ISLAMABAD: National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage, Lok Virsa on Sunday opened a photographic exhibition on life and works of former Prime Minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto to mark her birthday celebrations (June 21, 1953).
The opening ceremony started with Quran Khawani for departed soul of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto with participation of over 300 people from different walks of life. They paid rich tributes for the services of the slain leader to the nation.
The exhibition beautifully depicts through photographic representations life, works and contribution of the great political leader for the restoration of democracy and the democratic rights of the people of Pakistan.
Speaking on the occasion, National Assembly Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting Chairperson Belum Hasnain said, the photographs of different phrases of life of Mohtarma Shaheed Benazir Bhutto were the display of historical moments. She gave the political vision of democracy and signified to adopt a mental approach regarding education. Benazir Bhutto had a vision about culture and she was a hope for the people of Pakistan. She talked about the empowerment of women and middle class. She had a trust and confidence in the leadership, Belum added.
‘Benazir Bhutto gave a voice to the people, the poor and the labour for their rights. History remembers those who sacrifice their lives for the people and the country,’ she maintained.
In his welcoming address, Lok Virsa Executive Director Khalid Javaid said the exhibition is an effort on the part of Lok Virsa to pay tributes to Benazir Bhutto who sacrificed her life for the people and democracy in Pakistan.
He said the Lok Virsa has the privilege of being created by Quaid-i-Awam Zulfikar Ali Bhutto during the first democratic government of the Pakistan Peoples Party in 1974. The inception of Lok Virsa was materialized on the recommendations of ‘Faiz Report’.
The ED Lok Virsa explained that over the years, Lok Virsa has made tremendous contributions towards the documentation, promotion and preservation of the Pakistan’s tangible and intangible culture, folklore, oral traditions and traditional culture.
The exhibition portrays Benazir’s historical moments with family including father Zulfikar 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 Sr., Margaret Theatcher, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Francois Mitterand, Yasser Arafat, Indra Gandhi and Hamid Karzai; contributions rendered by her during the two time premiership and above all, her untiring struggle for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan which culminated on her assassination in December, 2007.
Benazir Bhutto sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan on December 2, 1988, thus becoming the first ever woman to head the government of an Islamic State. In the preceding decade of political struggle, Benazir Bhutto was arrested on numerous occasions; in all she spent nearly six years either in prison or under detention for her dedicated leadership of the then opposition Pakistan Peoples Party.
Throughout the years in opposition, she pledged to transform Pakistani society by focusing attention on programs for health, social welfare and education for the underprivileged.
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. Bhutto was the author of ‘Foreign Policy in Perspective’ and her autobiography, ‘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 for being a woman of great courage and conviction.
The exhibition will remain on display for one week daily from 10am to 6pm except Friday.
