Chapter Eight, A Heroine Returns Summary and Analysis

Throughout 1985, Bhutto traveled Europe to speak to Pakistanis and promote the restoration of democracy. At the time, martial law was lifted, though Bhutto did not trust Zia. Crimes and corruption were still high and money and weapons from Afghan fighters flowed into the country. The drug problem, primarily caused by heroin, was out of control. Zia was using the most extreme ideas of Islam to support his politics. One involved limiting the freedom of women; Muslim religious leaders, Mullahs, demanded that women in Pakistan wear traditional Pakistani dress. If women were suspected of infidelity, they could be stoned or jailed. By 1989, most prisoners in Karachi Central Jail were women.

Yet violence increased throughout the country and not only men against women. Men and provinces fought one another. No one liked religious taxes. Bhutto...