Begum Nusrat Bhutto: The savior of democracy

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by Maleeha Manzoor

“We will never go. The generals must not think they have won” – articulates the iron lady standing in the District Jail Rawalpindi knowing that she was meeting her beloved husband, standing behind the bars, for the last time… The story of this gallant lady is too hard to enfold, one cannot wrap up the letters without a pierced heart and misty eyes. But there also lie in her story the biggest lessons of heroism – how to continue with the valor, how to bear with the worst of the adversaries, and how to defeat those evil elements, her life depicts everything any bravest could have ever faced. That is Begum Nusrat Bhutto: the iconic wife who burried her husband, burried two young sons, and also lost her young daughter, about whose assassination she hardly even knew… I am lost into oblivion when I commence to ponder about the great sacrifices Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto rendered for each one of us, but then what takes the jiyala in me back to the life is the heroism of Nusrat Bhutto. Along with fulfilling her own pledges to her husband, she, when returned to Sindh from Rawalpindi after Bhutto’s judicial murder, initiated to actualize his dreams and his promises made to the people of Pakistan. She became the prominent leader of The Movement for the Restoration of Democracy arose against the dictatorship and against all the injustices done to Sindh due to ill federalism. Her husband killed brutally, herself left all alone with four symbols, the children, of her gallant husband, her eldest daughter sent to gallows, exiles, yet what she stood for was democracy – democracy for a country that cost blood of her entire family, the young blood of husband, two sons and a daughter. Through the platform of Pakistan Peoples party, Begum Bhutto strove for a democracy – fighting against the ruthless dictator Zia whose evil soul still continues to shatter the very depths of the existence of Pakistan, and whose extremism has trapped not only Pakistan but also Islam into the worst picture. Nevertheless, chanting zindah hai Bhutto zindah hai, Begum Bhutto breathed life into the dead souls of jiyalas. She sharpened the faded colors of the party’s flag with the red of hers and her children’s blood and kept her martyred husband’s legacy alive that is now being carried forward by the third generation of PPP. All the efforts she made the party are the cement-binding base of today’s Pakistan. Despite losing all a mother/a wife/a lady has the right to have, her firm commitment to return democracy to Pakistan makes her Madr-e-Jamhooriat. The world now recalls her as the bravest woman after Fatima Jinnah. Yes, the same world that could not stand beside her when she needed it the most. Yet the selflessness made her an unforgetable leader, she worked for all without any discrimination. Revived and strengthened democracy. Bestowed this country with the greatest leader Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto who too, like her parents, laid down her life fighting to ensure democracy for Pakistan. The democracy we witness today is due to the streak of sacrifices Bhutto family made. And Nusrat Bhutto is the iconic lady behind the two greatest leaders of Pakistan. To me, she serves as an example of another Bi Amma who kept alive the movement of an independent country when her sons, the prominent leaders of freedom movement Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali Johar, were imprisoned. Therefore, those witnessing democracy today must not forget the one valiant leader behind the inception of today’s democratic Pakistan – for here lie the lessons of valiance and this Bhutto’s ‘heart’, his wife, signifies the valor of each Pakistani who has struggled against any tyrant. So with the struggle of democracy, began the struggle of Begum Nusrat Bhutto and with the demise of Begum Bhutto, closed the golden chapter of history. But she will be missed, always. Rest In Peace Amma Nusrat. Today I reaffirm my pledge to stand with your grandchildren to actualize what you dreamed for Pakistan and make it a Benazir Pakistan. That’s my promise to Bibi Shaheed and that’s my promise to you as well. Your sacrifices have not been in vain. Pakistan is and will always be indebted to your forfeitures.