“I feel very emotional about coming back to my country. I dreamt about this moment for so long. I hope I can live up to the expectations of the people of Pakistan”.
– Benazir Bhutto, October 18, 2007
Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto spoke these words as she boarded her flight home after eight long years of exile. Her voice was calm, but her heart was heavy. On one side sat Bilawal, on the other Bakhtawar and beside her the youngest, Aseefa, still a little girl. She kissed their faces and held them close, knowing she was leaving behind her heart to answer the call of her homeland.
They understood why their mother was leaving. She was returning for her people, for Pakistan. The world watched a lone woman – a warrior, unarmed but unafraid – step back into a country that had already taken everything from her except her courage. She knew that death awaited her, yet she came, not for power or privilege, but for her people’s right to live free.
The cabin around her pulsed with energy, laughter, prayer and hope. It was not a quiet flight but rather history taking wing. And in the middle of it all, Benazir sat serene and determined, ready to bring her country back to the path of democracy.
When her plane landed that October afternoon, Karachi came alive. From Jinnah Airport to Mazar-e-Quaid stretched a human ocean. Streets overflowed with men, women and children waving the red, green and black flag of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Drums rolled, songs rose and petals rained from rooftops. For the first time in years, Pakistan was breathing again. It felt as if democracy itself had come home.
But by midnight, joy turned to fire. As her convoy reached Karsaz, two massive explosions ripped through the night. The sky burned red, the ground trembled and jubilation collapsed into chaos. Hundreds were martyred and hundreds more injured. The road was strewn with shattered banners and broken bodies.
Yet even in that inferno, faith endured. When the first blast struck, the jiyalas and jiyalis, the loyal workers of the PPP, did not flee. They ran towards the truck where their leader stood, trying to shield her with their own bodies. They ran not for their lives, but for hers. The world had never seen such devotion. Men, women and children became human walls of love. They knew death was inevitable, yet their faith was stronger than fear.
That moment revealed the soul of the PPP, a movement built not on privilege but on sacrifice. From Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, every generation of PPP leadership has given its blood so that democracy might live. And alongside them stand thousands of workers whose courage forms the moral foundation of this republic. Their names are etched at the Yadgar-e-Shuhada at Karsaz, where every year families of the fallen gather to honour their memory with pride and prayer.
When Benazir Bhutto was martyred, President Asif Ali Zardari rose from unimaginable personal loss with the strength of a statesman. In that hour of national despair, he did not call for revenge but for a united Pakistan – Pakistan Khappay. That single affirmation became the turning point in Pakistan’s modern political history. It transformed grief into unity and set the course for reconciliation over retribution.
For PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and for every worker like me, that conviction remains our compass. Pakistan before politics, Pakistan before power, Pakistan before self.
Eighteen years later, the tragedy of Karsaz still echoes, but its message has triumphed. The blood that was shed that night paved the way for a democratic Pakistan. Under President Zardari’s leadership, Pakistan saw the return of civilian rule, the strengthening of parliament and the landmark 18th Amendment, which restored provincial autonomy and rebalanced the federation. These were not abstract reforms but the political realisation of Benazir’s dream, a Pakistan governed by consensus, not coercion.
Karsaz was more than an attack on a convoy; it was an assault on hope. Yet from those flames rose a new chapter in Pakistan’s democratic journey. The movement that began on October 18, 2007, built the bridge from dictatorship to dialogue, from fear to freedom. It reminded the world that Pakistan’s democracy was not granted; it was earned.
Today, terrorism still haunts our streets and the challenges we face remain immense. But the people of Pakistan have inherited resilience from those who stood at Karsaz. Every election, every debate in parliament, every peaceful transfer of power carries a silent tribute to those martyrs. Their sacrifice gave us a constitution restored, a parliament empowered and a politics grounded once again in the will of the people.
On this anniversary, we pay solemn tribute to the martyrs of democracy, the jiyalas, the jiyalis, the mothers, sons and daughters who gave their lives so that the voice of the people could never again be silenced.
Karsaz was the resurrection of Pakistan’s democratic spirit. It marked the moment when courage defeated tyranny and when blood watered the roots of a freer nation.
There will never be anyone like Benazir Bhutto. She knew death awaited her, but she came home anyway. She gave her life so that her people could live free and her dream continues to beat in the heart of every democrat who believes that Pakistan, despite all its trials, will always choose hope over fear, unity over division and democracy over dictatorship.
The writer is a member of the National Assembly. She holds a PhD in Law, and serves on the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Kashmir.