Introduction Background Information Benazir Bhutto, the first female Prime Minister of a Muslim nation, called Pakistan, is a symbol of great strength and poise. She was born on June 21, 1953, in Karachi. She was the first child of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Nusrat Ispahani. Her father, Zulfikar Ali belonged to one of the affluent families of Pakistan. He served as a lawyer, a cabinet minister, President and eventually as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Benazir spent her childhood in Karachi and at Al- Murtaza, their family estate at Larkana. Bhutto family belonged to the Sunni branch of Islam. However, her parents were much liberal and progressive in their outlook, and they manifested this attitude in rearing their children. Benazir did her schooling at the Convent of Jesus and Mary school at Karachi and later at the boarding in Murree and college at Radcliffe College, which was a part of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts and later at Oxford. Benazir’s inclination towards politics was evident from her college days. She took part in the anti-Vietnam War movement at Harvard and in the women’s movement that probably laid the foundation for her being the first female leader of her country. Benazir was much influenced by her father’s political settings as she used to be a part of his official visits to foreign countries quite often during her college. In 1973, Benazir graduated from Radcliffe. Great devotion to Islam and her country Pakistan were the two attributes that interweaved in her personality paving the way for her future leadership. Benazir entered Oxford in 1973 and studied philosophy, politics, economics, international law, and democracy in her four-year span. Here, she joined the Oxford Union that was considered the training ground for future politics (Doherty& Doherty, n. d). Zulfikar Ali formed his political party called Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in 1967 after having differences with the then President of Pakistan, Ayub Khan regarding the peace treaty signed with India on the issue of Kashmir. Benazir was only fourteen at that time, and the political scenario in Pakistan was under great turmoil because of Ayub Khan’s attempts to suppress the rising progress of the Pakistan People’s Party (Englar, 2006). He became the president and chief martial law administrator in December 1971. When Benazir returned to Pakistan, her father was serving as the prime minister of the country, and a great turmoil had emerged in Pakistan’s politics. The conditions worsened when General Zia -ul- Haq, the head of the military, seized power and declared himself chief martial law administrator in 1977. He kept Zulfikar Ali under house arrest for some time and later arrested him along with many other members of Pakistan People’s Party in 1977 on the charges of being involved in the conspiracy to murder his political rival, misuse of funds and corruption. Between July 1977 to April 1979, Benazir and her mother made all possible efforts for Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s release. They tried to keep the party united and functioning in his absence. However, Zia-ul-Haq used all possible ways to discourage them. They were kept under house arrest from time to time and ultimately in April got the shocking news of Zulfikar Ali Bhu