Former Pakistani Prime Minister Bhutto recalls life as first female leader in modern Muslim nation

By KRISTIN TAYLOR
Staff Writer

Murray Ledger and Times

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto addresses a few reporters following her speech Tuesday evening at Murray State’s Lovett Auditorium. Her speech was part of the Presidential Lecture Series, which the Student Government Association and MSU Foundation sponsor.

Benazir Bhutto didn't plan to live a political life, but despite imprisonment and exile, she continues to work for the democracy that her native Pakistan experienced briefly.

The first woman leader of a modern Muslim nation, Bhutto, 53, told her story, which included two stints as Pakistan's prime minister, in Murray State's Lovett Auditorium on Tuesday evening.

“Destiny isn't always in our hands,” Bhutto said. “I didn't choose this life; this life chose me.”

As a 15-year-old, Bhutto went to Harvard University's Radcliffe College. Upon graduating with a political science degree, she went on to Oxford University, where she earned her master's degree in philosophy, politics and education.

In America, while people protested the Vietnam War and the impeachment proceedings for President Richard Nixon followed Watergate, Bhutto saw the power of the people and their ability “to change the course of history.”

“One person can make a difference,” she said.

Bhutto lived in England when Margaret Thatcher was becoming a leader, and perhaps drew inspiration, going on to be elected as the first female and first foreign president of the Oxford Union. It was in that role that Bhutto says she learned to debate and speak publicly with confidence.