Jihad for women’s rights - Pakistan
Benazir Bhutto; 11/2/08
When I entered Harvard University in the (northern autumn) of 1969, Pakistan was under a military dictatorship. In America I saw the power of the people to change and influence policies. While I was at university, my father was leading a movement in Pakistan for the political rights of the people. The struggle in Pakistan and the reality of the ability of people in America to assert themselves, to stand up without fear for what they believed in, were important influences in my life. I was positioned between two worlds, the world of dictatorship and the world of democracy. I could see the power of the people in a democracy and contrast it with the lack of political power in my own country. I saw that people in America took their rights for granted, the rights of freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of movement. In my country people got killed or imprisoned fighting for these freedoms.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23190259-28737,00.html; Copyright: The Estate of Benazir Bhutto, 2008. Extracted from Reconciliation by Benazir Bhutto, published tomorrow by Simon & Schuster.