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Benazir Bhutto

portrait of Benazir Bhutto

Photo: iFaqeer, CC BY-SA 3.0 — Source

Politics South Asia 20th

Pakistani politician who served as Prime Minister of Pakistan twice (1988-1990 and 1993-1996), becoming the first woman to lead a Muslim-majority country. Daughter of executed PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, she spent years in detention and exile under military rule before returning to lead the Pakistan People's Party to victory. Her governments faced allegations of corruption, and she was dismissed from power both times. After years in self-imposed exile, she returned to Pakistan in 2007 to contest elections but was assassinated in a suicide bombing in Rawalpindi. Her courage in the face of authoritarian rule and extremism remains celebrated.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica