The San Francisco Bay Area community of Newark became the gathering point for local Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) officials, workers and sympathizers as party leader and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto stirred up the local social scene speaking to and dining with a select group of Pakistanis and a handful of Indians at the Chandni Restaurant here.

During her Sept. 28 speech delivered in Urdu, she took the opportunity to remind the audiencethat even though they may be far away from home, “you still think about and feel for your mother country.” She also paid rich tributes to the founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and stressed the fact that he had won Pakistan by winning the hearts of the people. “Pakistan was created a free country,” she said. She said that she was saddened to ask why we could not bring justice to our own people. She added that the rule of (Constitutional) law was not implemented in Pakistan today, and that the overall law and order situation was not at all desirable.

Knowing that she was amongst friends, the Mohtarma said that except for Quaid e-Awam, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s one term, no elected Prime Minister has since been allowed to complete his or her term in office, and that all have been ejected (by the Military) in a very unceremonious manner with a multitude of dubious charges against them. She said that peace has eluded the country because it had become involved in a never-ending internal power struggle. She gave the recent Indian elections as an example to emulate, where the Vajpayee Government had lost the election and left office in a peaceful transfer of power.

Strangely, even though she was critical of the Musharraf Government in Pakistan especially on the uniform issue, she did not appear to be overly scathing in this criticism.

Pakistan needs to take the path of democracy if it is to gain respect in the world community, she said. She reiterated that there was only one way to get back on track for the country, and that was the vision of the Quaid-e-Azam.

On increasing poverty and the lack of basic needs like water in Pakistan, she reflected that the dream of being an economic “Asian Tiger” was being eroded and that instead, disillusionment had widened. The need was for a government that answered to the people and that an outside source of affluence was not as strong and viable as an inside source, she said. She also added that the PPP was the voice of the people of Pakistan and for that it had suffered a great deal.

She said that Pakistan was a major ally of the United States but questioned the fact that when its people show their passports upon entry to this country, they were looked upon with suspicion. She added that during the Afghan War the extremists in Pakistan were strengthened and the democratic parties marginalized. She said that had the Taliban been controlled earlier, history would have been different.

The former prime Minister ended her speech by saying that the PPP’s problem with the current regime in Islamabad should not be looked at as a power struggle. She said that it was more of a differing vision for Pakistan. “Dictatorship is not the solution to our problems,” she said.

The California PPP President Mr. Khuda Bux Bhutto and Najma Bhutto (Ladies Wing) also addressed the audience along with event Coordinator Dr. Khawaja Ashraf, Party V.P Choudhry Akram and General Secretary Zahid Saif. Also in attendance were Malik Shafiq Ahmed, Mohammad Ashraf, Mohammad Asgher, Saleem Soomro and Ejaz Memon. And one must not forget Dr. Lubna and Syed M. Hasanain for a number of great reasons.

Newark, CA - It was a certainly a rare appearance here by Benazir Bhutto. She was scheduled to give a speech at Sierra Nevada College, Incline Village, Nevada (approx. 250 Miles away) on Sept. 30th and took this opportunity to interact with the local Pakistani community here for the first time in years.

That she is articulate would be an understatement. She is also very charming, warm and friendly when she is amongst her friends and supporters. She appreciates good food (the Chandni Restaurant Chef was praised) and stimulating conversation like the rest of us. And most important of all she can exhibit when necessary the strong people skills that were once the hallmark of her late father.

We know that tragedy is no stranger to her life. She may appear to hide her pain better than others whose families have suffered so much. One can more easily discuss her future political plans today while the past on the other hand remains an unspoken bond between her and her core following.

One does not have to agree with her political viewpoint. But it would be extremely unwise to ignore her in the Pakistan context. She still remains the leader of the largest political party in a country where the last three decades have been tumultuous and a rocky road still lies directly ahead. Intelligent people will agree that in the present circumstances, Pakistan cannot afford to sideline Democracy or a politician of her stature. So the logical question left to ask here is, how wise is the current Pakistani Establishment going to be?