Postcard: Pakistan

A country all too familiar with military dictators is hoping a disgraced politician can pull off a comeback. Welcome to Benazir Bhutto's schizophrenic home turf

Zahid Hussein / Reuters

Supporters of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi light oil lamps in Karachi, Pakistan to celebrate her decision to return to Pakistan from self-exile on September 8, 2007.

The tomb of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the populist Pakistani President who was overthrown in a military coup and executed in 1979, looms over the poverty-stricken salt marshes of rural Sind province. From a distance, the hulking mausoleum resembles a plasticine model of the Taj Mahal squeezed onto too small a foundation. Before Bhutto--who founded the Pakistan People's Party--was hanged, he had requested nothing more than a humble marble slab to mark his grave. But in Pakistani politics, image is everything. It's a lesson Benazir Bhutto learned at her father's knee. Hence her decision a dozen years ago to build him an...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!