The Gandhis, the Bhuttos and the Kennedys are political dynasties linked by a common thread of meteoric rise and grave tragedies. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi on Thursday marks the end of another dazzling political career from the Bhutto family. 28 years ago, her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, also a former PM, was hanged by the then military regime.
Both of Benazir’s brothers — Shahnawaz and Murtaza — died earlier. While the former was found dead in his French Riviera apartment in 1985, the latter died under mysterious circumstances in 1996.
Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister, was killed by her own bodyguards at her official residence in 1984. Her successor and son Rajiv Gandhi was also assassinated by the LTTE in Tamil Nadu seven years later while bidding like Bhutto for another term in the prime ministerial office. Sanjay, another son of the Gandhi family, died in a plane crash in 1980, shortly after his mother, Indira, had made a triumphant return to power.
The fate of the Kennedy dynasty in the United States has been somewhat similar. John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. His brother Robert was also shot dead five years later. JFK Jr died in a plane crash in 1999.