Obit: Moderate face of Islam

An uncompromising champion of democracy and a moderate face of Islam, Benazir Bhutto’s death in a suicide attack on Thursday, brought a gory end to her volatile political career spanning over two decades. Pakistan’s first woman Prime Minister followed her illustrious father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto into politics and both died because of it — he was hanged in 1979 while she fell victim to a suicide attack.

Like the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, the Bhuttos are one of the world’s most famous political families who ruled Pakistan for a number of years without the support of the powerful Army.

Elected twice as Pakistan’s Premier, she was sworn in for the first time in 1988 but removed from office 20 months later under orders of then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan on grounds of alleged corruption.

In 1993, Bhutto was re-elected but was again removed in 1996 on similar charges, this time by President Farooq Ahmed Leghari.