BENAZIR~ Another Martyred Bhutto

Perhaps the whole world saw Mohtarma retire to her inevitably draped bed of flowers, blood and tears. As her peach coffin was lowered into the familiar sands of Ghari- Khuda- Baksh, she lay dead, but her spirit, entranced by the wanderlust of Jannat at once must’ve begun its journey. The crowds smitten with sorrow and pestilence collected coldly at her burial (chanting amidst wails) and rummaged through the sudden outburst for the ‘truth’ that lay shadowed in her death.
The Bhutto blood had always been tough. Zulfikar- Ali too, like his daughter, was martyred in his early fifties. Educated at the University of California and the University of Oxford, Zulfikar was known for his mercurial brilliance and wit. Becoming the 4th President of Pakistan in 1971 was indeed a great achievement, as was his entry into the United Nations as the youngest Pakistani ever. Zulfikar founded the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in 1967 following which he delivered various speeches owing to his charisma (a trait seen in Benazir also). In 1951, Bhutto married Begum Nusrat Ispahani from whom four children were produced.
The Youngest- Shahnawaz had always been a high aspirant. His desire to excel in higher studies drove him to extend his hand abroad much like his father. In 1789, when the military dictator Zia- Ul Haq hanged Zulfikar, Shahnawaz was studying in Switzerland. But tragedy resurfaced in the Bhutto family just a year later as young Shahana (as he was called lovingly) was found dead in his French Rivera apartment in Nice, under mysterious circumstances.
Another child, not frequently talked about is Sanam, Zulfikar’s younger daughter. Since early womanhood, she kept away from politics and this is why she has ‘fortunately’ lived on as the only surviving blood relation of Zulfikar and Nusrat.
Zulfikar’s elder son Murtaza was born in 1954. A socialist rebel, he took to arms after his father’s assassination in dubious circumstances. Murtaza chaired the military wing of the PPP namely the al- Zulfikar and organized a number of attacks on Beirut, Damascus and Lebanon, under the garb of socialism. He too much like his father, died a matyr for Pakistan one evening, as a group of terrorists fired at his contingent, shooting incessant rounds at him.
The eldest daughter, born to the Bhuttos in 1953 was Benazir. Her name much like her quick witted personality meant ‘uncontrollable’. Tenacious and charming, Benazir was a rather shrewd young lass. This helped her lead the Oxford Union, while she studied at Oxford University. Later on, she was also invited to attend Harvard. At eighteen, she charmed everyone at Simla, when she had accompanied her father Zulfikar. “Part and Parcel of every discussion, Benazir also brought a smile to the likes of Indira Gandhi” reminiscences a witness of the Simla treaty in 1972. Benazir was sworn into office after her fathers assassination in 1979 to lead the PPP and then again in 1988 to become Pakistan’s first woman Prime Minister. After a tumultuous stint of over six years in hardcore ‘dirty’ politics, Benazir fled to London fearing a threat to her life.
During the interim, Benazir’s PPP operated from London with the help of her controversial husband Asif Ali Zardari, who had also served as Pakistan’s Environment Minister during Benazir’s reign. She lived safely for eight years only to return to her doom in 2007, just after addressing her last rally in Rawalpindi, following which a suicide attempt, made Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed or Martyr.