Photographer Agha Feroze, the Bhutto family photographer, has a huge collection of photos from the family. Before Sukkur, he held a similar exhibition in Saddar last year. PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/EXPRESS
SUKKUR:
To express his love and gratitude for the Bhutto family, their personal photographer, Agha Feroze, is holding a photo exhibition to depict the life course of a political phenomenon that is Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
This exhibition, he said, consists of 2,000 photographs of the late politician from his childhood to last resting place-Garhi Khuda Bux, and aims to create awareness about his struggle, sacrifices and achievements. The three-day exhibition has been organised at Hotel Red Carpet.
The photographer said that Bhutto was not only a great politician but a legend, and his dream was to bring Pakistan on a par with the developed countries of the world. “I possess more than 4,500 rare photographs of the Bhutto family, while hundreds of thousands of negatives are also lying with me, but my resources don’t allow me to make copies.” He has, so far, spent Rs1.8 million making copies of the 4,500 photographs.
The theme of the exhibition is “Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: From father’s lap to the darkness of grave”, he said.
Feroze said that his father was killed in the 1971 war and he was captured by the Indian Army with 90,000 other prisoners. It was because of the efforts of Bhutto that he and other prisoners were freed, he added.
“On that very day, I decided to do something for Pakistan’s ninth prime minister, who gave us a hut in Orangi Town in Karachi,” he said. He started to work for the Daily Musawwat, an Urdu newspaper of the Pakistan Peoples Party, and, from 1975 to 1977, developed hundreds of photographs of Bhutto and his family, he added.
Recalling memories of the late Bhutto with watery eyes, he said, he gave me fatherly love and even provided for me, and, after him, Mohtarma did the same, but when she passed away, there was nothing left for me.
“I am looking after these photos for more than 35 years and holding exhibitions throughout Pakistan to give a message to the PPPP leadership to preserve this treasure and establish a museum for the Bhuttos,” he said. “This is my 49th exhibition and a large number of people from all walks of life have come, but unfortunately the party’s leadership never pays heed.”
He said that he didn’t want the party to pay him for this but would appreciate some encouragement. Many PPP leaders and supporters had thrown away any photographs they had of the former prime minister because of threats and intimidation from Zia’s government. “I would gather the discarded pictures and keep them safely in my hut,” he stated. “These two-faced supporters turned their backs on the family to the extent that they did not even visit 70 Clifton to pacify the women of Bhutto family after he was hanged.
On this occasion, former PPPP MPA Ghulam Qadir Bhutto lauded the efforts of Feroze for collecting such rare photographs of Bhuttos. He called him a true Jiyala of the party. He said Feroze spent most of the time with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto, but after them, nobody was taking care of him. Criticising party leaders, he said that it was a shame that they were ruling under the Bhutto brand name, but had no time to visit the exhibition. PPPP MPA Syed Nasir Hussain Shah inaugurated the exhibition, while former PPP MPA Haji Anwar Mahar was also present.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 5th, 2013.
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Why not somebody told him to ask God instead of PPP, his prayers would have been heard.
Unfortunately, the real PPP has died with Benazir Bhutto,.,