As leader of Pakistan’s opposition she was arrested on numerous occasions and spent nearly six years in prison or under detention. Her goal throughout her struggle was to transform Pakistani society by focusing attention on programs for health, social welfare, and education for the underprivileged. She received the Bruno Kreisky Award for Human Rights in 1988. Benazir Bhutto was born in Karachi in 1953, the daughter of one of Pakistan’s most popular Prime Ministers, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Her father was overthrown by a military coup in 1974 and subsequently hanged after a short trail. Benazir and her mother were imprisoned.Some years later Bhutto became became extremely active in opposing the military dictatorship of General Zia ul Haq. In April 1985 she went into exile, but returned in 1986 as the charismatic leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party. The PPP won the elections in November 1988. In 1990 she was removed from power by presidential decree and defeated in the following elections but she returned to office from 1993 until 1996. On December 27, 2007Benazir Bhutto was assassinated at a rally in Pakistan. She returned to her deeply divided homeland to reassume leadership of her party and to challenge the upcoming elections. The international community expressed great sadness as she was seen by many as a beacon of hope in an area of entrenched instability.

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