“Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari” – My eyes haze, as I initiate to carve about the 22 year old, who has undergone more than any of her contemporaries for a democratic process and the rule of law in Pakistan. The portent of good fortune, “Itty Bee” remains an epitome of gallantry, who has survived the hardest of the times for democracy, has grown up observing the incarceration of her father, murder of uncle, the ailment of grandmother and the most poignant of all, the dreadful assassination of her striking and glamorous mother, Shaheed Mohtarmah Benazir Bhutto. The allegory of the Bhuttos is drenched too intensely in blood, and Bakhtawar Bhutto – Zardari has set an exemplar of persistence to the appalling doom of Pakistan’s politics – she witnessed her family bear stern ordeals for the people of Pakistan, which is why when I commence to write about the little baby, Bakhtawar who did not even shed a tear in mom’s lap during the entire flight, my heart wrenches to quote the memoirs of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed’s 40th birthday, when Bakhtawar cried out: “Mama! that is as old as a dinosaur”. Bakhtawar, even before entering into practical politics rules the hearts and consciousness of every of her acquaintance, who would never get bushed, chanting “Jeyay Bakhtawar” day and night. Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, the tale of another legendary “Benazir” daughter begins!

When Mohtarmah Benazir Bhutto Shaheed gave birth to Bakhtawar in 1990, she became the first modern head of government to give birth while in office. From the very day, her existence was predestined to be devoted to the people of Pakistan, and like her mother, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari readily acknowledged the fate and experienced the toughest of the afflictions in such a young age. After her mother’s assassination, she followed in her footsteps and stood by her brother, Chairman PPP, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, when he made the adversaries of egalitarianism garrote by repeating the words of his slain mother, “Democracy is the best revenge”. “I would take the pain away” – The Bakhtawar, I know is committed to culminating the destitution of the masses and materializing the vision of her mother Shaheed Benazir Bhutto; she has vowed to take her mother’s twinge away, and the biggest throbbing of my leader, Benazir Bhutto was to see her country in shambles – the people under the rule of a tormenter autocrat and dispossessed of their fundamental human rights – she left her own privileges and returned to her motherland, because she worried for the anguishes of the commoners more than her own, and undeniably, Bakhtawar is the mirror image of her extra ordinarily audacious mother.

“Let us come together and rebuild Pakistan. Let’s rebuild it in an even better way. Let’s turn this grave tragedy into an opportunity. We have to rebuild a new bright and shining Pakistani society, to which our commitment is total and unending.” It was with this fortitude that Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari formed her own NGO “Save the Flood and Disaster Victims Organization” to offer respite to those, who were hit by the calamitous floods of 2010. Not only did Bakhtawar travel around to amass funds for the victims, but she herself visited those regions to share the sorrowfulness of her people, exactly like Benazir Bhutto would always care for the underprivileged as her own relations. Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari’s contribution to her motherland continues to enthuse millions of her countrymen. When our youth is currently disenchanted by the circumstances, “Itty– Bee” reveals a hope by her dynamic social and charity work, which is a model for others to follow. Benazir Bhutto’s dream to see every child of Pakistan educated is being materialized by Bakhtawar, through the “Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology”.

Pakistan waits for its future leader, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari. It is always hard for me to pen about the “humble” Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, whose humility would soak up every speck of my conversation. “Itty Bee” would always remain the greatest motivation for me, and bequeaths me with a greater vigor and conviction to accomplish Shaheed Benazir Bhutto’s goal to provide “Bread, Clothing and Shelter” to every being in Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto always laid emphasis on the significance of education, and it makes me too proud to see Bakhtawar get a first on her dissertation titled “Shakespeare’s political heroines in Antony and Cleopatra, Macbeth, Othello and The Winter’s Tale”. Today, my compassion demolishes, and the eyes fog to see Bakhtawar getting a degree in Literature from the University of Edinburgh – it certainly is a great instant for Shaheed Mohtarmah Benazir Bhutto, the family and her admirers who extend from one curve of the globe to another.

HEARTIEST CONGRATULATIONS, BAKHTAWAR!

Blood is the least that I could give for you…

Jeyay Bhutto!

* The writer is an A Levels student, author of “The Insignia of Democracy” and a political activist. She can be accessed on twitter @SariaBenazir.

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