A tale of two first ladies

They may seem quite the opposite, but there are a few striking similarities between the two former first ladies — late Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Begum Kulsoom Nawaz Sharif.

Both were traditional housewives, not political workers, yet circumstances forced them to take on leadership mantles when their more famous spouses were in trouble. Both led political agitations against dictators and both suffered from dangerous maladies.

This writer has had the privilege of covering and witnessing political activities of both the former first ladies, and the trauma which they went through. Begum Bhutto was more aggressive than Begum Nawaz, but both faced the might of military dictatorship with equal bravery.

Mrs Bhutto’s life was marked by personal tragedies. I never saw her on her own after the assassination of her son, Mir Murtaza Bhutto. I often wonder whether she ever came to know about the assassination of her daughter, Benazir Bhutto, who looked after her.

The former first lady gave new life to the Pakistan Peoples Party after her husband Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged. Later, she went through another personal tragedy with the mysterious death of her beloved child, Shahnawaz Bhutto. As a reporter, I had the opportunity to interview her several times. Whenever she would talk about her younger son, she would often choke up. Perhaps no other first lady in this tumultuous region went through the kind of tragedies Begum Bhutto did.

Similarly, Begum Kulsoom Nawaz was a low key figure during the early days of Nawaz Sharif’s political career. My first interaction with her was at the residence of Sharif's old friend Majid Sultan in Karachi.

Post-October 12, 1999, when General Pervez Musharraf took over the reins of the country in a military coup and imprisoned both the Sharif brothers, I saw a different Begum Kulsoom. When the PIA hijacking case was filed in the anti-terrorism court, Sharif was shifted to the Landhi prison in Karachi. He and his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif were brought in handcuffs to the court. This was the first time the families were meeting both the Sharifs since the coup.

At that time I got the brief chance to interact with Begum Kulsoom Nawaz and her daughter Maryam Nawaz. “Look, how they are treating a popular leader,” was her first reaction when I asked her about the coup. "Perhaps, they have not learnt any lesson from the past," she added. I found Kulsoom calm and composed when the judge, Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery, announced the verdict; acquitting all others but sentencing Nawaz Sharif to life. Incensed, Maryam stood up in the presence of the judge and started shouting anti-Musharaff slogans. “Shame, shame!” her voice reverberated through the courtroom.

As the family came out from the court, I asked Begum Kulsoom Nawaz for her views on the verdict. For a moment she remained silent and then resolutely said, 'We will fight.'

Recently, when Nawaz Sharif's four-day rally from the GT Road entered Lahore, it reminded me of the difficult days when Begum Kulsoom Nawaz led her famous rally during which the police, in a desperate attempt to stop her, even lifted her car while she was still in it. Her brief political struggle on the streets was historic particularly when most of the key PML leaders had either confined themselves to their homes or were too scared to make any political move. The committed leaders and workers had already been put behind bars. Had the Sharifs not made the controversial arrangement of leaving for Saudi Arabia, we would have seen a bigger role of Begum Kulsoom in political activities.

Forced by unfortunate circumstances, Begum Bhutto came to the forefront and now Kulsoom Nawaz will do the same when she contests from NA-120, the seat vacated by her husband following his disqualification by the Supreme Court.

Abbas is the senior columnist and analyst of GEO, The News and Jang

Twitter: MazharAbbasGEO