The recent verdict of Rawalpindi’s Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Benazir Bhutto’s murder case has revived the memories of how the life of a remarkable person was cut down in the prime of her political career after having returned from an almost eight-year exile to take active part in politics.

While the detractors of the late political leader were quick to launch a vilification campaign against her and besmear her name with all kinds of derogatory labels, a large number of people including her party workers and camp-followers mourned the tragedy they bitterly felt.

On the fateful evening of Dec 27, 2007, the bullet that pierced through her neck left indelible scars in the hearts and minds of millions who were either associated with her or even those who distantly knew her. It was the land to which she belonged that bled most profusely.

“I pray to Allah that I do not die abroad but in my own country,” was what she had uttered a few days before her death. How prophetic these words turned out to be as those who were close to her could bear testimony to the fact that she somehow had premonition about her death. It’s under such circumstances she had written her will and eventually embraced death.

Writing about Ms Bhutto requires much more than employing high-sounding adjectives and cliches, for she was considered by her supporters an astute and charismatic leader who stood for the ‘politics of reconciliation’ and championed the cause of democracy. And what set her apart from the politicians of her time and many of those before her was her care for the poor and downtrodden.

To quote Irfan Hussain, “one thing she shared with her father was his genuine concern for the poor. Unlike those who practised their politics in drawing rooms and military establishments, both Bhuttos spent much time with the dispossessed and the vulnerable. Neither achieved as much for them as they would have liked, as they were not given enough time by their many enemies. While the rich hate the Bhuttos, the poor love them. This is the legacy Benazir Bhutto is leaving behind.”

How far she was pragmatic in her approach could be gauged from her willingness to be among her people no matter how grave the threat was. She neither restricted herself to well-guarded mansions nor did she choose for herself the comfort the far-off climes could provide.

“I decided not to be holed up in my home, a virtual prisoner. I went to my ancestral village of Larkana to pray at my father’s grave. Everywhere, the people rallied around me in a frenzy of joy. I feel humbled by their love and trust.” She was truly a people’s leader, of those who loved and trusted her.

Just hours before her tragic assassination she was quoted to have told the Afghan president, “life and death is in the hands of Allah, and that is why I have the courage to stare in the eyes of death without any fear.”

No one is above reproach particularly in politics which has assumed a disgusting meaning in this part of the world. Ms Bhutto might have had her failings and shortcomings but she stood out among the politicians as an intelligent and courageous figure. She led the Pakistan Peoples Party march of events following the death of her father.

Even her niece Fatima Bhutto (whose book ‘Songs of Blood and Sword’ contains copious examples of literature against her) could not help cry: “I mourn because my family has had enough. I mourn for Bilawal, Bakhtawar, and Asifa. I mourn for them because I too lost a parent. I know what it feels like to be lost and left at sea, unanchored and afraid. I mourn for the workers of the party, those who have been bereaved of their own loved ones in this tragedy.”

Noted columnist the late Khalid Hasan probably had the legions of Ms Bhutto’s critics in mind when he wrote these lines: “When the American people wept at the assassination of John F Kennedy, it was not they were unaware of his personal failings, including his profligacy. And yet at that moment of supreme sorrow and unspeakable loss, they chose to leave all that aside.

“Perhaps history does not really care about, much less record, the compromises great public figures make or the errors of judgment they commit. What lives on is what they have accomplished and what they have left behind.”

Benazir Bhutto accomplished what most couldn’t in the field and left behind a rich legacy. One can’t forget the wave of resentment that followed her assassination. The public outcry and catharsis found expression in acts of violence. At the same time unscrupulous elements got an opportunity to set their own home ablaze.

Incidents of hooliganism and loot hit the headlines; the most alarming of all the reports was the one that said Karachi and other parts of Sindh mostly endured the wrath of destruction and wild abandon, with armed boys terrorising people and pillaging.

The most moving episode was one of the children, orphans and mentally-challenged people at the Edhi Foundation’s village off Karachi’s Super Highway. A day after Ms Bhutto’s death, as went the report, some 150 or so armed hooligans stormed the village and thrashed the inmates and vandalised equipment.

“The attackers torched 16 ambulances destined for the interior of Sindh and then proceeded to smash the equipment. They did not demand anything, nor did they identify themselves. They just resorted to wanton violence,” the reporter quoted an Edhi village spokesman as having said.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2017