Activists of the Pakistan Peoples Party light candles on the death anniversary of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Lahore on Sunday.

The 8th death anniversary of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was observed on Sunday across the country.

Special prayers were held in mosques for the departed soul of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and the first woman prime minister of the Muslim world.

Thousands of people, including top PPP leaders, converged on Garhi Khuda Bakhsh town in Sindh, where she is buried at the family mausoleum, for the main events of the day.

PPP co-chairman and Benazir’s son, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, chaired a meeting in Naudero of the PPP’s central executive committee (CEC) for the first time, and addressed a public gathering after visiting Benazir’s grave in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh.

Born into a wealthy landholding family with a tradition of political activism in southeastern Sindh, Benazir enjoyed a privileged childhood and went on to study political science and philosophy at Radcliffe College and Oxford University.

She excelled academically and planned to work with her father’s government as a professional diplomat upon her return to Pakistan in June 1977.

On Dec. 18, 1987, she married Asif Ali Zardari. and had three children with him.

She returned to Pakistan on 18 Oct. 2007 and was assassinated on Dec. 27, 2007, after departing a PPP rally in Liaqat Bagh, Rawalpindi.

During her lifetime, Benazir was featured among the 100 most powerful leaders in the world.

The politician also authored two books, “Foreign Policy in Perspective” (1978) and her autobiography, “Daughter of the East” (1989).

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