Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's Era During the 1970 Election campaign, Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto emerged as the clear front runner in the Punjab and Sind. He is the first person who has played a significant role in empowerment of women Pakistan. In his era, for the first time, women voted for the candidates of their own choice, irrespective of their husband’s desires. This was a big step in the political empowerment of women at the grass roots level.
On assuming power in December 1970, Mr. Bhutto gave top priority to drafting a new constitution in which he especially highlited women rights. Begum Nasim Jahan and Begum Ashraf Abbasi were the two lady members of the Constitution Committee which is also an example of empowerment of women in Pakistan.The 1973 Constitution brought about greater gender equality, stipulating that there would be no discrimination on the basis of race, religion, caste or sex for appointment in the service of Pakistan. It also guaranteed reserved seats for women in Local Bodies and mandated that steps be taken to ensure the participation of women in all spheres of national life.
However, as mentioned earlier, in spite of forceful demands put forward by APWA and other women organizations, and a determined effort made by Begum Nasim Jahan in the National Assembly, the principle of female suffrage for the reserved women’s seats, was not revived in the 1973 Constitution. Bhutto’s Law Minister, Mr. Abdul Hafeez Peerzada, felt that as in the past the political parties had been unable to find suitable female candidates beyond the big cities, an election based on female suffrage would produce unhealthy results. He was also influenced by the fact that, although women had played a remarkable role in the 1970 Election Campaign, none of them was able to get elected. In his view this proved that the better category of women politicians were adverse to fighting a direct election. He therefore thought that the interests of women would be best served by a system of indirect elections, which would attract a better breed of women politicians.24 However, Begum Nasim Jahan was of the view that as the electorate for this indirect form of elections (or more appropriately the nominating authority) would comprise entirely of males, the women parliamentarians would be reduced to being mere token representatives.

Benazir Bhutto's Era

Benazir Bhutto, the first democratically-elected woman to lead a Muslim nation, looked like a Disney drawing of a beautiful fairytale princess.To the West at large, she spoke the language of secular democracy. To American women, Bhutto spoke theLanguage of feminism filling a void left by the absence of a female American counterpart to mirror her ascent to power in Pakistan.
In Beijing, at the 1999 United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, Bhutto advocated for the empowerment of women through education, employment and "population control." She railed against female infanticide and misogynist interpretations of Islam. "In distinguishing between Islamic teachings and social taboos," Bhutto told the conference, "we must remember that Islam forbids injustice -- injustice against people, against nations, against women." "If my father had not educated me or left me with independent financial means, I would not have been able to sustain myself or to struggle against tyranny..." she said in her speech to the U.N. Conference on Women.
With her ruling-class pedigree, Bhutto's gender was no impediment; it was, perhaps, her best accessory. governing nations, soHer red-lipsticked visage on an election poster offered a promise of modernity in a nation that suffered an inferiority complex next to its rival and motherland, India. Her very womanhood signaled a departure from the two main directors of Pakistani politics: the generals and the mullahs. However disappointing her lack of action on behalf of Pakistan's women, Bhutto was a potent symbol of their potential empowerment. Symbolism was what Bhutto did best, and symbols matter -- especially to the desperate.
She certainly was brave, and in both a physical and metaphysical sense. Some suggest it was a bravery born of arrogance; that she believed she had been chosen for greatness. Had she been a man, that belief, taken in combination with her physical risk-taking, would be attributed not to arrogance, but to having a sense of destiny, a calling.
She surely knew the risks. In their obituary of the Muslim world's first great modern woman leader, the New York Times' Jane Perlez and Victoria Burnett write, "Ms. Bhutto often spoke of how her father encouraged her to study the lives of legendary female leaders, including Indira Gandhi and Joan of Arc..."
In her willingness to meet a violent death, Bhutto may give courage to other women, and convince them that it's worth risking their lives for the sake of future generations. Or another message may be taken by Pakistan's women: beware the generals and mullahs -- not to mention villagers with stones in their pockets.

Musharraf's Era

Musharraf era proved to be a political boom for the women of Pakistan, unfortunately it also did not restore the principle of female suffrage for women’s reserved seats on the basis of special territorial constituencies as envisaged in the 1956 Constitution. Although Gen. Musharraf very boldly increased the number of reserved women’s seats to an unprecedented 20% in the Assemblies29 and 33% in the Local Bodies, reportedly as many as 31% of the women in NWFP.
Women owe a lot to Gen Musharraf. Besides the increase in reserved women seats in the Assemblies from 2 to 20% women now also constitute 33% of the Union, Tehsil and District Councils. In addition, many women have been sent as ambassadors to various countries. These are very bold and positive steps that herald the beginning of a whole new chapter in the political participation of women in Pakistan. It is now incumbent upon the women parliamentarians to take meaningful steps for gaining a deeper understanding of women’s issues and problems.This would be the most effective way of enhancing the political empowerment of women, as envisaged by President Musharraf in his inaugural address to the National Conference on Women’s Political Participation in January 2003, where he had stated that, “The women members of the Assemblies must rise beyond party affiliations… influence decision-making… (and) become effective in legislation to ensure that no law detrimental to their rights and interests is passed.”
Musharraf also passed the Punjab Prevention of Domestic Violence Bill, 2003 and the Honour Killing Act and Women Protection Act which have helped bring to surface a new breed of women politicians such as Sherry Rehman PPP, Nilofar Bakhtiar PML(Q), Kashmala Tariq PML(Q) and Fauzia Wahab PPP. Their roles in the passage of these Acts have definitely proved that there is light at the end of the tunnel.