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Social media remembers Benazir Bhutto on 12th death anniversary

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A portrait of assassinated Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is displayed atop a table in Islamabad. (Reuters/ File Photo)
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Pakistan People's Party supporters in Lahore hold an image of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto during a candlelight vigil to commemorate her death anniversary, Dec. 26, 2011. (Reuters/ File Photo)
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Updated 27 December 2019
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Social media remembers Benazir Bhutto on 12th death anniversary

  • Benazir Bhutto was the first female prime minister of a Muslim-majority country
  • She was assassinated during a political rally on Dec. 27, 2007
Updated 27 December 2019
Sabah Bano Malik

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.”

 

His younger sister Aseefa Bhutto Zardari shared a video with senior journalist Hamid Mir's calling the late prime minister, “an arrow targeting oppression.”

 

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.

 

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.”

 

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.”

 

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.”

 

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.”

 

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.”

 

Topics: ppp Benazir Bhutto Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

Pakistan IT exports rise nearly 20 percent to $2.61 billion in first seven months of fiscal year

Updated 18 February 2026
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Pakistan IT exports rise nearly 20 percent to $2.61 billion in first seven months of fiscal year

  • January ICT exports climb to $374 million year-on-year
  • Sector remains country’s top-earning services export
Updated 18 February 2026
Ismail Dilawar

KARACHI: Pakistan’s information and communication technology (ICT) export earnings rose 19.78 percent year-on-year to $2.61 billion in the first seven months of the fiscal year ending June 2026, the IT ministry said on Tuesday, highlighting the sector’s growing role as a source of foreign exchange.

Pakistan’s IT and IT-enabled services sector has emerged as one of the country’s fastest-growing sources of foreign exchange, generating over $3 billion annually and employing roughly a million freelancers in addition to formal software firms.

Unlike traditional manufacturing exports, the industry relies primarily on remote digital labor, from software development to back-office services, making it resilient during economic crises but constrained by payment barriers, talent migration and infrastructure reliability challenges. However, IT services require minimal imports and benefit from a large pool of young workers and freelancers, making the sector central to government plans to boost dollar inflows and reduce pressure on the balance of payments.

“ICT export remittances surged 19.78 percent, reaching $ 2.61 billion during the first seven months of FY 2025-26 compared to $ 2.18 billion achieved during the corresponding period last year,” the IT ministry said in a statement.

Monthly exports also expanded, with ICT services exports reaching $374 million in January 2026, up 19.5 percent from $313 million a year earlier, according to the ministry’s data.

The ministry said ICT remained the country’s highest-earning services sector, well ahead of “other business services,” which generated $1.21 billion over the same July-January period.

Pakistan has increasingly relied on technology exports, including software development, outsourcing and freelance services, to generate foreign exchange as the economy adjusts under structural reforms and tight import controls following a balance-of-payments crisis.

Officials say continued growth will depend on easing payment bottlenecks, improving digital infrastructure and expanding higher-value technology services beyond traditional outsourcing.

Topics: IT exports

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