Lawyer wants Bilawal to drop ‘Bhutto’ from name

Misspells Bilawal’s name, uses pronoun ‘her’ for him

ISLAMABAD: Nearly a decade after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman added the word “Bhutto” to his name, a lawyer in the capital, who apparently misspelt the respondent’s name at the outset of the petition, has challenged the decision of changing ‘caste’ before the Islamabad High Court.

Raees Abdul Wahid approached the IHC claiming that former president Asif Ali Zardari’s children had changed their caste “only to gain benefits” and “legacy of political influence of Bhutto Family.”



He has made “Balawal [sic]” Zardari, Bakhtawar Zardari, Asifa Zardari, the Interior Ministry secretary and the chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) respondents in the case.

Curiously, while the PPP’s official website the verified Twitter account of its chairman spells the name as “Bilawal”, the lawyer has spelt him as “Balawal” throughout the petition. In paragraph five of the petition, he even used the pronoun “her” for Bilawal.

At one stage, in an example of his language proficiency, the lawyer states that the [siblings] “respondent No. 1 to 3 who even did not know the welfare and betterment of their mother and forefathers how they can be knew the welfare and betterment of Pakistan.”

Next, he claims, they “are making joke” with the nation by changing their caste while simultaneously leaving it up to nation’s imagination to think about former president’s character by stating “the entire nation knew very well.”

Moreover, as per the petition, Wahid believes the Zardari family used the slogan of “Pakistan Khapay” to obtain votes in the elections.

He further stated that Zardari family “did not play any active role in the political as well as in the welfare and development of the country.”



Next, he demanded an investigation against Zardari’s family for allegedly “looting the wealth of Pakistan” stating “it is learnt that they made huge property out site the country.”

The IHC is expected to take up the case on July 7 (today).

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2017.