ISLAMABAD: A public holiday was observed throughout the country and
flags flew at half-mast to mourn the death of former first lady Begum
Nusrat Bhutto at 82.
Government offices, shops, schools and
businesses closed across the country, a 10-day period of national
mourning was declared.
Mourning began on Monday with the national flag flying at half mast.
Nusrat
Bhutto was the widow of the former Prime Minister and President
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and the mother of assassinated Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto.
She died after a long illness in Dubai.
Nusrat
Bhutto was herself elected twice to the Pakistani parliament. She led
the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) until her daughter took over in the
mid-1980s, later serving twice as prime minister.
Benazir Bhutto
was assassinated in 2007, shortly after returning to the country to
participate in elections following years of exile. Her husband, Asif Ali
Zardari, is now Pakistan’s president.
President Zardari, son
Bilawal Bhutto and daughters Bakhtawar, Asifa and Sanam Bhutto
accompanied the body from Dubai in a chartered plane.
Nusrat Bhutto was buried in the family’s mausoleum alongside her husband, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Nusrat Bhutto led the PPP for several years after her husband was hanged in 1979, during the military rule of Gen Zia-ul-Haq. Online
