Benazir Bhutto was at her best during her parting public address on December 27, 2007 at Liaquat Garden Rawalpindi.

Her last statement was a shining testament to her vision, wisdom, courage and determination to steer the country out of troubled waters.

Great speeches have been made in the past by statesmen from time to time. Such statements have changed the course of history.

Speeches of Sir Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, M. A. Jinnah, Liaquat Ali Khan, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Tse Tung, Martin Luther King, Charles de Gaule, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Barrack Obama and scores of other luminaries are examples of extraordinary oratory envisioned to swing the tide of history in the direction set by the said speakers.

The last testament of Benazir Bhutto falls in the category of great speeches which have made history.

A list of revolutionary speeches since the famous Apology of Socrates will find a respectable space for the Liaquat Bagh address of December 27, 2007 delivered by the 'daughter of the east'.

Ever since the great speeches delivered by her illustrious father at home and abroad, I have come across nothing as visionary and as inspirational as the last public address of Benazir Bhutto minutes before her targeted assassination.

She defied the mortal dangers to her life on her last day and stood like a rock as a symbol of sacrifice and service to the people she so passionately loved.

A recording of her speech should be played in every nook and corner of the country to make her message unforgettable in the hearts and minds of the people who have always been ready to do and die for her and her mission.

Her final speech could also serve as a yardstick which can be used to measure the performance of the present government and succeeding governments.

Had I been working on December 27, 2007, I would have resigned as I had done in protest against the judicial murder of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. I was charged with the crime of “misconduct”. That “misconduct” remains to this day as the highest point of my life. Merely shedding crocodile tears over the tragedy of Dec 27 is cosmetic.

The supreme sacrifices of Benazir Bhutto can not be allowed to be shoved under the carpet and thus vanish unceremoniously from the memory of the poor people of this country.

B. A. MALIK
Islamabad