A progressive and liberal Pakistan will be the best tribute to Begum Nusrat Bhutto

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As I sit down to write a sort of obituary of Begum Nusrat Bhutto, I find my eyes dried of tears. Before me rolls a life of sacrifices that cannot be measured in words. Neither can we compare it with that of any one. Not many suffered as she - as a wife, mother, mother-in-law, grand mother and godmother to an entire nation especially those under-privileged who found in her a voice for themselves.

It was not just that - on March 23,1929, to Isphanis of Karachi was born a daughter, Nusrat Khanum, and that destiny chose her to be the great woman behind two of the greatest leaders of our time - Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and martyred Benazir Bhutto.

Begum Sahiba's life was a tragedy worst compounded. She continued many years to suffer in silence - unaware of the brutal assassination of her dearest daughter Benazir Bhutto and the mortal threats that were faced by Pakistan - a country for which she had insatiable love and commitment.

Last time when I saw her, she sat overly blank but there was an aura of deep melancholy blanketing her beautiful face that continued to retain its noble charm. Each wrinkle that ran across her face was a tale of saddest experiences in her eventful but tragic life. Indeed, when she died, her life was much more of the same - a sum total of the crimes of undemocratic rulers that have scarred the pristine face of her country - Quaid, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir's progressive and liberal Pakistan.

Begum Sahiba was from an Iranian Kurd heritage; her greatness could be linked to the most legendary Kurd hero Salahuddin Ayubi. I had known Begum Bhutto from the time when she was the graceful and dignified wife of Pakistan's most dynamic and youthful foreign minister.

Let me tell you how I had found her then as well as when she finally slipped into an incommunicable world of her own. She was humane to the core being surfeit with compassion and generosity, dauntless determination and courage. Her affection for the poor and the party workers had blossomed her into the most outstanding woman leader of her time. The head wound from the severe baton charge by General Zia ul Haq's hounds in Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium did leave her with crippling consequences, yet she did not surrender to the dictator and continued her jailed husband's mission for restoration of democracy with her brave daughter Benazir Bhutto by her side.

In 1947-48, as a young member of the Women's National Guard, she spearheaded gigantic relief operations to provide shelter and succour to the millions of the uprooted refugees at a time when Pakistan had no resources. At that hour of crisis, she stood tall among the tallest of ladies that had plunged themselves in one of the biggest relief operations ever undertaken.

Her marriage to ZAB was also a great turning point in his life. Though himself a highly qualified and richly endowed scion of an illustrious parentage, stability at home provided to him by Begum Sahiba, enabled him to harness his energies in the service of the nation to the best of his abilities. As the youngest minister, he was seen as a great man in the making and the woman behind him was Nusrat Bhutto.

When he became minister, her responsibilities multiplied - as a wife who had to accompany her husband on foreign tours, play perfect hostess to her husband's esteemed guests, look after four growing children whose education was her responsibility and then she had tremendous social responsibilities besides her commitment for the empowerment of women and less privileged.

The true strength and greatness of her character manifested itself in times of stress and strain. When Ayub Khan jailed ZAB, Begum Bhutto kept alight the flame of her husband's struggle for democracy. She, however, gave her best when Bhutto Sahib was removed in the 1977 coup by General Zia ul Haq. She led the masses, kept alive their democratic aspirations and hopes when her husband was incarcerated. She was not alone this time; her equally gifted daughter Benazir Bhutto was by her side.

While in jail, Bhutto Sahib handed over the leadership of PPP to Begum Sahiba as he could foresee the intrigues and machinations manipulated by Zia through some of the top PPP leaders for takeover of the party in his absence. She saved the party from the vultures within and kept the party flag flying high in defiance of ruthless martial law and state oppression. Later, due to worsening health condition, she passed the mantle of PPP leadership to Benazir Bhutto.

Indeed, no one single political family in modern history has given so many lives to the cause of democracy and people of its country as did the Bhuttos. Indeed, only a woman and a mother as strong as Begum Nusrat Bhutto -though tragically ill - and committed to the service of the masses could have survived the judicial murder of her husband, the state-plotted killing of her two sons and the cold-blooded assassination of her most illustrious daughter - all in the prime of their lives.

ZAB, Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto were committed to reviving Quaid's secular, liberal and progressive Pakistan. Now Benazir's widower and Begum Sahiba's chosen son-in-law - President Asif Ali Zardari - too is committed to the same goal especially when forces of obscurantism and some opportunists within the ranks have been plotting to takeover the party. He inherited the challenge that was mortally threatening the very existence of the country.

Mr Jinnah's vision was regretfully distorted by a self-conceited power troika comprising of the military, civil and judicial bureaucracy in league with the clerics who had opposed Mr Jinnah and Pakistan. His liberal ideology was replaced with one infested with obscurantism aimed to turn Pakistan into a theocratic state. This has been the objective of those terrorists now attacking our territorial sovereignty and integrity.

The best tribute to Begum Bhutto's unparalleled sacrifices and her daughter's blood would have to be shaped through certain decisions that should ensure Pakistan's safe and progressive future. The poor need to be provided instant relief since their sustenance has been rendered impossible by the policies of the previous rulers who made the rich richer and the poor poorer. And along with that, the PPP shall have to re-strengthen the nation's will to fight terrorism through a battle that would mostly require winning the hearts and minds of the people and making the masses genuine stakeholders as has been attempted through the 18th and 19th amendment in the constitution and the NFC award.

Politics is a game of uncertainty especially when egomaniacs are on the loose. The nation has survived the judicial crisis, it has to face many more as the intrigues of those who seek power through backdoor or politics of confrontation are unabated to keep the government on tenterhooks.

The best response to machinations of such anti-democratic elements is to unite the nation, give the masses hope in their future and collectively counter all obscurantist spanners effectively to keep the wheels of progress on the move. It will strengthen the possibility of a sound democratic future. That is what we owe to Begum Nusrat Bhutto and the martyred Benazir Bhutto who lived and died so that Quaid's Pakistan could blossom into a model of a progressive, liberal and democratic nation for other countries to follow.

(The writer is current High Commissioner of Pakistan to UK)