Resetting Course

Byline: J. Enver When Benazir Bhutto made the last speech of her life at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007, her spirited words rang with hope and promise for the poor of Pakistan. The intrepid leader's powerful voice was silenced forever in the next few minutes but the dream lived on. The oppressed and downtrodden poor had lost a leader who had returned to her native land after years of self-exile to serve them in a manner she had not succeeded in doing in her earlier two stints as prime minister. While the charismatic leader had built up the people's hopes with a great sense of purpose for a new tomorrow, she was not around when election time came two months later to deliver on her promises though her party had achieved historical success. The mantle of her party's leadership was transferred to her widower but since then the country's fortunes have been on a continuous downslide and the people have not seen darker days than these.