| Nusrat Bhutto | |
| Chairperson of Pakistan Peoples Party | |
| In office 4 April 1979 - 10 January 1983 | |
| Preceded by | Zulfikar Ali Bhutto |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Benazir Bhutto |
| | |
| Born | March 23, 1929 Esfahan, Iran |
| Political party | Pakistan Peoples Party |
| Spouse(s) | Zulfikar Ali Bhutto |
| Children | Benazir Bhutto Murtaza Bhutto Sanam Bhutto Shahnawaz Bhutto |
| Religion | Islam |
Begum Nusrat Bhutto (Sindhi: بیگم نصرت ڀھٽو, Urdu: بیگم نصرت بھٹو) (born March 23, 1929) is the former First Lady of Pakistan, who was the wife of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. She became her husband's successor as the chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from 1979-1983. She is also the mother of the late PPP chairman and former Pakistani Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto.
BackgroundNusrat Bhutto was born on March 23, 1929. She comes from the wealthy Hariri Esfahani family in Esfahan, Iran. The Kurdish connection comes from her grandmother who had married into the Hariri family [1] Nusrat Bhutto is the daughter of a wealthy Iranian businessman who settled in Karachi, Pakistan.[1] Nusrat met Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Karachi where they got married on September 8, 1951.[2] She was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's second marriage, and they had four children together, three of whom she has outlived.
Family and career
As first lady from 1973-1977,[1] Nusrat Bhutto functioned as a political hostess and accompanied her husband on a number of overseas visits. In 1979, after the trial and execution of her husband, she succeeded her husband as leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party as chairman for life. In 1982, ill with cancer, she was given permission to leave the country for medical treatment in London at which point her daughter, Benazir Bhutto, became acting leader of the party and by 1984 Benazir was being referred to as party chairman.[3][4]
After returning to Pakistan in the late 1980s, she served several terms as a Member of Parliament to the National Assembly from the family constituency of Larkana in Sindh. Also, during the administrations of her daughter Benazir, she became a cabinet minister and Deputy Prime Minister. In the 1990s, she and Benazir became estranged when Nusrat took the side of her son Murtaza during a family dispute, but later reconciled after Murtaza's murder.
She currently resides with her daughter's family in Dubai, and suffers from the combined effects of a stroke and Alzheimer's Disease.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto | Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Benazir Bhutto was acting chairperson from 1982 to 1984 1979 –1984 | Succeeded by Benazir Bhutto |
