Pakistan: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow
Winter Tour 1999
January 22, 1999

Honored guests, ladies and gentlemen.

It is a great pleasure to be here in San Francisco, California to speak with you this evening. 

As you may know, I am no stranger to America, having spent the four happiest years of my life as a student at Harvard from 1969 to 1973.  

It was during those years -- those vibrant years of intellectual exploration, those turbulent years of American political unrest over the War in Vietnam -- that I came to fully understand the power of people to change policy and of the inevitable triumph of democracy over repression.

Possibly the greatest strength to America, as seen through these eyes of the East, is the extraordinary diversity of its people and its political system, and its system’s remarkable ability to accept that diversity, and thrive on it.  

And despite the bewilderment of the current impeachment spectacle, American democracy remains the model to which all nations aspire.

Nowhere is the promise and fulfillment of the democratic dream more true than in this glorious state of California  -- one of the greatest and strongest economies on Earth, with a unique entrepreneurial spirit, the home to the technological and information revolution which has transformed our world over the last two decades. 

California is a model of what the new global community can be, as we approach the turn of the millennium, as we reach for a new and different future for all mankind. 

It is in these visits to America that I am so often reminded of the possibilities that exist for the developing world – and the potential of their people.   

With each visit here, I take home with me new energy, a stronger conviction towards democratic ideals, and a renewed sense of faith in the ability for the people of Pakistan, and for that matter all over the world, to thrive on diversity, to accept differences among people, to grow with pluralism and democracy, and to guarantee a good life, rich with opportunity and choice.  

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As all people across the world prepare, only for the second time in recorded history, for the crossing of one millennium into another, it is a time to take stock of where we have been, where we are now, and where we are going.  

I wish to answer these questions from the perspective of my homeland, Pakistan, a land of promise and hope, but also of frustration and contradiction.  

Let me share with you my thoughts on Pakistan at the crossroads.

Pakistan's Islamic history began long ago with the arrival of Arabs in the 8th century to Sindh. 

From here they spread Islam across India which then came under Muslim rule for nearly a thousand years. 

Nearly ten centuries later, British traders followed in the footsteps of the Arabs arriving on the shores of the Sub-continent, attracted by its vast markets and great wealth.

The advent of the British traders eventually gave birth to British rule in the Sub-continent. 

The British ruled for 200 years but by the early 20th century, South Asian leaders began agitating for a greater degree of autonomy.  

The Muslims of Undivided India wanted a separate homeland of the own where they could live free from the fear of religious discrimination.

On March 23, 1940, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League, formally called for the creation of an independent state. 

The movement for the partition of India on the basis of religion had begun.  Just 7 short years later it culminated in victory when the British acceded to the demands of Pakistan. 

However, the Muslim princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was denied the right of self-determination. India occupied it by force. It remains a flash point of conflict till this day. Soon after Independence, the founder of Pakistan died. Shortly thereafter his close colleague Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was mysteriously assassinated in the first of many intrigues that were to dominate Pakistan in the years to follow.

Shorn of civilian leaders of stature, Pakistan plunged into military dictatorship and despotism.

It was not until 1971, after the country’s civil war that split the nation and allowed the formation of Bangladesh, that our country began its first steps towards a modern democratic nation.

My father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), became the President in 1971 while I was an undergraduate in America. 

He moved decisively to restore national confidence and pursued a liberal domestic policy to ensure a more enlightened society. In 1973, he drafted a new constitution and relinquished the presidency to become Prime Minister. 

While my father governed the country, I completed my education going from Harvard to Oxford University, where I studied politics, philosophy and economics.

By the time I returned to Pakistan in 1977, I hoped to pursue a career in the Foreign Service. 

But circumstances soon unfolded that would dictate the path of the rest of my life and change the direction of the future of my country. 

Within one week of my return from Oxford, a military coup toppled the elected democratic government of my father. 

Tanks surrounded our house. 

We did not know if we would live or die, if we would survive to see the dawn of the next day’s sun. 

A brutal, dictator had overturned a free and fair election, imposed martial law, and suspended all constitutional rights. 

My father was arrested, released, re-arrested and finally hanged.

Our party was targeted.  Our leaders were murdered, tortured, imprisoned. 

The lucky ones went into exile.

I myself spent nearly six years in prison or solitary confinement, on the edges of illness and despair.  

Finally, released by the power of world opinion, I devoted my life to mobilizing the cause of Pakistani democracy around the world, and keeping the flame of hope burning within my battered homeland.

When elections were held in November of 1988, my party was swept into office and I was sworn in as the first Muslim woman to head a government anywhere in the world.  

I was 35 years old.  

I was the only woman in history to be elected to head a government in the Islamic world. 

I was the youngest elected leader in the world.  I was also a wife and the mother of a baby son. 

The government I led immediately embarked on an ambitious program of political liberalization, an end to press censorship, legalization of trade unions, a commitment to the long neglected social sector with emphasis on education, health delivery and women's rights, and macroeconomic reform.  

We were not vindictive to those who drained our country of our character and of our values. 

As I said at the time, “democracy is the best revenge.”

However, members of the religious parties and conservative minded segments of the public embarked on a mission to create a religious frenzy against the newly elected government.  

Pamphlets were distributed claiming it was the religious duty of the people in the country to assassinate me, as I was a woman who had usurped a man's place in an Islamic society.  

Every Friday, from the mosques, sermons were given inciting the people to overthrow the government.  

And although my opponents fulminated, calling me an Indian agent and an Israeli agent, the people supported me. 

Despite the peoples support, after just 20 months, the entrenched Establishment that had supported the dictatorship, that had refused to bow to the people's will, toppled my government, acting under the cover and distraction of Saddam's invasion of Kuwait. 

The allegations, as they always are in Pakistan and in South Asia, was government corruption. 

But, even under a judicial system dominated by the entrenched autocratic Establishment, we were exonerated of all charges.

My party did not lose its faith in me, nor did I lose my faith in politics or the people of my country. 

As the economy and social structure of Pakistan deteriorated, and human and civil rights were cast aside by a repressive regime, Pakistan edged close to anarchy. 

Only three years after the coup against me, I was re-elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan.

In reflection, I realized that being a leader in a large developing country that had been stifled by the forces of dictatorship was difficult in itself.

But being a woman made the task even more formidable. 

I faced greater challenges than I could have ever imagined.

It is not easy being a woman in Pakistan, or for that matter anywhere in the world today.

Moreover, for women leaders, the obstacles are greater, the demands are greater, the barriers are greater, and the double standards are greater.  

And ultimately, the expectations of those who look at us as role models are greater as well.

  For all women, it is critical that we succeed.

  Unfortunately, there are still many people out there who would just as soon have us fail, to reinforce their myopic stereotypes restricting the role of women.

I recall with great empathy the words of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, who once said:

"If a woman is tough, she is pushy. If a man is tough, gosh, he's a great leader."

How often, in Pakistan, in North America, all over the world, we have heard characterizations of women in politics as pushy, as aggressive, as cunning, as shrewd, as strident.

These words, if applied to men in politics, would be badges of honour!

Those of us who have chosen to serve in business, government and other professional careers have broken new ground. 

We have broken glass ceilings, we have broken the stereotypes, and we have been and continue to be prepared to go the extra mile, to be judged by unrealistic standards, to be held more accountable.

Therefore, women leaders have to outperform, outdistance and out manage men at every level.

We should not shrink from this responsibility, we should welcome it.

Welcome it on behalf of women all over the world, in cities and rural villages and in the great universities.

For all who have suffered before, and for all who come after us, we are privileged to be in this special position, in this special time, with unique opportunities to change our countries, our continents, to change the world…and inevitably change the future.

I recall the vivid images of Dante’s Divine Comedy and his characterization that “the hottest place in hell is reserved for those who remain neutral at times of moral crisis.”

  This is not the time for neutrality or inaction. 

The special demands of this extraordinary historical moment require great action from men and women of great vision and courage.

When we began our second term, we were pitted against a precarious economic scenario.

The country was on the verge of bankruptcy.

We moved urgently, made difficult decisions, sometimes-unpopular decisions, to restore solvency and create a macroeconomic framework that would allow Pakistan to compete in the world and attract foreign investment to help jump-start our moribund economy.

Increasing tax collection, imposing new taxes on critical segments of our economy, including the politically potent agricultural feudal landowners, was good policy. 

But it was not very good politics.

As in Eastern and Central Europe, the bitter pills necessary to put the economy on sound footing called for by the World Bank and IMF caused real pain to the people of my country. 

Despite the political costs incurred, our restoration of macroeconomic stability was an outstanding achievement by any yardstick. 

When my government assumed management of the economy in 1993, the country’s growth rate rested at a dismal 2%. We tripled that to 6% in three short years.

We were able to reduce our fiscal deficit three points in three years, from 8% to 5% of GDP. And we were able to double our tax revenue from 7% to 14% of GDP.

As a measure of the success of our program, we attracted more than $26 billion in direct foreign investment into Pakistan – much of it from the US.

During my visit to Washington, the President of the EXIM Bank expressed his support of our policies.

The losing firm in a privatization project wrote praising the transparency of our privatization process.

We paid off $1 billion of our debt and reduced it to 40% of GDP.

We determined as one of our highest priorities that we had to rebuild the infrastructure of our nation if we were to become an economic leader of our region and of the world in the new century. 

In providing a big-push to infrastructure development, our primary target was the energy sector.  

The World Bank called our energy infrastructure program a model to the entire developing world.

And we brought our energy revolution directly to the people of Pakistan by electrifying over 18,000 villages in our rural areas.

Our government built ten thousand kilometers of roads over the past three years.

We built 100,000 houses per year for the needy and deserving.

We provided proper sewage facilities to 95% of our urban.

And during the PPP Government’s term from 1993 to 1996, we made real changes with tangible consequences to affect the lives of every day Pakistanis.

  We succeeded in building over 30,000 primary schools for our children, and recruited 53,000 new teachers, 70% of who were women.

As a woman and mother, I was particularly concerned about the conditions of health for the children of Pakistan.

Approximately 50 million child deaths are predicted in South Asia over the next decade.

Of that astounding number, 30 million are avoidable if the countries of the region embark on serious health education and health delivery programs. 

In order to promote mother and child health care, primary health care and nutrition, 50,000 village health and family planning workers were trained to provide services specifically geared to the needs of women and children. 

Our work in family planning alone was responsible for a dramatic drop in Pakistani fertility rates during my tenure as Prime Minister.  Pakistan’s population growth rate came down from 3.1% to 2.6%.

The Vice President of the United States said my speech to the U.N. Conference in Cairo was the catalyst for the world community finally coming together on family planning issues.

My government embarked an ambitious and comprehensive effort to immunize the children of Pakistan from a host of child hood diseases that have been brought under control in other parts of the world. 

I wondered, “how many potential Nobel Prize winners will be among the 30 million avoidable deaths? 

How many great authors will never live to write their novels and poetry?

How many prospective great scientists, women and men who might go on to cure AIDS, to conquer cancer, to prevent strokes, will be among the thirty million children who could very well die if we do not act now?”

My government increased health expenditures by 60%. The World Health Organization gave me a gold medal (the only Pakistani leader to receive one) in recognition of the government’s services in health.

When I became Prime Minister in 1993, one in five children born with polio in the world was in Pakistan. 

We were determined to end this dreadful statistic and launched our anti-polio campaign.

My own one-year old daughter was at the heart of the campaign as I fed her and other children polio drops twice yearly to launch the campaign.

We did it with the help of Rotary International. The Rotarians did a great job in reaching out across the continents to help raise funds.

Intensely concerned about the problem of child labor in certain areas of our economy, most notably in the production of carpets and soccer balls, we cracked down on child labor.

We made education compulsory, knowing that if children are in schools, they cannot be in factories. 

We ordered local authorities to raid businesses employing children. 

Over 7000 such raids we conducted between January 1995 and March 1996 alone. 

Over 2,500 employers were prosecuted and many convicted, fined and imprisoned for violating child labor laws.

To protect women in society, we established special women’s police forces and women’s courts, to hear with understanding and sympathy cases of domestic violence and domestic abuse. 

Courts and police forces for women, staffed by women.

Our television ran a government sponsored program against domestic violence, and we took the step of signing the CEDAW, the Convention for the elimination of discrimination against women.

We established women’s banks designed to help women start small businesses.

All through this intense period of macroeconomic reform, privatization, infrastructure renewal, and an enormous commitment to the education, health and labor social sectors of Pakistan, I was guided by the philosophy and the words of an American President  -- Abraham Lincoln  -- who said 100 years before I was born:

“The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but cannot do, at all or cannot do so well, for themselves  -- in their separate and individual capacities. 

In all that the people can do for themselves, government ought not to interfere.”

I have attempted, throughout my career, to combine the best of many cultures, the richness of disparate experiences, to build for our people the ability to compete and thrive in the challenging new technological era.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Introducing the world of modern communication into Pakistan was one of the goals of my party.

We heralded the information revolution by introducing fax machines, digital pagers, optic fiber, cellular telephones, satellite dishes, Internet, the e-mail and even CNN into Pakistan.

It was a miraculous transformation of a society, a transformation that cannot be negated by disinformation and personal attacks on me. 

What we accomplished  -- concretely and specifically  -- is my legacy to the people of Pakistan. 

We opened up education, and we opened up markets

We opened up opportunity and we opened up foreign investment. 

We opened economic development and opened up our rural villages.  

Above all, we opened minds.  

We opened up individual choice.

Although the forces of the past once again conspired to bring down our elected government two years before our term was complete, history will be the final judge. 

Already, the camouflage of corruption used against my government on November 4th, 1996, while the world was once again distracted  -- this time by the American presidential election  -- has been exposed. 

Not one case of corruption has been proved against my family or myself in the two years since the President ordered the military to surround the Prime Minister’s House and ordered them to arrest my family and associates.

Not a single case to substantiate their unilateral assault on democracy. 

My husband is held prisoner, a hostage to my political career. 

The current regime in Pakistan blatantly violates the law, refuses to allow dissidents to speak openly and freely, and beats, tortures, and imprisons its opponents. 

The goal of the regime is quite obvious  -- to establish a one-party dictatorship in Pakistan.  They stand perilously close. 

Only I and others in the opposition stand in their way. 

If the goals of those in power, those who supported military dictatorship in the past, is to keep my party out of politics, to keep us from speaking out on issues that we care strongly about, no amount of intimidation or coercion can shake our commitment to democracy and to our country.  

My husband shares my decision.  

For those of us who fought and died for democracy and freedom in Pakistan, the return of a fascist, one-man dictatorship is painful beyond comprehension.

Today, Pakistan is a very different place.

The new fascist regime has already banned popular music on television in Pakistan, calling it decadent.

It has suspended the Assembly in the second largest province of Pakistan and established military courts for summary trials. 

Already two people have been hanged after summary trials.

Acts of terrorism are a daily occurrence.

The military has been dispatched to collect water bills and check electricity meters.

As the military steps in to fill the vacuum created by the collapse of institutions Pakistan’s fragile democratic structures are further undermined.

Fear, frustration and demoralization are the order of the day.

Under one man, one family rule, civil institutions have collapse.

And while the regime concentrates on political vendetta, the country heads toward economic collapse.

The situation is worsening every minute.

Since I left office the deficit has risen by 3%, investments have fallen, the regime has defaulted on payments to international lending institutions, corporations and even airlines, tax collections are frozen, the growth rate is down to 2% and the rupee has been shrinking in value.

Nearly 100,000 people have lost their jobs.

In just six months, in just one province, 86 people committed suicide because of hunger and lack of employment.

Tragically, one mother killed herself and two of her children because she could not feed them.

Foreign accounts have been frozen, making it all but impossible for international commerce to proceed. 

In the pursuit of vendetta, governance has been neglected. Pakistan, once again, is viewed by the international community as an unstable society with an inhospitable economic environment, causing private investment to flee. 

It is painful for me in Pakistan, but it is the people of Pakistan who have suffered the most.

A government sponsored mob, attacked the Supreme Court of Pakistan, forcing the Chief Justice to flee the courtroom.

Newspapers, critical of the regime, have had their offices raided and their employees threatened with cases of financial impropriety. 

A woman shopping at a marketplace in the city of Karachi had her arms slashed for wearing a short sleeved dress.

Parliamentarians have been baton-charged by police, some requiring hospitalization because of head injuries.

And now, the Nawaz Regime is seeking to undermine Pakistan’s constitution through passage of a bill cloaked in Religion with the purpose of concentrating all powers in the hands of the Prime Minister, who will have the power to “prescribe what is right and what is wrong.”

The right of individual choice, of individual freedoms is under assault even as I speak to you today.

Once again, a Pakistani dictator is trying to exploit Islam to protect himself politically.

He is attempting destroy democracy and replace it with religious fanaticism.

A move my party and I are resisting vigorously.

We did not come this far to be silent. 

We did not come this far to fail.

And that is why, despite the persecution, I am determined not to let down those who believe in a democratic, modern, moderate, liberal Pakistan.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This is not the time for neutrality or inaction. 

The special demands of this extraordinary historical moment require great action from men and women of great vision and courage.

In that regard, I cannot but be uplifted and empowered by the accord signed last spring in Belfast on Good Friday to end the conflagration in Northern Ireland. 

We hope that the path to reconciliation in Northern Ireland through honest mediation by the world’s sole superpower can be repeated in other areas of the world where the problems look equally intractable, equally impossible, but where men and women of good, will look beyond fear and loathing to reconciliation and resolution.

If Northern Ireland can be settled, why not a new initiative to save the frozen peace process in the Middle East.

If Northern Ireland can be resolved, cannot the world turn its attention to the horrors in Kosovo before Kosovo becomes another Bosnian genocide?

If Northern Ireland can be settled, why not a new and credible initiative to bring India, Pakistan, and the Kashmiris together to finally resolve the Kashmir issue.

An issue which hangs like a sword of Damocles across not only South Asia, but the entire world.

Three wars over Kashmir have wrought devastation in its path. Today, 600,000 troops hold the people of Kashmir hostage.   Fighting continues everyday at the Line of Control.

When I was Prime Minister, I proposed initiative after initiative to limit the nuclear arms race in South Asia. 

I proposed that the region become a nuclear-weapons-free zone. 

But last May, defying world public opinion and defying common sense, India detonated five nuclear weapons, provoking Pakistan to follow-suit. 

Two arch- rivals, sharing a dangerous and unstable border, who had gone to war four times in fifty years and who had a huge and dangerous unresolved issue in Kashmir, suddenly now faced each other with nuclear weapons, potentially soon to be fixed on ballistic missiles.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Those of us in South Asia who believe in peace, who believe in freedom look towards the international community to do whatever is necessary to have Pakistan and India step back from the precipice. 

Signing the CTBT is a solid and necessary first step, one I have been proposing in Pakistan since detonation. 

But even more fundamental is removing the impetus for war  -- commencing a dialogue on Kashmir that will allow for a resolution provided for under United Nation’s Security Council resolutions.

Nuclear India and Nuclear Pakistan have a special responsibility, to the mothers and children of South Asia, to the larger human family in the world we share, to move in the direction of peace.

I would like to see India and Pakistan take the steps necessary to defuse tension in South Asia.

I would like to see India and Pakistan move with the global community on an agenda of non-proliferation.

And yes, I would like to see Pakistan free itself from India phobia by embarking on a foreign policy free of the “tit-for-tat” response that governed the last 50 years of our history.

A nuclear war is too horrific a consequence for Pakistan or South Asia to contemplate. The arms race between India and Pakistan has crossed the boundaries of rationalization.

We, the people, must assert ourselves in putting an end to a military race out of synchronization with a world of global trade and finance.

The tension between Pakistan and India over Kashmir is not the only issue threatening peace in South Asia. 

The situation with Afghanistan, and between Afghanistan and Iran, must be addressed.

  Let us be frank with each other.

It is a cruel irony of the Cold War that last August’s American tomahawk attacks at training camps in Afghanistan were targeted at a compound built by the CIA, and a Mujahadeen leader trained and funded by the CIA.

Only two decades earlier, the United States had made a military decision to arm and strengthen the fiercest fighters in the Afghan resistance as Soviet troops marched into Kabul -- many of whom belonged to extremist religious groups.   

And when the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, the West turned its attention away leaving a dangerous political vacuum in the region.

Indeed in the decade since the Soviets withdrew in 1989, the people of Afghanistan have not seen a single day of peace. 

The extremists, who were so emboldened by the West during the eighties, are now exporting their terrorism to other parts of the world. 

And now, the recipients of the West’s support and largesse have turned their venom against their benefactors.

In light of the recent and destabilizing events in South Asia, including the Kashmir issue, the nuclear arms race and the new instability posed by the tensions around Afghanistan and Iran, it is more important than ever that Pakistan remain a stable and moderate member of the international community.

Unfortunately, the present regime in Pakistan, lacking the support of the people, is in no position to address these vital issues.

Driven by insecurity, the regime in Pakistan is seeking refuge in Religion as the path of its salvation.

Tensions, extremism, and nuclear pyrotechnics.

This is the sad state of life in Pakistan as the last embers of the second millennium begin to fade into the dawn of the new millennium.

This is dangerous for Pakistan, for South Asia, for all Muslim Nations, and for the world at large.

Ladies and gentlemen, our generation stands at the doorway of history.

Not only the doorway of a new century, but the doorway of a new millennium.

The entire world community, and specifically the United States, has a fundamental strategic interest in events in the Muslim World.

All across the world, in the Middle East, in Southwest Asia, in Southeast Asia, in Africa, one billion Muslims are at the crossroads.

They must choose between progressivism and fundamentalism.

They must choose between education and ignorance.

They must choose between the force of the new technologies and the forces of the old repression.

Thus, one billion Muslims must choose between past and future.

The United States must do everything within its power to insure that progressive, pluralistic Muslim countries like Pakistan are in a position to serve as models to the entire Islamic world. 

This is not the time for the United States to turn its back on the people of Pakistan, democracy in Pakistan, the strategic importance of an enlightened Pakistan in the coming millennium.

This is particularly true because of the importance Pakistan plays on the continent of Asia.

As great American Senator, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, recently said, “demography is destiny.”  And if demography is destiny, the future belongs to Asia. 

In terms of demographics, in terms of production, in terms of consumption, in terms of markets, in terms of an expanding capitol intensive middle class, the Asian continent will set the tone, set the pace, and dominate the economic and geopolitical exigencies of the coming era.

It is up to us  -- all of us  -- to determine the moral parameters of that new era  -- the coming decade, the coming century, the coming millennium. 

In less than a year, we will witness only for the third time in recorded history the momentous turning of the millennium.

Where and what will we be, at that extraordinary moment, when the huge ball drops and the year 2000 lights up the winter sky?

Will we be prisoners of the mind-set of the past, or will we be liberated to the endless possibilities of an historic future?

Our generation, the first in recorded history, is fundamentally empowered with the control of its own destiny.

The chains of the past  -- colonialism, ignorance, dictatorship and sexism  -- are broken.

The world has finally accepted, in the words of Robert Browning, that “Ignorance is not innocence, but sin.”

 I see a Third Millennium of bold choice and miraculous opportunity.

I see a Third Millennium where the gap between rich and poor states evaporates, where illiteracy and hunger and malnutrition are conquered.

I see a Third Millennium where human rights are universal, and self-determination unabridged anywhere on the planet.

I see a Third Millennium where civil dialogue is restored, where consensus and comity once again guide the national and international debate.

I see a Third Millennium where people’s trust in government is restored, and government gets on with the business of addressing the pressing needs of the people.

I see a Third Millennium where every child is planned, wanted, nurture and supported.

I see a Third Millennium of tolerance and pluralism, where people respect other people, and religions respect other religions.

I see a Third Millennium of equal rights for women and men, where the birth a girl child is welcomed with the same joy as the birth of a boy.

This is the Third Millennium I see for my country  -- and for yours.  For my children, and for yours.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

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