WE DID NOT COME THIS FAR TO FAIL – By Saria Benazir.

Those were the incredible instants of the history of Pakistan – At a caucus, held on December 30, 1967, Pakistan Peoples’ Party was founded in Lahore and the “enigmatic” Leader of the People, familiarly “Quaid-e-Awam” Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was unanimously elected as the Chairman of the party. The Party Creed was proclaimed as:-
1. Islam is our religion.
2. Democracy is our policy.
3. Socialism is our economy.
4. All Power To the people.
This merge of Islam and Socialism maneuvered a course away from Secular Dogmatic Marxism and came to be known as Islamic Socialism.

Though, the endeavor of establishing Pakistan was to create a state, where the people had the right to lead their lives according to their preference – where there was no partiality on the basis of faith, race or color – Where people had the right to opt for their delegates & the very rationale of army was to shield the borders, than to preside over the state. It is something of a grave distress that none of the aims was accomplished– The authority passed on to different hands, but all of them were from the “Elite” class. The voice of the commons was censored whether it was a civilian Government or a Martial Law One. There was alteration in the names of the rulers, but not even the least divergence in their conducts. Most of the population lived below the line of scarcity, greater part of the man power, not conversant and unemployed and the peasants and labors, dispossessed of their privileges _ where uttering a word against the master was an Unforgivable Crime – For there was mere power hunger, but no intentions to work for the poor population – the rulers of time, who considered themselves to be the GODS – for they considered themselves powerful enough to snatch someone’s life or property – What a greater curse!!! Where the women were treated as articles of trade and given no opportunity to work for their country’s betterment.

Ever since foundation, Pakistan Peoples Party intended to hand over supremacy to the commons and to give them a fair say in how they were being ruled – unlike other groups, which could never pierce the masses. Pakistan Peoples Party won the support of the poor people of Pakistan, - the purpose of it to provide “BREAD, CLOTHING & SHELTER” to the people of Pakistan. Though, these are the indispensable prerequisites of life, but so many in our country do not get snacks even to endure, have no means to swathe them up or find a situate to live on.
In the wake of the fall of Dacca, Yahya Khan handed over power to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto as President on 20th December 1971.
“We have to gather pieces – very small pieces & make a new Pakistan- A prosperous Pakistan”.
The First Government of Quaid-e-Awam Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto introduced the Constitution of 1973, which was passed unanimously _ the lasting heritage of the Pakistan Peoples Party to Pakistan.
The first Bhutto administration was an Age of Reform and re-enactment. Bhutto established Pakistan's first Steel Mill, a second Port, commissioned Pakistan's first hydro electric dam on the mighty Indus at Tarbela, and made Pakistan self sufficient in fertilizer, sugar, and cement. He nationalized the Banks and Life Insurance Companies. He also commenced Pakistan's Nuclear Programme. The economical policies of Bhutto were anti-imperialist and base on state socialism following the stack of other Third World leaders such as Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Ahmad Soekarno of Indonesia, and his own contemporary Salvador Allende of Chile who was elected, over thrown and assassinated during the same period. The Cold War was its most frosty during this epoch. The Neo-Colonialists made a terrible example of Bhutto for his anti-Imperialistic stance, his efforts to unite the World of Islam, and his demarche towards bringing the Third World on one Platform apart from the Nuclear Issue.

5th July , 1977_ The sinister day in the history of Pakistan _ When the Government of the founder Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party Quaid e Awam Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was eliminated by the then tyrant Zia ul Haq, and thereby, Pakistan , under the longest era of Martial Law ever since its underpinning. Moments were too awful _ Murky nights _ Gosh! The end of a democratic Government, followed by the judicial murder of ZA Bhutto on April 4, 1979 and those three months of elections _ that day never arrived!
The whiplash of the Martial Law fell heavily on the Pakistan Peoples Party from July 5, 1977 when Zia declared Martial Law until December 1985, when Martial Law was lifted. Thousands of the cadre of the Pakistan Peoples Party were incarcerated, hundreds whisked .Others were killed or forced into exile. That was the nerve of Pakistan Peoples Party & only Pakistan Peoples Party, which faced all these obstacles and murders with patience and sagacity, for we deem, neither in prisons, nor in bullets, but DEMOCRACY is our vengeance and that is a fact that the forces of democracy & justice triumph.

Shaheed Mohtarmah Benazir Bhutto then started to work for the rehabilitation of the party, following in the footsteps of her father for the Restoration of Democracy. Though, the dictator of the time was as unswerving to stay in power, but doom twisted to be absolutely diverse from his yearnings and the atrocious rule of Zia came to an end on 17th August, 1988 when the C-130, carrying him crashed in a ball of fire and Zia went from vestiges to vestiges and his system from grime to grime. The destiny took payback of the murders and brutalities he’d committed on the workers of PPP, for the vindictive always comes to conclusion, but leaving behind his calamitous acts and thankfulness of masses to God to swab him from the globe.

Benazir Bhutto rode the apex of the brandish to conquest to become the first Muslim Prime Minister and the youngest women Prime Minister in history at the age of 35. The Government she led immediately marked on an ambitious program of political liberalization, an end to press censorship, legalization of trade unions, and a commitment to the long, neglected social structure with an emphasis on education, health delivery, women’s rights and macroeconomic reforms. Intensely concerned about the problem of child labor in certain areas of our economy, the Government cracked down on child labor and determined to out an end to the dreadful statistics of polio, launched an anti-polio campaign in Pakistan. Throughout her career, she attempted to combine the best of many cultures, the richness of disparate experiences, to build for the people, the ability to compete and thrive in the challenging new technological era. For in the lexis of Mohtarmah Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, she was guided by the philosophy and words of an American President Abraham Lincoln, who said the following words, 100 years before she was born :- “The legitimate object of a government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but cannot do , at all or cannot do so well, for themselves – in their separate and individual capacities.
In all that people can do for themselves, the Government ought not interfere”.

Unfortunately, the camouflage of corruption was always used to put an ending to the elected Government of the people, which has always been the most familiar assertion used to put an end to democratic Governments in Pakistan & in South Asia. But not even one case of sleaze, against her & her family could be proved. The goal of the regime was quite obvious – to establish a one-party dictatorship in Pakistan. According to Mohtarmah Benazir Bhutto
“If the goals of those in power, those who supported military dictatorship in the past, is to keep my party out of politics, to keep us from speaking out on issues, that we care strongly about, no amount of intimidation or coercion can shake our commitment to democracy and to our country.
My husband shares my decision.
For those of us, who fought and died for democracy and freedom in Pakistan, the return of a fascist, one-man dictatorship is painful beyond comprehension”.

Though, the ground realities were too vindictive, but Benazir Bhutto returned to her state with a BENAZIR nerve, audacity, that was nowhere else to be found! Copious chanting out for Benazir & of course, the world can never close eyes to the martyrs of Karsaz, who gave up their own lives to shield their leader & so many, who became crippled. Yet, history has never witnessed a day like October 18 _ Knowing all the menaces & BB who returned, when the Damocles’ sword was still hanging on her head! That was a day of carnival _ A day, when the soil of Pakistan gained its life, as BB’s feet touched it! In fact, a day like that can never be elapsed & history’s for sure, going to engrave it in Golden books!! She sustained her thrash about for democracy in Pakistan and lasted with giving her blood to make the hallucination of her father veracity…

With directs, hard-hitting as ever, the Pakistan Peoples Party started its expedition to the manifestation of their leaders’ delusions, under the alluring leadership of the Man of Courage President Asif Ali Zardari & Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Certainly, we’d be successful to make a Pakistan of our beloved leader’s apparition!

To This day, I hear the adversaries of PPP, questioning “Will the PPP endure”? A single statement is enough, if can be understood:-

A move, my party and I are resisting vigorously,
We did not come this far to be silent,
We did not come this far to fail.

Long Live Pakistan People’ Party.
You can never Execute A Vision.

Regards,
Saria Benazir.

Zalim Dil Par Teer – Benazir - By Saria Benazir

What are you fleeting look for today,
What are you sensing,
Or might be undergoing,
Pity on your deeds,
Ah! They carry huge shame for you,
In spite of using guns,
And blasting bombs,
Making her indiscernible to eyes,
You could not….
You could not murder her,
The verity, you’d require to realize is,
“Zalim Dil Par Teer – Benazir”…

Whatever was your objective,
You failed to accomplish,
Whatever was the veracity,
You failed to rebuff,
Whatever was the upshot,
You failed to snub,
Whatever was your destination,
You failed …….
You failed to reach,
The verity, you’d require to realize is,
“Zalim Dil Par Teer, Benazir”…

Your aspires would turn down,
You already knew so,
Your efforts would bear no fruit,
You knew so,
For in your decree was written so,
To have the color of a Bhutto’s blood on your hands,
The Blood, Which Gives a Bhutto an eternal life,
And conceal his murderers under tonnes of sludge,
Even if ……
Even if alive,
The fact, you’d require to realize is,
“Zalim Dil Par Teer , Benazir”….

You did want to whittle history,
Record it on dissertations,
Removing the name of “Bhutto”,
But how sorry!
Acrimoniously Sorry to pen,
History threw your own narrations of your face,
The verity, you’d require to realize is,
“Zalim Dil Par Teer, Benazir”…

As it doth not need paper to trace on,
But it inscribes itself,
Never overlooks its valiant heroes,
Or let them die,
But instead, makes you die with aggravation,
To see a Bhutto alive,
All the time,
The verity, you’d require to realize is,
“Zalim Dil Par Teer, Benazir”….

Despite using armaments,
You could not impede people,
Coming out on roads to gripe,
Even though, you tried all your finest,
The verity, you’d require to realize is,
“Zalim Dil Par Teer, Benazir”…..

Well, walking with smugness,
As the Mayors of the Country,
You could not stop people,
From raising this voice,
Jeay Bhutto!
The verity, you’d require to realize is,
“Zalim Dil Par Teer, Benazir”…

By the way,
You may have heard the catchphrase,
“Pakistan Khappay”,
You may also have heard someone speaking,
“My mother always used to say,
Democracy is the greatest Revenge”,
Staggered enough to know,
How your ears had the capacity,
Despite hating to hear so,
It rang in your ears,
But you’d no clout to shun it,
You could not….
And you can never do…..
Ah! A Big Defeat!
Of course, You Met a reprehensible defeat…

The verity, you’d require to realize is,
“Zalim Dil Par Teer – Benazir”….
Regards,
Saria Benazir.

The Daring Daughter Of Destiny….. – By Saria Benazir

Ah! A prodigy,
She made history,
I study her name in golden books,
Printed as the Daughter of Destiny,
Yes! She’s The Champion of Democracy,
There’s no exemplar to her gallantry,
For she gave her blood for her land, so valiantly,
Ah! The Daring Daughter Of Destiny…..

Trying to highlight her struggle,
I move on to pen her life,
But then view her incredible greatness,
And then her meekness,
Her demeanor with the commons,
And her thrash against panic,
Her services for the People,
For her country,
To bring in it democracy,
And put an end to the rule of tyranny,
To bring about the rule of justice,
Of parity for all,
To make this land, that section of world,
Where the world can find harmony,
Can see the doves in the air,
Rather than war aircrafts,
Where the youth is handed books,
And given pens to write,
Instead of bullets,
And guns to slay their fellow men….

Then, I hold on giving a depiction to it,
But all of my effort goes futile,
For I stumble on, no word in evaluation to it…

I watch Benazir speaking for the rights of women,
To make this land, that portion of world,
Where women are given obsequiousness,
Where the girl child is valued,
Where the females are educated,
Where they’ve no fear of “Black Laws”,
Where they can stand up for getting righteousness,
Where there is no gender bigotry,
Where they’re not treated as chattel,
Her dream of a Pakistan,
Where women are bold enough to make choices,
And work for the wellbeing of their state…

I watch her, moving with her aspirations,
And just because of her endeavors to hand over power to the people,
I see her existence,
Packed with hardships,
Occupied with concern,
And Thereby, I view her valor,
Her audacity,
The resilience, with which she faced all obstructions,
Carrying heavy saddles of responsibilities,
And focusing on each of them faultlessly,
I then desire to portray her,
But defining her takes me to a world of “Impossible”…
For I’m too short of words…….

When I watch her,
Returning to her motherland,
The dust of her ancestors,
To vary its malicious system,
And get its natives, free from the vicious rule of totalitarians,
That land,
Which is quite bleak,
Where lies an eccentric fiction,
That it needs not water,
For its flowers to bloom,
Rather, it requires blood….

My leader,
Who even if away from it,
Had her compassion and essence in this soil,
Felt the quandary of its dejected ones,
And wanted to perk up its conditions,
Lighten every house,
With the glow of education,
And bring up the future scientists from this state,
To employ the youth,
And make Bread, Clothing & shelter available to all,
To do politics, not as a business,
But as a means to aid the disheartened ones…
She came with an ever enduring belief,
She strived with an eternal struggle,
And finally, gave her blood,
Got a long-lasting life,
Left deep-seated marks in the annals of history,
For democracy requires the support of her name,
For Pakistan requires its distinctiveness,
Which was granted to it by Benazir….
Aah… My Mentor Benazir…..

Then I crave to describe her,
For the reason,
I go through all the books,
Numerous vocabularies,
And end of tearing all dictionaries,
As are of no use,
For they consist of no words,
To describe her…

Regards,
Saria Benazir.

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Rules the World. – By Saria Benazir

(An article in the perspective of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against women)


According to the father of Political Science, Aristotle, A state is a “Union of families and villages”. A woman is the architect of a society & her task in the subsistence of families – as a sister, a daughter, a wife and most momentous of all, as a mother can never be dilapidated. Raising up the children in a better manner & making them useful citizens of a country is one of her leading responsibilities and certainly, the phenomenon is not uncomplicated enough to comprehend, so as to inscribe. This day, women form half of the mankind, but still, sadism against women continues in different ways. – It continues through honour killings and genital mutilation as well as domestic violence & sexual assault.
Islam forbids injustice – Injustice against women, against people & against nations. Muslim women have a special responsibility to distinguish between Islamic teachings and social taboos, spun by the traditions of patriarchal society. Moreover, this is an inkling that Muslim women are shorn of rights – That really is wrong. The girl child’s vulnerability subsists – not because of religion, but because of social prejudice. The rights, Islam gave to women have too often been denied and that is a fact that women are denied rights, all over the world, whether it’s a developing country or a developed one.

Islam treats women as beings in their own right, not as a chattel. A woman has the right to take over, divorce, receive alimony and child custody. The Prophet (PBUH) placed an end to the practice of female infanticide in pre-Islamic Arabia. The practice of killing the girl child has been denounced in the Holy Quran as:-
When news is brought to one of them, of the birth of a female child, his face darkens & he’s filled with inward grief, what shame does he hide himself from his people, because of the bad news, he had.
Shall he retain it on sufferance and contempt, or bury it in the dust.
Ah! What an evil choice, they decide on!
The words still sound true & how many women still grow up with emotional scars and burdens, due to being “Retained” in their families on “Sufferance & Contempt”.

Women have been victims of a culture of exclusion, poverty, deprivation and discrimination. In Pakistan too, even after 60 years of self-determination, brutality against women prolongs _ probably, supported by the dictators, who neither apprehend the peoples’ power or the rights, this religion has granted to women. Pakistani women suffered miserably, under the name of the “religious laws” introduced by Zia ul Haq, considering the real place of women to live behind the walls of their houses! Women, who were viciously trampled with lashes in the courts, characterized the General’s Islamization, for in his words, "Men are in charge of women because Allah has made one superior to the other... good women are obedient." What the pre-eminence, when God handed over his own unique attribute of creation (giving birth) to a woman, not a man. Did he- the so- religious scholar disregard that in the world hereafter, a person won’t be called by his father’s name, but by his mother’s name. Women need to be given options to toil for the wellbeing of the civilization. The detractors need to remain alive to the fact that the first convert to Islam was a WORKING WOMAN – Hazrat Khadija.

As history turns its chapter, we see women, working in every field – Today; women have earned names as pilots, professors, scientists, journalists and politicians! The greatest example’s found in our own motherland _ Mohtarmah Benazir Bhutto, twice elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan – The first ever Muslim Woman to hold this position & today, we see Pakistan Peoples Party, electing the first ever Muslim woman, as the speaker of Parliament, Dr. Fehmeeda Mirza. We need to put an end to this prejudice & Shaheed Benazir Bhutto deserves special credit for the Empowerment of women in Pakistan. As the Prime Minister of Pakistan, she took numerous steps to facilitate women folk to compete with men, creating Women Bank, guaranteeing small business loans to women entrepreneurs and appointing women as judges in the higher judiciary of the country. She used her office to quash centuries of discrimination against women. The Government, she led instituted a program of hiring women police officers to investigate crimes of domestic violence against the women of Pakistan and condemned those, who’d been raped. Her Government lifted the ban on women taking part in sporting events. One hundred thousand women were trained to reduce Pakistan’s population on growth levels and its newborn mortality levels. – For if the girl child is to be valued, if the wife is to say No to domestic violence, then we owe a particular commitment to creating jobs for women.

The century of ours needs to realize the very importance of women as the building blocks of a nation and to terminate the astringent credence in our societies, which regards bearing children to be the sheer rationale of her life. In the words of Martin Luther King,” A mother's place is inside her home, but she should also make certain, she gets outside that home enough to help worth while crusades and actively mould the country her children will live in. She therefore holds a key position and her role in shaping the fate of the nation must be recognized and respected.” Moreover, we do necessitate recognizing the verity :- “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand, that rules the world”.

Though, confrontation comes from many sectors, but we must be unwavering enough to eliminating every kind of bigotry against women and in moving forward to fulfilling our dream of a Pakistan, where women contribute to their full potential.

Regards,
Saria Benazir.

I gesture your Struggle……… - By Saria Benazir.

In a state,
Where democracy did scarcely live,
A love for emancipation,
But No esteem for it,
Never a consideration to its significance,
Where the deprived were treated,
As articles of trade,
Where a Layman possessed no civil liberties,
Not an even a say in the way,
He was being led,
Not even enough influence,
To converse for what was going on,
His tone stopped in his larynx….
For he was ineffective enough,
To utter a word against the LEADING ones!

It was a state,
Where politics subsisted,
Not in the cottages of the commons,
But its set in the country was,
The lodgings of the Landlords,
Where they had been no manifesto,
But of course, the purposes were well known,
To dominate the weaker ones,
To fill up own treasuries,
Grab the only light,
The light of education from the kids of deprived,
Moreover, that was given the name,
Called “politics” in their idioms,
POLITICS- Without the factual essence of it,
Politicians, who hardly knew the meaning of “Politics”…..

History then changed its segment,
In the same Land,
Was born a hope,
A person, far better than his precursors,
In every facet,
Who couldn’t bear his people’s turbulence,
And tried his best,
To bring about democracy,
To give a voice to the poor & depressed,
To sustain the impoverished,
To lighten the lives of others,
With the ever lasting radiance of education,
To put an end to despotism,
And eradicate scarcity & unemployment,
Illiteracy & wars,
At last, in the same resist,
He gave up his life,
Though, a single – second’s contentment for the foes,
But no! He never died,
But got an endless life,
An existence, which was never to last…..

Z. A Bhutto – The Man of Courage,
I gesture your endeavors,
Jeay Bhutto!

There, eyes catch spectacle of a woman,
Who bore every adversity,
Every chastisement, afflicted on her,
Whatever the course of it may be,
The boldness was unparalleled,
For she lost her husband,
Her young sons,
And Later her beloved “Pinky” as well,
The Daring Woman of the Sub Continent,
The valor, she possessed was so atypical,
None else than the Iron Lady of Pakistan,

Nusrat Bhutto! – I gesture your sacrifices,
Jeay Bhutto.

The greatest exemplar of cheek,
Who else can symbolize,
Than the heroic Daughter of Destiny,
My beloved mentor Shaheed Mohtarmah Benazir Bhutto,
Carrying a heap of huge responsibilities,
The greatest one of materializing her father’s vision,
And to give up the absolute of what he expected from her,
“BENAZIR” in the narrations of Asian Continent,
The lady, who spent her entire life in struggle,
Struggle for egalitarianism & culminating terrorism,
Thrash about against totalitarianism,
Without any trepidation,

Benazir Bhutto _ I truly Gesture you!
Jeay Bhutto!

Seeing the most petrifying results,
Watching with her own eyes,
The judicial murder of father,
And the atrocious killing of brothers,
Malicious treatment of mother,
All at a side,
But she never gave up her struggle,
And finally,
Lasted with giving up her blood,
To strengthen the Peoples’ Power…..

Benazir Bhutto
I gesture you for all you did for the natives of Pakistan…..
JEAY BHUTTO!

Regards,
Saria Benazir.