In Depth
Pakistan
In her words
Quotations from Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, assassinated Dec. 27 in Rawalpindi
Last Updated December 27, 2007
CBC News
Benazir Bhutto
"We have to modify our campaign to some extent because of the suicide bombings. We will continue to meet the public. We will not be deterred." — Shortly after narrowly escaping a suicide bombing in October on her return to Pakistan from an eight-year exile.
"I told him on my oath in his death cell, I would carry on his work." — Recalling a visit to her father, former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, before his execution in 1979.
"The primary message of the visit and the talks will be that freedom has returned to Pakistan. It is not only a success for the people of Pakistan but for all those who believe in freedom." — Preparing for a visit to the United States in 1989, a few months after she first took office as prime minister.
"The voter has gotten more demanding. In 1988, the voters just wanted democracy. Our campaign was much more general then. Now we are more specific." — 1993 Associated Press interview on her ultimately successful bid for re-election. She had been ousted in 1990.
"I always said that I was innocent and a victim of a politically motivated trial." — Commenting in 2001 when her 1999 conviction on corruption charges was suspended and a new trial ordered.
"I haven't given myself away. I belong to myself and I always shall." — Vowing in 1987 that her arranged Islamic marriage to Karachi businessman Asif Ali Zardari would not upstage her political career.
"Democracy needs support and the best support for democracy comes from other democracies. Democratic nations should ... come together in an association designed to help each other and promote what is a universal value — democracy." — 1989 speech at Harvard University.
Source: Associated Press
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Quick facts:
Population: 159,196,336 (July 2004 estimate)
Capital: Islamabad
Currency: Rupee
Major languages: Although English and Urdu are the official languages, the most-spoken languages are Punjabi, Sindhi and Siraiki.
Major religion: 77 per cent Sunni Muslim, 20 per cent Shia Muslim. Some Christian and Hindu.
Location: Southern Asia.
Area total: 803,940 sq. km, slightly smaller than B.C.
Border countries: Bordered by the Arabian Sea, between India on the east, Iran and Afghanistan on the west, and China in the north.
Natural resources: Pakistan has extensive natural gas reserves, some petroleum and poor quality coal.
Government: Federal republic, bicameral parliament consisting of a senate and national assembly.
History: In 1947, British India was separated into India and the Muslim state of Pakistan, with its east and west sections separated by mostly Hindu India. East Pakistan seceded in 1971 to become Bangladesh.
Origin of the name: "Pakistan" was coined by Muslim students at Cambridge University in Britain in 1933 as an acronym for the regions and nationalities that would make up the country: Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Iran, Sindh, Turkharistan, Afghanistan and Balochistan.
