By NNN-PTI
Dubai : After eight years in self-exile, Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Thursday headed back home saying she was carrying a “message of change and hope for a better future for democracy” as tens of thousands of enthusiastic supporters converged in Karachi to welcome her.
“I believe in miracles and my returning home is a miracle,” Bhutto, 54, who is scheduled to fly into Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport this afternoon, told reporters in Al-Mashriq VIP lounge of Dubai Airport, before boarding an Emirates flight here.
The Pakistan People’ Party chief said she expected 10 lakh people to be waiting to greet her in Karachi, her traditional stronghold.
“They have come because they want a change, they don’t want unemployment, oppression and despair. I am embarking on a journey of change as my life is pledged to Pakistan and its people,” Bhutto said in a brief statement read out at the airport.
“I am going home with a message of change and hope for a better future for democracy, and I hope that this moment for democracy succeeds… I am a leader of the poor. I will live and die with the poor,” she said.
Bhutto came to Dubai airport in a convoy of 50 vehicles accompanied by her husband Asif Ali Zardari through a special route. However, her flight was delayed by nearly an hour.