Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Recollections and Remembrances Foreword

Q Coming from a conservative family, you and Fakhri Begum were two
liberated women.
A. My father was not so conservative, he always encouraged us. My mother
was a little old-fashioned, who would ask me to wear “Burka”. In fact in those
days, generally women wore Burka. When I got married, my husband’s family
wanted me to wear Burka at least in Larkana. So every time I went to Larkana, I
would wear Burka. It was much later when my husband became a Minister and
my father-in-law had died that I discarded it. Once my husband said it (Burka)
was a big farce and that I should forget it and take it off. One day when I was
traveling with him in a plane to Larkana he said, “Don’t wear it any more.” So I
threw it away.
Q How did you meet Mr. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto?
A. It was very strange. During my childhood, when we still lived in Bombay,
we used to visit Khandala, a hill resort near Bombay. We had a small summer
house there sometimes we used to go to Lonavala near Khandala. I saw him in
Lonavala for the first time. I remember so vividly, I was I I-years old. We were
walking around and his family was also there and walking. Somehow our
parents got together and started talking. There were three girls and this boy. So
we kids also began talking. They said they were from Sindh. We knew Karachi
but did not know Sindh, so we asked where Sindh was. They told us where it was.
These were the things that our parents talked about. I think we just net twice. I
don’t remember the details.
And then we shifted to Karachi. His sister, Manna. (Begun Munawwar Islam) was
a friend of mine and when she was getting married, she invited me also. So I
went to the bank to get my jewellery from my locker. I saw him standing there.
He was grown up by now and I did not know it the first instance as to who he
was. But his mother was also there and she knew that I was friendly with Manna.
So she said:
“Oh... Nusrat, this is my son, just came from America, his name is Zulfi.”
Now, I had heard from another friend of mine, now she is Mrs. Habibullah, that
Manna had a brother who was very handsome and tall. I had seen him in the
childhood and I had actually forgotten how he looked. While standing in that
bank, I saw him. Perhaps it was a little dark inside the bank, or whatever, but
somehow I thought that he was not so good-looking. This was our first meeting
as grown-ups.
Anyway, we went to Mehndi and wedding ceremony and he was always there.
There I thought he was charming. He liked me and I liked him. He was so
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Recollections and Remembrances; Copyright © www.bhutto.org
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