debate raging in the Muslim world on the role of women in Islam. She
thanks the people of Pakistan for honoring her with the post. She tells:
Few in this world are given the privilege to effect change in society, to bring the modern
era to a country that had only the most basic infrastructure, to break down stereotypes
about the role of women and ultimately to give hope for change to millions who had no
hope before. (Benazir 07)

It is clear that the Benazir’s life was shaped by the circumstances that cropped up in her life which
means that it was life that chose her to be what she ultimately became. Her destiny was decided by
the aftermath of her father’s execution and she refuses to universalize her experiences with other
people. Although Bhutto refuses to ‘universalize’ her personal experience, the specificity of location
gives the text a peculiar resonance.
She highlights aspects of her life to legitimize particular counters of her self-fashioning. But
there are details which she does not want to discuss directly with the readers. There are occasions
when the text signal narrative discontinuities that affect their coherence, and yet help the
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narrating subject to evaluate or legitimize herself. There are occasions where she skipped over
some of the important details which would have further illuminated her story. These slippages, it
is argued, are instrumental to understanding the projection of oppositional contexts as counters of
self-fashioning. Much of the book glorifies her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and she describes his
term as a glorious time. Stanley Wolpert’s biography on Z.A Bhutto has highlighted some of the
unsaid episodes which have been left out by Benazir. In his book Zulfi Bhutto of Pakistan: His
life and Times (1993), holds out a contradictory image of Bhutto. As Wolpert describes, Z.A
Bhutto was a schizoid personality- a charismatic, ambitious, complex and contradictory man. He
writes:
Zulfi Bhutto roused such diametrically opposed passions and has left such divergent
images among his disciples and adversaries that it remains virtually impossible to
reconcile them as reflections of any single personality”. (03)
Again his personality is described by Katherine M. Doherty and Craig A. Doherty in their
biographical book Benazir Bhutto (1990):
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is not blameless. As the prime minister of Pakistan, he used his
position to subdue his political adversaries. He came to power as the appointee of a
military regime, and his power came to an end at the hands of the next military
regime. The charges that were brought against him in September 1977, however,
were trumped up by the Zia regime and based on tainted confessions of tortured
prisoners. There was little if anything in the way of factual evidence. Possibly because of
the absurdity of the charges, Benazir Bhutto was confident that her father would be
acquitted. (34)

Despite the drawbacks that the critics point out about Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, it cannot be denied
that he was the most influential figure in the life of Benazir Bhutto. She admits in her
autobiography that her father meant more to her than perhaps anyone ever had or ever would. If
there must be a single person who took credit for shaping Benazir, It would be Zulfikar.
Benazir details how her personal choices were determined by the public sphere. She relates that
her life was ruled by the political turbulences in Pakistan and she acted accordingly to the
demands of the situation. She feels that it is universal belief that women “have to go the extra
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mile to prove that we are equal to man” (Benazir xii). She describes one of the crucial
experiences of her life when she was expecting her first child. The military regime sensing her
helplessness declared General elections by dismissing the Parliament. Benazir knew that it was
Zia ul Haq’s ploy to keep her out of the election campaign. But Benazir’s strong determination
proved them wrong. She successfully managed to lead the election campaign although she was
expecting a baby. In between the election campaign she delivered her first child and led the PPP
(Pakistan People Party) to victory. She proved her opponents wrong in their predictions that “a
Muslim woman could not win the hearts and minds of her people” (Benazir xiii). He ability to
overcome hurdles in the midst of troubles makes her the daughter of destiny.
Jerrold M. Post in his book Narcissism and Politics: Dreams of Glory (2015) writes:
The telescoping of generations is an interesting concept when looking at political
dynasties. For both Nehru-Gandhi family in India and the Bhuttos in Pakistan, there is
almost a predetermined fate that comes with each generation born, a desire to take up the
family cause in politics, to uphold the name, and to carry on a tradition. A look at the life
of each leader in Benazir’s family, who came before her shows a steady increase in the
generational transmissions of the leader’s role. In many ways, both Zulfikar and Benazir
subordinated their individuality and were impelled to act as an extension of the family
name, which became intertwined with the fate of their nation.
(J. Post 68)
Benazir self fashioned her life in such a way that it met the expectations of the public. In other
words, it can be said that her life was driven by the public sphere and as Jerrold Post views, she
subordinated her personality and was forced “to act as an extension of the family name”. Her
destiny was bound with the fate of the nation. Her life was intertwined with Pakistan so also
Pakistan’s fate was twined with the daughter of destiny.

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