BHUTTO SECRET LOVE AFFAIR

  




 Mr. Bhutto had a passion for Persian and Chinese carpets.
He spent lavishly on buying them.  If he saw a carpet that
caught his fancy, he would go to any length to buy it.  Often
he would bid for a carpet he stood on in a friend's house
and would not leave till he struck a bargain.  Mr. Bhutto
also loved roses - much like the man he admired greatly,
Nehru.  His gardens in Karachi and Larkana boasted some
rare species of rose that he personally cultivated.  

His library was beautifully maintained.  It was one of the
best libraries in Asia [sic!] and his collection of books
on Napoleon Bonaparte was his most prized possession.
Mr. Bhutto had a great fascination for the little Corsican
who crowned himself Emperor of France.  He spent a lot of
time in his library especially in the evenings.  He opened
this library to Mustafa and encouraged him to read and
develop his mind.  Mustafa did not succumb fully.  He tried
to preserve his identity and his earthiness.  They made an
odd couple.  The brown sahib eating his fried eggs and
baked beans at breakfast and the native with his jug of
'lassi' and his 'paratha' and omelette.  Mustafa was proud
of his culinary heritage and did not betray his taste buds.

   Mr. Bhutto was having an affair with Husna Sheikh, a
beautiful divorcee.  She lived in Bath Island, on the
other side of the railway tracks.  Mr. Bhutto would arrange
clandestine meetings with her.  Mustafa would drive him
to his assignations and pick him up after a few hours.
Mr. Bhutto was madly in love.  Husna was still playing
hard to get and did not reciprocate with the same intensity
at that stage.

   Mr. Bhutto's involvement with Husna Sheikh only made
headlines after his fall.  It remained an open secret
for many years.  His fascination for the beautiful and
vivacious Husna began when he was a minister in the Ayub
regime.  Husna had an off-on marraige with Abdul Ahad,
a Bengali lawyer with strong nationalist leanings.  Ahad
was mysteriously murdered in 1971.  He was probably
eliminated by the Al-Badr terror squads or by the army.
Ironically, so was her other love - Mr. Bhutto.

   Husna was of Pathan-Bengali parentage.  She was a
brilliant conversationalist and a beautiful person.
Bhutto pursued her during his days in the political
wilderness.  She was hesitant.  His playboy image made
her skeptical of his professions of undying love.

   Mustafa would drive Bhutto to her apartment.  Mr. Bhutto
could trust no one else with this dangerous liaison.  On
one occasion, Mustafa dropped Mr. Bhutto off and left.
Husna and Mr. Bhutto had an argument which ended with
the ex-Foreign Minister and future Prime Minister being
confronted with a door shut in his face.  Mr. Bhutto
tried every one of his charming ploys, Husna refused to
let him back in.  He started to walk back home to 70
Clifton.  It was very late at night.  The day would
come when he would drive down the same route with sirens
blaring and outriders escorting him.  For now, it was a
long and tiring trek back home.  He told Mustafa later
that he was frightened of being recognized by someone.
Anyone who did see him that night would have shaken his
head and gone back to sleep, dismissing it as a dream.

   When Bhutto finally became President, he sent for
Husna immediately.  Mustafa recounts that she would
sit on the floor while Mr. Bhutto sipped a cognac and
puffed a cigar.  One of his hands would play with her
hair.  She had a very sharp mind and Mr. Bhutto would
discuss politics with her.  She was able to influence
a lot of his decisions.  She was his strongest critic.
The relationship was very alive and exciting with
arguments, debates and disagreements.

   When her daughter was about to get married, Husna
began to put pressure on Bhutto to legalize their
affair.  It was a question of her daughter's future.
Bhutto offered a compromise.  He could not risk a
public scandal by taking a second wife, so he told
Husna that he would write on the Koran that he had
accepted her as his wife in the eyes of God.  Husna
agreed and the deed was done.  Husna kept the Koran.

  Back home, Bhutto realized that his fate as a
leader hung by a thread.  He was very nervous.  He
summoned Mustafa.  A plot was hatched to steal the
Koran when Husna was away.  A burglary was organized.
But the burglars were amateurs - they only stole the
Koran.  Like their counterparts in Watergate, they
had bungled.  Husna knew who had stolen her only
nikahnama.  Mr. Bhutto, naturally, refused to accept
responsibility for the burglary.

   

     -  excerpted from "My Feudal Lord"
        by Tehmina Durrani.