Episode description

Benazir Bhutto made history when, aged 35, she became the first democratically elected female Prime Minister of a Muslim majority country.

Her family are one of world’s most famous political dynasties, but also one blighted by tragedy – murder, feud and assassinations.

Bhutto has been nominated by Christina Lamb, author and chief foreign correspondent with The Sunday Times. Bhutto was her friend and a huge influence on her life. She also expelled Christina Lamb from Pakistan.

Christina has a picture of Benazir Bhutto on her desk attending the rally in Pakistan before she was killed by a suicide bomber on the 27th December 2007. Christina was on a bus with her during a previous assassination attempt, and she recounts the horror of that day.

Her expert witness is Huma Yusuf, a journalist and columnist with Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper and a Global Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Centre.

Presented by Matthew Parris

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2018.