Bhutto (jr) New Rising Star Of Sindh, Taken from The News International Options

[vitalsignsguy]

Bhutto (jr) new rising star of Sindh



By By Rauf Klasra
1/3/2008
LARKANA: The 17-year-old handsome and confident looking Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (junior) is fast emerging as a new ray of hope in his hometown for the diehard followers of Bhutto’s legacy who are, for understandable reasons, confused about the dramatic conversion of Bilawal Zardari into Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Zulfikar was only 6 years old when he saw the bullet riddled body of his father lying at the lawns of Al Murtaza, where now he is receiving condolences over the death of his aunt. He may have never thought about the role he is being forced to play because of the changing fortunes of the Bhutto family.

The first major sign of acceptance of Bhutto (junior) as the sole heir to Bhutto's legacy had emerged at Naudero when he reached there along with Fatima and his mother Ghinwa to share the grief of his young cousins, Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa.

As Zulfikar emerged at Bhutto house at Naudero, a large number of Sindhi youth rushed to greet him and shouted slogans in his favour. He sat among them without uttering a single word or showing any impression about his inner feelings. To the surprise of many onlookers, particularly who had gone there from Punjab and Islamabad, a young Zulfikar behaved in line with the true Sindhi traditions, which helped him to gain the confidence of those elements who might at some stage turn towards him in case Bilawal fails to live up to their expectations in the long run.

All those Sindhis who are confused about the conversion of Bilawal Zardari into Bilawal Bhutto Zardari are now regularly seen sitting in the big lawn of Al Murtaza from where once the mighty ZAB launched himself in the violent politics of Pakistan. This historical house has hosted many important national and international personalities before and after the death of ZAB. The old and historical pictures of Bhutto hanging on the walls of Al Murtaza, many top visitors and others provide a good glimpse of the importance of this house.

Zulfikar seems to have developed a serious understanding that he was the heir of a strong Bhutto legacy and at the tender age of 17 years, he is displaying maturity and wisdom. It is all written on his sober face that he knows how to control his emotions and use his body language to convey a direct message to the mourners that he was with them and getting ready to take control of his own destiny for which, according to Ghinwa Bhutto, all Bhuttos are destined.

Unlike Bilawal at Naudero who just lost his mother, a tall, handsome but sober junior Zulfikar emerges from his big house where once ZAB used to live, to sit on a small chair among a large number of mourners after every half an hour to receive the condolences of those poor folks of the area who now look at him with a lot of hopes and some even tears in their eyes.

As he comes out of the main gate wearing traditional Sindhi clothes with a big shawl on his shoulders, all the Sindhi mourners spontaneously rush to greet and surround him. Without uttering a single world, he simply makes his way into the crowd to reach his chair in the green lawn.

Once Zulfikar Bhutto sits on his chair, all hands go in the air to offer prayers for the departed soul of Benazir Bhutto. The lips of everybody present there are moving very fast but their tearful eyes are only fixed on Zulfikar sitting there with his head down and hands in the air, praying for the departed soul of his aunt whom with he and his family never enjoyed good personal relations before and after the killing of his father Murtaza Bhutto in Karachi in 1996. Zulfikar and the rest of his family could never reconcile with the bitter fact that his father was killed when Benazir Bhutto was the prime minister.

But, now it seems that the killings of Benazir Bhutto has given a new dimension to the whole Bhutto family, as it has helped the young Bhuttos to mend their fences with the children of their aunt after her departure.

As the prayers are finished, all sitting in the green lawn of Al Murtaza suddenly spring up from their chairs and rush to embrace and hug the tall and handsome Zulfikar Bhutto. Without any hesitation, the junior Bhutto comes forward and hugs everybody present there without any discrimination but maintains his own dignity.

Like a traditional politician, he is not showing any sign of discomfort while meeting the downtrodden and poor people of Larkana who have come to share his and their own grief. He keeps on embracing a large number of people till the last person meets him with tears in his eyes. But, a steadfast and composed Zulfikar is silent and composed.

Once Zulfikar is free, he turns to the gate where the pictures of his father Murtaza are posted with the election banners of her mother Ghinwa Bhutto. With his head high in the air, he enters into his house only to return after half an hour to receive other mourners and hug them in line with the Sindhi traditions.

When this correspondent reached Al Murtaza in the evening to meet either Fatima Bhutto or Zulfikar junior, he found a large number of people sitting in the green lawn of Al Murtaza who were being offered tea after regular intervals. They all were waiting for Zulfikar to come and meet them.

One such man told this correspondent that Zulfikar was performing the Sindhi traditions accordingly and they all were quite surprised and even impressed to see this young Bhutto dealing with all of them in mature and wise manner.

When this correspondent was interviewing Ghinwa Bhutto, unlike Fatima Bhutto, Zulfikar was very keen to hear the questions and how his mother was responding to them. But, like an obedient son, he remained silent although on certain occasions, this correspondent felt that he wanted to say something. But, he smiled when her mother fondly mentioned that how Zulfikar had developed a special fondness in the environmental issues of Sindh and had even saved the life of a blind Dolphin who was trapped in the Sindh waters.

A mother Ghinwa Bhutto for understandable reasons, wants to keep her children away from the violent politics of Pakistan, which has already taken the life of her father-in-law in 1979, one brother-in-law Shahnawaz in 1986, husband Murtaza in 1996 and now a sister-in-law Benazir Bhutto. But, like a political philosopher, she also accepts the fact that the Bhuttos do take their own decisions at the call of times. Now we all have to wait and see when Zulfikar decides to find his own destiny like his grandfather on whose name he was named.

[Morg]

well if feudalism is what sindhi people want, then they hope for the right thing. but i personally think that anyone no matter whoever you are grandson of, you still have to earn your reputation and yout position. it doesnt mean that he is "handsome" or "hot" as many people like to say, and as many people would like to vote for.

[Ali_9mm]

hey.. whats this man.. emma standing elections too this time around

all vote Ali_9mm

[glamourous]

When this correspondent was interviewing Ghinwa Bhutto, unlike Fatima Bhutto, Zulfikar was very keen to hear the questions and how his mother was responding to them. But, like an obedient son, he remained silent although on certain occasions, this correspondent felt that he wanted to say something. But, he smiled when her mother fondly mentioned that how Zulfikar had developed a special fondness in the environmental issues of Sindh and had even saved the life of a blind Dolphin who was trapped in the Sindh waters.

Maybe because he's a dumbass and doesn't know anything.

i think Mr.Rauf Klasra fancies Zulfiqar Jr.

....and, i read an article by fatima bhutto ( ) where she said Benazir filed a case against her and her brother when she was 15, and he was 9.
So, if Fatima is 25 now, wouldn't that make Zulfiqar 19?

[vitalsignsguy]

^yes he is 19 Rouf made a mistake there

[Ali_Imran]

Did anyone just see the live press conference with him in London? Does he know how to speak Urdu? He hasn't lived in Pakistan and at the moment is concerned about finishing his education.

This post has been edited by Ali_Imran: Jan 8 2008, 06:26 AM

[Ali_Imran]

Bhutto's Son Addresses the World

Accompanied by men more than twice his age, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari sat through his introduction with the downward gaze of a sullen teenager. But when it came time to speak, he looked up with the same large brown eyes that from underneath her headscarf helped make his mother famous, and which now seem to reflect the gaze of the world.

"This is a new experience for me, and I'm a bit nervous," he said.

So began the political career of the 19-year-old chairman of Pakistan's main opposition party, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). In his first full press conference since the Dec. 27 assassination of his mother, Benazir Bhutto, Bhutto Zardari laid out his plan to finish his three-year history degree at Christ Church College, Oxford and then enter politics, asserting that his lineage makes him a natural future leader of Pakistan.

But what was clear, both in Bhutto Zardari's words and unsure delivery, is that this would-be savior of a Muslim nuclear state on the verge of disintegration is exactly what he appears to be: a teenager nowhere near ready to lead a student union, let alone a country. "Unless I can finish my education and develop enough maturity, I recognize that I will never be in a position to have sufficient wisdom to enter the political arena," Bhutto Zardari himself conceded.

In a crammed and overheated hotel basement, the painful contradictions of Bhutto Zardari's appointment to the chairmanship of the PPP were laid bare: here was a young man dealing with a country plagued by poverty from a boutique hotel in Kensington on behalf of a party claiming to push for democracy even as it consolidates a dynasty. The British press pack was relentless. One BBC journalist asked: "What on earth do you propose as a 19-year-old who has hardly lived in the country, what do you propose you can offer Pakistan, a country of 170 million people?"

Bhutto Zardari replied: "It is true that I haven't lived there, but I was raised by my mother, I was completely and utterly involved in everything she did."

The BBC reporter fired back: "What does it say about a party that it can be handed on like some piece of family furniture?"

"They asked me to do it," Bhutto Zardari countered, in a reference to his appointment by the party's central committee. "They represented the whole federation and they asked me to do this."

The press conference took place on a date originally scheduled for Pakistan's general election, which has now been delayed for six weeks following Bhutto's assassination. Accusing Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf of a cover-up, Bhutto Zardari called for a United Nations-led investigation into his mother's death, claiming that the current team of British investigators does not have "the necessary transparency." In perhaps his most composed moment, he answered a question about how the United States should conduct its policy toward Pakistan, saying "Dictatorships feed extremism and once the United States stops supporting dictators we can tackle the extremism problem."

Before Bhutto Zardari is even old enough to run for office (he must be 25, according to Pakistani law), the country faces an ongoing political crisis. Opposition politicians have accused Musharraf of delaying the election in an attempt to avoid a wave of sympathy votes for the PPP that might hurt the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam, which supports Musharraf. And while relative order has been restored to the Pakistan streets since protests rocked much of the country following Bhutto's death, a deep uncertainty surrounds the upcoming elections. All the while, lawlessness and the accompanying influence of Islamic fundamentalists continue to spread in the Northern provinces.

Repeatedly during the press conference, when pushed about the legitimacy of becoming the titular head of the PPP, Bhutto Zardari returned to an apocalyptic theme. "There was a moment of crisis," he said of his appointment. "Pakistan was burning. We needed to show a united front."

There is certainly a myth in many cultures of the golden child, the young man who emerges from a period of uncertainty to lead his people to salvation. But in Pakistan, a land already ravaged by competing myths of religion and tribalism, it is clear that what this 19-year-old neophyte needs most is not another fable but a thorough initiation into realpolitik. In a crowded London hotel room today, he received his first lesson.


http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8...1701371,00.html

[glamourous]

Did anyone just see the live press conference with him in London? Does he know how to speak Urdu? He hasn't lived in Pakistan and at the moment is concerned about finishing his education.

I'm pretty sure he knows how to speak urdu but not that well.

But thats exactly like his mother, her Urdu was apparently terrible when she first started out.


London press conference- http://youtube.com/watch?v=7REuip8Ldr0



This post has been edited by glamourous: Jan 8 2008, 10:23 PM

[Mastermind]

they dont care about the languages as long as they can get their hands on the treasury funds of the state....unabashed greed is to be admired....