Benazir's daughter appointed to party post

{image-bhaktar bhuto_09062008.jpg news.oneindia.in}London, June 9 : Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto's eldest daughter Bakhtawar Bhutto (17) has reportedly been appointed as the head of the PPP's Women Wing, a post which her mother once held, before climbing up the political ladder to reach the top political post in Pakistan.

In a TV interview, Bakhtawar pledged to carry on her mother's political legacy. "I definitely want to help people in Pakistan. I want to continue my mom's mission in any way I can, whether it is politics or something else - I haven't decided yet," the Times Online quoted her as saying in the interview. Wearing a plain white skirt and a beige jacket, she giggled throughout the interview, said the paper. Bakhtawar, who goes to school in Dubai, said: "I am proud to think people see me as a role model. I'm a very confident speaker and I hope all women can do what they want. I was given the opportunity. I was privileged, as you know. I was born into the family that I am in, where everything I could have was my right. Everything was equal between me and my brother and there was no discrimination between the sexes."

Her 19-year-old brother Bilawal, an Oxford undergraduate, was appointed co-chairman of the PPP along with Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, within days of the assassination and is widely seen as a future leader of the party.

"We have been brought up to equality and everything my brother was given, I was given. In education, we went to exactly the same schools, exactly the same teachers. Education for women is as important as for men because I believe we can all have the same jobs in life," Bakhtawar told a Pakistani satellite news channel.

Although she has clearly inherited her mother's self-confidence, Bakhtawar has yet to adopt her sense of style.

According to the paper, Bakhtawar's appointment has led to speculation that she, rather than her brother, might be the next star of the Bhutto dynasty. Bakhtawar's public reminder that she is Bilawal's equal has also raised memories of the bitter sibling rivalry that divided the Bhuttos after the death of Benazir's father.

ANI