Memorial exhibit: Depicting the life and works of Benazir

Over 300 participants pay rich tributes to the slain premier.

ISLAMABAD:

To mark birthday celebrations of slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto, a photographic exhibition on her life and works opened here at Lok Virsa complex in Shakarparian on Sunday.

Over 300 people from different walks of life attended the ceremony and paid rich tributes to her, for her services to the nation.

The exhibition, through photographs, depicts the life, works and contribution of the late political leader for the restoration of democracy and democratic rights of the people of Pakistan. It has been organized by the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, in collaboration with MNA Belum Hasnain and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Azad Kashmir Women Wing Chief Shaheen Dar.

Addressing the ceremony, MNA Belum Hasnain said, “The exhibit is a display of historical moments, with photographs of different phases of the life of Benazir Bhutto.”

Husnain said that the former prime minister gave the political vision of democracy and fought for women empowerment and the middle class. “History remembers those who sacrifice their lives for the people and the country. Benazir Bhutto gave a voice to the people, the poor and the labourers for their rights,” she maintained.

The exhibition presents Benazir’s moments with her family, including her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, mother Nusrat Bhutto, sister Sanam Bhutto, brothers Shahnawaz and Murtaza Bhutto, husband Asif Ali Zardari and children Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa.

Her interactions with the world leaders including George Bush Senior, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Francois Mitterand, Yasser Arafat, Indira Gandhi and Hamid Karzai are also included in the exhibit, along with contributions rendered by her during the two time premiership.

Benazir Bhutto was born in Karachi in 1953. After completing her early education in Pakistan, she attended Radcliffe College and Oxford University. Besides obtaining a degree in philosophy, politics and economics, she also completed a course in international law and diplomacy at Oxford.

She is the author of “Foreign Policy in Perspective” and her autobiographies “Daughter of Destiny” and “Daughter of the East”. She received the Bruno Kreisky Award for Human Rights in 1988 and the Honorary Phi Beta Kappa Award from Radcliffe in 1989. Benazir Bhutto was a woman of great courage and conviction.

The exhibition will remain on display for one week daily from 10am to 6pm, except Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2011.