The Bhutto I Met

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said in 1996 when she visited Korea in an interview with me, “Korea and Pakistan have many things in common: they were both colonized by other country, were liberated at a similar time, and struggled to be a democratized country. Korea, as the world’s 11th largest economy, is a model nation for many third world countries. I am here to learn lessons of economic growth.” The interview clearly showed that growing the economy was a national challenge to Bhutto. Pakistan has a population of 160 million and its per capita income is $ 2,600.

I had an impression that western rationalism and Islam-style patriarchal system were mixed together in her, because she was wearing a white chador, but had a red manicure on her toe nails on her bare feet. She was a natural stateswoman with her eloquent speeches. When asked about her alleged corruptions of her husband, she said, “There were 29 charges against me and my husband when we were political dissidents, however, after I took office, we severed all links related to corruption.” However, she, too was resigned due to charges of incompetence and corruptions.

Benazir Bhutto inherited from her father, former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, political legacies as well as debts. At the age of 24, she became the party chief of her Pakistan People`s Party, but was arrested nine times and served more than 5.5 years in prison and was under house arrest. In the interview, she said, “In 1979 when my father was hanged, I was under house arrest. Even now, when I’m asleep, I dream about my father and wake up with memories of my father and they are painful.”

She began a dangerous journey towards grabbing power, which was the political aspiration of her father. Despite the unstable situation and threats to her life, she came back to her country last October with the goal of sharing power with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. The opposition welcomed her with terrorist bombings, which killed around 130 people. Still Bhutto went to election rallies. Bhutto’s death puts Pakistan on the test bed of democracy once again, and the world has lost another brave female leader.

Editorial Writer Jeong Seong-hee, shchung@donga.com