Nusrat Bhutto

Nusrat Bhutto
‌نصرت بوتو (Persian)
نُصرت بُھٹّو (Urdu)
Nusrat Bhutto
1st Senior Minister of Pakistan
In office
31 March 1989 (1989-03-31) – 6 August 1990 (1990-08-06)
Prime MinisterBenazir Bhutto
Preceded byZulfikar Ali Bhutto
Succeeded byChaudhary Nisar Ali Khan
2nd Chairperson of Pakistan Peoples Party
In office
4 April 1979 (1979-04-04) – 10 January 1984 (1984-01-10)
Preceded byZulfikar Ali Bhutto
Succeeded byBenazir Bhutto
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Pakistan
In office
14 August 1973 – 5 July 1977
Prime MinisterZulfikar Ali Bhutto
Preceded byMrs. Nurul Amin
Succeeded byBegum Junejo
First Lady of Pakistan
In office
20 December 1971 (1971-12-20) – 14 August 1973 (1973-08-14)
PresidentZulfikar Ali Bhutto
Preceded byMrs. Ayub Khan
Succeeded byMrs. Fazal Ilahi
Personal details
Born
Nusrat Ispahani

(1929-03-23)23 March 1929
Isfahan, Isphahan Province, Imperial State of Iran
(present-day Isfahan, Isfahan Province, Iran)[1]
Died23 October 2011(2011-10-23) (aged 82)
Dubai, Emirate of Dubai, UAE
Cause of deathAlzheimer's disease
Resting placeBhutto family mausoleum
Nationality
Political partyPakistan People's Party
Spouse
(m. 1951⁠–⁠1979)
Children
RelativesSee Bhutto family
Alma materUniversity of Karachi
ProfessionPolitician
NicknameMādar-e-Jamhooriat ("Mother of Democracy")

Begum Nusrat Bhutto (née Ispahani; Persian: ‌نصرت بوتو; Kurdish: نوسرەت بوتۆ; Sindhi: نصرت ڀٽو; Urdu: نُصرت بُھٹّو; 23 March 1929 – 23 October 2011) was an Iranian-born Pakistani public figure who served as the first lady of Pakistan from 1971 to 1977, as the wife of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who served as the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan. She also served as a senior member of the federal cabinet between 1988 and 1990, under Benazir Bhutto's government.

She was born in Isfahan[2] to a wealthy merchant family of Kurdish heritage and her family had settled in Bombay before moving to Karachi after the Partition of British India. Ispahani joined a paramilitary women's force in 1950, but left a year later when she married Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. She moved to Oxfordshire with her husband who then was pursuing his legal education. She returned to Pakistan alongside Bhutto who went on to serve as the Foreign Minister. After her husband founded the Pakistan Peoples Party, Ispahani worked to lead the party's women's wing.[3] After Bhutto was elected as the Prime Minister in 1971, Ispahani became the First Lady of Pakistan and remained so until her husband's removal in 1977. Her daughter, Benazir Bhutto immediately succeeded her husband as the leader of the Pakistan Peoples party and, while under house arrest, fought an unsuccessful legal battle to prevent her husband's execution. After Bhutto's execution, Ispahani, along with her children, went into exile to London, from where in 1981 she co-founded the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy, a non-violent opposition to Zia's regime.[4]

Ispahani returned to Pakistan after her daughter Benazir made a comeback in 1986. After the People's Party's victory in 1988, she joined Benazir's cabinet as a minister without portfolio while representing Larkana District in the National Assembly.[5] She remained in the cabinet until Benazir's government was dismissed in 1990. Afterwards, during a family dispute between her son, Murtaza, and her daughter, Benazir, Ispahani favored Murtaza leading Benazir to sack Ispahani as the party leader.[6] Ispahani stopped talking to the media and refrained from political engagements after the assassination of her son Murtaza in 1996 during a police encounter, during her daughter's second government.[7][8]

Ispahani moved to Dubai in 1996, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, she was kept out of public's eye by Benazir until her demise on 23 October 2011.[9] In Pakistan, Ispahani is remembered for her contribution to empowerment of women in Pakistan and for advocating for democracy in Pakistan, for which she is dubbed as "Mādar-e-Jamhooriat" (English "Mother of Democracy"), a title she was honored with by the parliament following her death.[10]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference independent.co.uk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Bhutto". bhutto.org. Archived from the original on 6 February 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  3. ^ Newspaper, the (24 October 2011). "Nusrat Bhutto's death – end of an era". Dawn. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  4. ^ "Bhutto". Archived from the original on 6 February 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  5. ^ "Begum Nusrat Bhutto: First Lady of Pakistan who fought to keep her". The Independent. 28 October 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  6. ^ Ali, Tariq (13 December 2007). "Daughter of the West". London Review of Books. pp. 3–9. ISSN 0260-9592. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  7. ^ "Nusrat goes with many historic secrets". The News International. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  8. ^ "Touched by tragedy: Exclusive extracts from Fatima Bhutto's new book". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  9. ^ Leading News (25 October 2011). "Mother of Democracy Nusrat Bhutto laid to rest". Pakistan Tribune. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  10. ^ Gilani, MBBS, Syed Nazir. "Death in six instalments". Pakistan Observer. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2011.

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