Mir Murtaza: The forgotten BHUTTO

I belong to a family whose elders have supported Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in the early 1970’s. My grand father and father both admired Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. It will be a little less to say that my father was an admirer of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. He was a Bhutto Enthusiast. Later on, when Benazir Bhutto came into politics all of my aunts liked her and supported her. Mostly Hindko speaking Peshawri s were supporters of the Bhutto Family. My introduction to  Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is not an ordinary story. During the elections of 2008 many old friends of my father who were part of PPP’s Student union in late 1970’s and early 1980’s use to come to our home and listen to speeches of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto, their eyes would shine. I simply asked my grandfather who is Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto? He told me all the details  about him. I suddenly asked him where are his sons? He said both his sons have passed away. Murtaza Bhutto was the elder son where as Shah Nawaz Bhutto was his younger son. I do not know why but I was fascinated by the name of Mir Murtaza Bhutto. I was just 9 then.

This column focuses on the lighter side of Mir Murtaza Bhutto. I will write about his personality. Murtaza Bhutto was born on 18^th of September 1954. He was educated at the Karachi Grammar School and later like his talented sister he was sent to Harvard University and Oxford University. At Havard University he graduated in 1976. He was among the top fifteen percent of his class(Cum laude).  Murtaza Bhutto also was a room mate of Bill White in the Harvard university who later became Mayor of Houseton. At Oxford University he would study in the Christ Church. His subjects would include Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He enjoyed his childhood alongside his brother Shah Nawaz. Murtaza Bhutto during his early teenage years began to read Mao and Che Guavera. He was just 14 and was positive about Pak-China friendship. Murtaza used to arrange marches to celebrate famous moments of  Che Guevara.

According to Farrukh Sohail Goindi who is a writer and the author of the famous book “Mera Lahoo”. Says, “When  Murtaza Bhutto entered politics. He came to Jang Forum in Lahore and answered all questions politely and smilingly despite of the fact that few questions were harsh.He further added that  Nusrat Bhutto loved her son Murtaza a lot. She always wanted to bring him forward in politics.“

I was lucky enough to interview a very close friend of Mir Murtaza Bhutto, Sohail Sethi. He is a fellow Peshawri and his name is mentioned in the book of Fatima Bhutto that is “Songs of Blood and Sword”. He says that “He was an excellent human being who was very warm when he used to meet people. He was a  very good father. He visited Peshawar in 1976 and went to Charsadda to pray for Hayat Khan Sherpao. His relations with him were not only political, they were personal.  Before joining politics he visited other areas Of Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa which included  Chitral and Dir. He liked the Peshawri Chappal a lot. He had a special attachment towards Peshawar”

Mir Murtaza Bhutto died in a police encounter on 20^th of September 1996 just two days after his birthday.

Osama Siddiqui

Peshawar