Geo Pakistan

Begum Nusrat Bhutto passes away

DUBAI: Former chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and first lady, Begum Nusrat Bhutto, died at the age of 82 after protracted illness in Dubai on Sunday. Begum Nusrat Bhutto was born in Isfahan, Iran on 23 March, 1929. She married the founder of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1951. After the death of her husband in 1979, she remained the chairperson of the PPP from 1979 to 1983. She was allowed to leave Pakistan by the military government of Ziaul Haq in 1982 for London after she was diagnosed with cancer. She was elected Member of National Assembly (MNA) from Larkana in 1988 and 1993. Nusrat Bhutto had two sons Mir Murtaza Bhutto and Shahnawaz Bhutto and two daughters Benazir Bhutto and Sanam Bhutto. The body of Begum Nusrat Bhutto will be brought to Sukkur from Dubai on a chartered flight on Sunday night. She will be buried in Garhi Khuda Buksh in Larkana beside the grave of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The Pakistan People’s Party has announced 40-day mourning on the death of its leader. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani announced 10-day national mourning and public holiday on Monday and cancelled all his engagements. The Federal Cabinet will also not hold its meeting on Tuesday.