RAWALPINDI: Twelve years ago, two-time prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Rawalpindi.
The murder during a political rally on Dec. 27, 2007 made international headlines and shook the nation, triggering violence, political turmoil, and conspiracy theories. Bhutto's untimely and violent departure left its mark on the survival of democracy in Pakistan.
She was the first female prime minister of a Muslim-majority country, and also the world's youngest.
On her death anniversary, many took to Twitter to express their grief and pay tribute. A number of hashtags dominated Twitter trends on Friday: #BenazirBhutto, #SalaamBenazir, #ShaheedBenazir (Martyr Benazir) and #ZindaHaiBibiZindaHai (Bibi Lives On) – Bhutto was fondly referred to as Bibi.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, her eldest child who inherited the leadership of his mother's and grandfather's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), wrote on Twitter: “Ya Allah, Ya Rasool, Benazir, Bayqasoor,” appealing to God and the Prophet that his mother was “bayqasoor,” which means “faultless.”
Ya Allah, Ya Rasool
Benazir, Bayqasoor #PindiHumPhirAaRahayHain pic.twitter.com/rCZydkydzv— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) December 27, 2019
His younger sister Aseefa Bhutto Zardari shared a video with senior journalist Hamid Mir's calling the late prime minister, “an arrow targeting oppression.”
وقت کے گزرنے پر تم جو بھول جاؤ گے
ہم تمہیں بتائیں گے بینظیر کیسی تھی
زندگی کے ماتھے پر وہ لکیر جیسی تھی
ظلم کے نشانے پر ایک تیر جیسی تھی
بینظیر بھٹو بس، بینظیر جیسی تھی pic.twitter.com/iSuoqHg43t— Aseefa B Zardari (@AseefaBZ) December 27, 2019
Hamid Mir tweeted a photo of Bhutto visiting Siachen in Kashmir, which is known as the highest battlefield in the world, with the territory disputed by Pakistan and India. She was the first PM from either side of the border to visit the area. Indian PM Manmohan Singh followed suit in 2005.
Late Benazir Bhutto was the first Prime Minister on either side of the border to visit Siachin Heights with a mountain stick in her hand Indian PM Manmohan Singh followed her after many years in 2005 #BenazirBhutto pic.twitter.com/cR0JDBkaFl
— Hamid Mir (@HamidMirPAK) December 27, 2019
PPP politician Sherry Rehman wrote she remembered Dec. 27 “in all its epochal darkness,” and shared her 2007 obituary for Bhutto. “It was the day the lights went out for Pakistan in a terrible twist of history. Life was altered forever, like everything else, that fateful day.”
The Longest Night: 27th December as I remember it in all its epochal darkness. It was the day the lights went out for Pakistan in a terrible twist of history. Life was altered forever, like everything else, that fateful day. #SalamBenazir https://t.co/UMowQVujY0
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) December 27, 2019
National Assembly member Nafisa Shah, also of PPP, wrote that Bhutto is “immortalized in writing, in poetry, in art, in the very psyche of the people,” which is the best answer to “those who wanted her finished.”
She is immortalised in writing, in poetry, in art, in the very psche of the people. With each passing year #BenazirBhutto Shaheed lives & grows in our collective memory - &this is the best answer to those who wanted her finished. So it will always be #ZindaHaiBibiZindaHai pic.twitter.com/ToWiY5DWGs
— Nafisa Shah (@ShahNafisa) December 27, 2019
Lawyer and journalist Anaya Khan who posted photographs and shared what Bhutto means for her generation. “I am so lucky to have grown up with her as my hero. There will never be another Benazir Bhutto.”
I think what many young women of my generation take for granted are the barriers that were already broken and the ceilings already shattered for us by Benazir Bhutto. I am so lucky to have grown up with her as my hero.
There will never be another Benazir Bhutto. pic.twitter.com/117giGdmdq
— Anaya Khan (@AnayaNKhan) December 26, 2019
Ziauddin Yousafzai, the father of activist and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai, posted a video of his daughter speaking at the UN wearing a shawl that was owned by Bhutto. Malala said: “Being here with such honorable people is a great moment in my life and it is an honor for me that today, I am wearing a shawl of the late Benazir Bhutto Shaheed.”
Today it is an honour for me to be speaking again after a long time.
Being here with such honourable people is a great moment in my life and it is an honour for me that today, I am wearing a shawl of the late #BenazirBhutto#Shaheed.
#وہ_لڑکی_لال_قلندر_تھی pic.twitter.com/sd9FZDfDtG— Ziauddin Yousafzai (@ZiauddinY) December 26, 2019
Activist and musician Salman Sufi called Bhutto “Daughter of Destiny” and wrote “her martyrdom left me clenching my chest with an agonizing pain that I can never forget. I wish she was alive to solidify the support for True Democracy.”
Daughter of Destiny -
Even though I was never politically aligned with PPP but her martyrdom left me clinching my chest with an agonizing pain that I can never forget. I wish she was alive to solidify the support for True Democracy. #BenazirBhutto pic.twitter.com/ntqRfOE5Pa
— Salman Sufi (@SalmanSufi7) December 27, 2019
