LAHORE: The late Begum Nusrat Bhutto, hailing from Iran’s wealthy Ispahani family, was one of the two Iranian-born first ladies that Pakistan has had since 1947. The first one, of course, was Begum Nahid Mirza, the second wife of Pakistan’s first President and fourth Governor General, Iskander Mirza. Both Iranian-born first ladies of Pakistan were of Kurdish descent and became the second wives of their husbands, who had then gone on to become the country’s Presidents.
Nusrat Bhutto was a cousin of Nahid Mirza. Although Nusrat was 15 years younger to Nahid, she got married a few years earlier than her elder relative in September 1951.
Nusrat enjoyed a unique distinction among all the first ladies around the world in the sense that while her father-in-law (Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto) was the prime minister of Junagarh state, her husband (Zuklfikar Bhutto) served as president and prime minister of Pakistan at different times, her daughter (Benazir Bhutto) was twice elected the country’s prime minister Premier and her son-in-law (Asif Zardari) had also managed to win keys to the nation’s President’s office through ballot.
On the other hand, President Iskander Mirza married Nahid (formerly Nahid Afghamy) in July 1953, soon after the death of his son Enver Mirza (from his first wife Riffat Mirza) in a plane crash in England on June 4, 1953. Some historic references cite 1954 as the year of Iskander Mirza’s marriage with Nahid though.
It was during Iskander Mirza’s tenure as president that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was first inducted as a cabinet minister on October 7, 1958, the day when the country’s first martial law was imposed. Years that followed saw Zulfikar Ali Bhutto taking oath as Pakistan’s first elected president.
Before marrying Iskander Mirza, Begum Nahid was the wife of Lieutenant Colonel Afghamy, the then Military Attache at the Iranian Embassy in Pakistan. At the time of his wedlock with Begum Nahid, Iskander Mirza was the secretary of the defence ministry.
(References: “From Plassey to Pakistan” the family history of Iskander Mirza,” a book by Iskander Miza’s son Humayun Mirza, late bureaucrat Qudratullah Shahab’s autobiography “Shahabnama,” books “History of Bhutto family” and “History of Pakistan”).
