Is Bushra comparable to Nusrat or Kulsoom?

LAHORE:Bushra Bibi is the third former First Lady after Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Begum Kulsoom Nawaz who is leading the movement for the release of her husband who is in detention like other two former Prime Ministers.

However, the most striking question that comes to the mind of people who are witness to the history is whether Bushra Bibi will be able to equate the struggle of those two former First Ladies of Pakistan out of whom one was unable to save her husband from execution in 1979 whereas the other successfully got her husband out of detention through a pardon deal in the year 2000. Moreover, what are the similarities and differences between the movements led by the previous two former First Ladies and the wife of Imran Khan, that also raised several questions about the future of the movement led by Bushra Bibi.

Bushra Bibi, former wife of a bureaucrat Khawar Maneka married PTI founding Chairman Imran Khan immediately after her divorce with Khawar in the year 2018. The same year, Imran Khan also became Prime Minister after a 22 years long struggle and his party and allies formed Government in Centre, Punjab, KP and Balochistan. In the year 2022, Imran Khan had to lose Prime Minister office due to a No-Confidence Move and almost at the same period of time, his terms with the country’s establishment, which had been quite cordial since 2011 severed. After dissolving his own government in Punjab while pressing his ally Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, then Chief Minister, Imran Khan’s real test started. In the month of May in 2023, the notorious episode related to attack on Corps Commander’s House occurred on May 9 after Imran’s arrest and things started to severe for him and PTI. In later period, Imran or Bushra both had to face conviction at the hands of court in cases like Tosha Khana and Nikah in Iddat.

However, Bushra Bibi received bail in 2024 and was able to look into the Party affairs.After her release, the first protest or movement she led is the recent November 24 call of PTI in which party leadership from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa also got seriously criticised by the workers battling against state institutions on roads. In this movement, Bushra Bibi, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, party top brass like Umar Ayub Khan, Salman Akram Raja and others were under fire from the charged worker of PTI from KP that remained busy in clashes with the security personnel at D Chowk, Islamabad. In simple words, the motive behind the movement or call was not achieved which instead turned the PTI workers against Bushra Bibi, Ali Amin Gandapur and senior party leaders for just remaining confined to the container and enjoying state protocol of the KP government.

Interestingly, Imran Khan’s own sister was amongst the PTI workers at a time while Bushra Bibi was on the container. This is pertinent to mention that at a time while Bushra Bibi is leading the movement, PTI enjoys a full-fledged government in one province of Pakistan that is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In KP, the former First Lady seems to be enjoying full protocol and security which was never a case with Begum Nusrat Bhutto or even with Begum Kulsoom Nawaz after their husbands were under detention by General Ziaul Haq and General Pervez Musharraf respectively. After the imposition of July 5, 1977 Martial Law, all the five elected governments, including one of Centre and four related to the provinces were dismissed. The PPP Founder and the first elected Prime Minister was under arrest in coming days and while he spent his last 323 days in imprisonment since April 1979, PPP was being led by Begum Nusrat Bhutto who along with her daughter Benazir Bhutto actively mobilising the party and combating against a powerful government.

After the April 4, 1979 incident while Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was executed, Begum Nusrat Bhutto led PPP constantly till 1984 and later even till the 1988 general elections and during that period of time, while leading the party, she had to face torture at the hands of police, disloyalty in the hands of some former party men who ditched PPP and worst of all, the tragic news related to the death of her son Shahnawaz while elder son Murtaza was in exile. Tragically, three of Nusrat Bhutto’s children, including her two sons and eldest daughter Benazir died in her life. Shahnawaz Bhutto’s death occurred abroad while Begum Bhutto was leading PPP during the dictatorial regime.

During the 11 years from 1977 to 1988, Nusrat Bhutto enjoyed no state protocol during any movement for the restoration of democracy.

Another former First Lady of Pakistan Begum Kulsoom Nawaz had to unexpectedly lead her party after the October 12, 1999 incident while the sitting Army Chief Gen Pervez Musharraf took over. Then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother, then Chief Minister of Punjab Shehbaz Sharif were under arrest after the October 12, 1999 coup. A few months later, Nawaz Sharif was convicted by the court for 21 years and it was Begum Kulsoom, who started the movement to save the PMLN from splitting which was rapidly being replaced by PMLQ.

Key figures who sided with the party at that time included Makhdum Javed Hashmi, Pervaiz Rasheed, Mushahid Ullah Khan, Zaeem Qadri, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa.

Kulsoom Nawaz and PMLN workers also had clashes with then administration on roads and an episode in which Begum Kulsoom locked her car for hours while clashing with the Police was also seen during that period of time. By the last quarter of the year 2000, Nawaz Sharif along with his family left for Jeddah while signing a deal with Pervez Musharraf due to the lobbying of Saudi Arabia. During the period of time while Kulsoom Nawaz led the party and movement for the release of Nawaz Sharif, the PMLN had no government in any province of the country and party was in direct confrontation with Pervez Musharraf led regime and massive arrest of PMLN workers also remained under way.

This is also pertinent to mention that Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Begum Kulsoom Nawaz were never convicted by the court during their struggle and interestingly, also had no corruption charges attributed to them as the former First Ladies.