'There was a difference between the Benazir of 1987 and that of 2007'

 

On Dec. 2, 2007, Benazir Bhutto came to my residence in Charsadda to offer condolences on the demise of my husband, the late Khan Abdul Wali Khan.

This was my third meeting with Benazir. The first time I met her was at her own wedding in 1987. I was invited to the ceremony as Asif Ali Zardari’s father was once our party’s president in Sindh.

If you ask me, there was a marked difference in the Benazir of then and the Benazir I met in 2007.

When she arrived at my residence, I couldn’t help but closely observe her every move and expression. There was an air of solemnity surrounding her now. But she also seemed determined, you could feel it. She had an aim. There was weight and maturity to her words and action.

The woman I had met in 1987, was not the same woman sitting in front of me now.

After offering prayers for my husband, she walked out the front door. As she sat in her car, I kept looking at her. I did not know that this would be the last time I would meet her. I couldn’t have imagined it. No one could imagine it. 

Benazir was fighting for a cause. And when someone has a focused goal, a purpose, you hope that the person would live long enough to achieve it.

But she didn’t.

A few days later, I watched images of her assassination on the TV. I can’t explain in words the horror and shock that I felt. The young woman of 1987 kept flashing before my eyes. 

Khan is a leader of the Awami National Party