Begum Nusrat Bhutto symbolized struggle against repressive forces and personified commitment to just cause, democratic values and people of Pakistan. On 23 October last year, she left us to join the august club of national martyrs—husband Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, daughter Benazir Bhutto and sons Murtaza and Shahnawaz. She will perhaps remain the First lady of Pakistan in perpetuity as the only woman who has the honour of being the wife of Prime Minister Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, mother of twice Prime Minister Shaheed Mohatarma Benazir Bhutto, mother of Sindh MPA Shaheed Murtaza Bhutto, mother-in-law of President Asif Ali Zardari, grandmother of PPP Co-chairperson Bilawal Zardari Bhutto and his siblings and cousins who are all contributing to Pakistan’s welfare in their own ways. Her daughter Sanam Bhutto aptly commented over her demise last year that “she’s joined her family up there.”
She endured the worst torture of Dictator Ziaul Haq with dignity and resolve that remains unparalleled in our history. She was jailed, tortured and exiled but her message to her workers was that “we could give our lives but not bow before dictators.” She resolved to fight repression through generations. And that is how it has been. It is now her third generation that is out to challenge the dark forces of religious extremism, ethnic and sectarian violence and international terrorism.
While she may have looked like an icon of resolve, somebody who was very hard to crack, she was quite the opposite from inside—a symbol of love and affection for ordinary people, party workers, friends and family. The was the reason she was equally loved by party workers and the people of Pakistan—a mother figure who was there to stand with them in times of trouble. She lived a life of extreme irony. She had seen the best of the world as a scion of a noble family and as wife and mother of two Prime Ministers. And yet she had to suffer the humiliating rigours of jail and torture. She had to see the tortuous killing of her husband, two sons and the dearest daughter. It became too much even for a person of her strength and steely nerves. She lost her memory. She could neither speak nor understand anything around her.
She lived with her beloved daughter Shaheed Benazir Bhutto in Dubai in her last decade. But Begum Sahiba, as PPP workers would address her, could not apprehend that she had her daughter or grand children around her. It was very painful for Mohatarma Benazir Bhutto to see the plight of her mother. She would make Begum Sahiba sit on her one side while Bilawal sat on the other. Bakhtawar and Asifa sat on the opposite side. A family servant fed her but then Mohtarma Benazir would clean her hands and then talk to her. Begum Sahibe stayed mute in this discourse. This was the most tragic chapter of her life. Mohtarma spent long hours serving her mothers which may have earned her a place at her feet in paradise.
Quaid-i-Awam Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had made Begum Sahiba Chairperson of the PPP while in imprisonment. She justified his choice by fighting the martial law valiantly. She became a champion of the cause of people and represented the PPP dream. She kept the torch of the party and democratic values aflame under very difficult circumstances. This also kept the peoples’ movement alive.
She was beaten up while leading a rally at Lahore’s Qadafi Stadium. The images of Begum Sahiba bleeding in the head showed the evil side of Zia’s dictatorship to the world.
She was subjected to second degree torture and kept separated from her daughter Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. She was kept in Sukkur Jail in very hot weather but she refused to succumb to the repressive regime. Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto extolled the greatness of Begum Sahiba and his daughter Benazir in a letter to his son Murtaza in these words: “In the worse times that we had never undergone before your mother and sister are a pilar of strength to me. I think without their valiant help it would have not only been difficult but impossible for me to endure this. There is no justice for me in the administration and courts. My case is before Allah and His people.”
After the judicial murder of Quaid-i-Awam Begum Sahiba accelerated the movement for democratic revival. Realizing the success of her efforts, Ziaul Haq showed his true colours by cancelling elections on 16 October, 1979. Begum Sahiba and Mohtarma Benazir were thrown in jail. A reign of terror was unleashed on PPP workers but they endured everything from imprisonments to public lashing while sloganeering, “ Jeeay Bhutto.” She also had to suffer the tragedy of the killing of her son Shah Nawaz Bhutto. She developed lung cancer while in jail which threatened her life. She was allowed to leave for abroad under immense international pressure. She reached Munich in critical condition. She had been reduced to a skeleton and yet she addressed workers who came from all over Europe, saying, “The regime has put the country to shame by unleashing the worst tactics on its people. Pakistan Army is replete with torture camps from Khyber to Kemari.”
She called upon the people to stand up against the dictatorial regime and bring down the evil empire.
In an interview to Musawat Weekly in London on 5th January, 1979, she said, “The proceedings of Lahore High Court have refreshed the memory of the infamous British Star Chambers where innocents were thrown before the hangman without any due process of law. These courts do not give the impression of a just forum but that of a butcher’s shop. It’s not the trial of Bhutto Saheb’s murder but the murder of his trial.” Begum Sahiba’s historical statement that the trial of Bhutto Saheb’s judicial murder will be put before the elected parliament for investigation is waiting to be materialized.
