Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
بلاول ڀٽو زرداري
Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party
Assumed office
30 December 2007
Preceded by Benazir Bhutto
Personal details
Born (1988-09-21) 21 September 1988
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Nationality Pakistani
Political party Pakistan Peoples Party
Parents Asif Ali Zardari
Benazir Bhutto
Relatives Zardari family (by father)
Bhutto family (by mother)
Residence Bilawal House, Karachi
Alma mater University of Oxford
Occupation Politician
Website PPP website

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (Sindhi: بلاول ڀٽو زرداري‎; Urdu: بلاول بھٹو زرداری‎; born 21 September 1988) is a Pakistani politician who serves as the Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party and presides over the party's central executive committee.[1][2][3]

Born in Karachi, to the politically powerful Bhutto family, he is the son of former President Asif Ali Zardari and the Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and the grandson of Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and his wife, Iranian princess Nusrat Bhutto. Zardari received his undergraduate and graduate degree's in history from Christ Church, Oxford. He was made the ceremonial head of Pakistan People's Party after his mother's assassination in 2007, and in 2014 he took over the control of the party from his father. His father is one of the wealthiest person of the country.[4][5][6]

Early life and education

Zardari was born at Lady Dufferin Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan on 21 September 1988, as the first of three children of future Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari who later became the President of Pakistan in 2008. He was only three months old when his mother, Benazir Bhutto became the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1988. He has two sisters Bakhtawar and Asifa.[7] He is the grandson of former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Nusrat Bhutto. His maternal uncles Murtaza and Shahnawaz, and aunt Ghinwa (Murtaza's wife) as well as his paternal grandfather Hakim Ali Zardari, and aunts Azra and Faryal are all politicians. His cousin, Fatima Bhutto, is a poet and writer.[8]

Zardari was admitted to Aitchison College, Lahore, but due to security threats he moved to Karachi Grammar School and later attended Froebel's International School in Islamabad.[9] His father was in jail in Pakistan from 1996 to 2004 for corruption charges. He left Pakistan with his mother and sisters in April 1999.[10] He spent his childhood in Dubai and London during his family's self-exile.[8] He later attended Rashid School For Boys in Dubai, where he was Vice President of the student council.[11] He has a black belt in Taekwondo but regrets he could not play cricket because of his family circumstances.[8]

In 2007, Bilawal Zardari enrolled at Christ Church, a constituent college of the University of Oxford. He studied British history and later transitioned to study general history.[7] Zardari also enrolled in the Oxford Union debating society.[12] In December 2007, he returned to Pakistan after Benazir was assassinated. He also returned to Pakistan in September 2008 to witness his father sworn in as President of Pakistan.[13] Bilawal completed his education in June 2010.[14][15][16]

Political career

Benazir Bhutto carrying Bilawal at Andrews Air Force Base upon her arrival for a state visit to the United States in 1989

After the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, her political will declared Asif Ali Zardari as Bhutto's successor for party leadership.[17][18][19] However, Zardari became Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party because the elder Zardari favoured him to represent Bhutto's legacy in part to avoid division within the party due to the elder Zardari's own unpopularity.[17][18][20] Zardari planned to act as co-chairman of the PPP for at least three years until the younger Zardari completed his studies overseas.[17][19][20]

Zardari was appointed chairman of the PPP on 30 December 2007.[21] Asif Zardari also announced his son's name change from "Bilawal Zardari" to "Bilawal Bhutto Zardari".[22] At that time he was still studying at Oxford.[23] It had been estimated that Zardari's security at Oxford may cost at least one million pounds each year.[24]

In 2011, Zardari returned to Pakistan[25] and became more actively involved in Pakistan politics, notably when his father went for medical care to Dubai in December 2011.[26] In May 2012, Bilawal Zardari stated that Pakistan asked the Interpol to issue a "red warrant" against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in relation to his mother’s assassination case.[27] He made his major public speech on 27 December 2012, which marked the fifth death anniversary of his mother.[28]

In 2011, it was announced that Zardari would be the next Tumandar (Chief) of the Baloch Zardari tribe as his father Asif Ali Zardari passed on the title to Zardari rather than becoming the Tribal Chief himself after the death of his father Hakim Ali Zardari.[29]

In 2013 Zardari turned 25, thus becoming eligible to run for the National Assembly, as the Pakistan Constitution requires the minimum age of lawmakers to be 25. Asif Ali Zardari rejected the notion that Zardari might run for the by-election seat but said that he will contest the next general election due in 2018.[30]

Controversy

While addressing the party workers in Multan region in Punjab on 19 September 2014, Zardari proclaimed that he would take all of Kashmir from India, without explaining how he proposed to do so.[31]

“I will take back Kashmir, all of it, and I will not leave behind a single inch of it because like the other provinces, it belongs to Pakistan,” he was quoted as saying.[32]

The statement drew sharp criticism in neighbouring India. A group calling themselves the Indian Hackers Online Squad replaced the PPP's official website's homepage with messages ridiculing Zardari for his comments, and stating that “[You] will never get Kashmir”.[33]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Bhutto's son launches political career". aljazeera.com. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "Bilawal Bhutto Zardari: The new hope for Pakistan's future – The Express Tribune Blog". blogs.tribune.com.pk. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  3. ↑ "Who Is Bilawal Bhutto Zardari And Why Will The Teen Assume His Assassinated Mother's Post?". MTV News. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  4. ↑ Dawn.com (10 May 2015). "Bilawal Bhutto graduates from Oxford with MA degree". www.dawn.com. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "Profile: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari – BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  6. ↑ Masood, Salman (19 October 2014). "Bhutto's Son Tries to Revive the Pakistan Peoples Party's Fortunes". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Profile: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari". Telegraph. 31 December 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 "Benazir's son regrets he couldn't play cricket". The Times of India. 30 December 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
  9. ↑ "PPP chairman Bilawal leaves for Oxford". Sify News. Archived from the original on 4 January 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2008.
  10. ↑ Masood, Salman (23 November 2004). "After 8 Years in Jail, Husband of Bhutto Is Free". nytimes.com. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  11. ↑ Robinson, Simon (29 December 2007). "Bhutto's Successor". Time. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  12. ↑ Britten, Nick (1 January 2008). "Security assessment for Bilawal Bhutto Zardari". Telegraph. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  13. ↑ Wilkinson, Isambard (9 September 2008). "Benazir Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari sworn in as Pakistan president". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
  14. ↑ "Profile: Bilawal Bhutto". BBC. 30 December 2007. Archived from the original on 1 January 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
  15. ↑ Britten, Nick (1 January 2008). "Security assessment for Bilawal Bhutto Zardari". London: The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 January 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
  16. ↑ Sengupta, Somini (31 December 2007). "Opposition Parties Vow to Proceed With Jan. 8 Election". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
  17. 1 2 3 "Bhutto's Son, Husband To Lead Party". cbsnews.com. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  18. 1 2 Walsh, Declan (1 January 2008). "Zardari Rejects Claim of Al-Qaida Link to Bhutto's Murder". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  19. 1 2 Sengupta, Somini (31 December 2007). "Opposition Parties Vow to Proceed With Jan. 8 Election". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  20. 1 2 "What's the Deal with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari?". NPR. 31 December 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  21. ↑ "Bhutto's Son Given Top Party Job". Sky News. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
  22. ↑ Walsh, Declan (31 December 2007). "My mother said democracy is best revenge — Bhutto son". London: The Guardian. Archived from the original on 31 December 2007. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
  23. ↑ "Key party role for Bhutto's son". The Press Association. 30 December 2007. Archived from the original on 2 January 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
  24. ↑ "Bilawal's security to cost Britain 1 million pounds". Rediff. 14 January 2008. Archived from the original on 17 January 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  25. ↑ "Pakistan Peoples Party – PPP". ppp.org.pk. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  26. ↑ Jason Burke (13 December 2011). "Zardari treated for stroke as son Bilawal is groomed for power in Pakistan". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  27. ↑ "Pakistan has asked Interpol to issue red warrant for Musharraf: Bilawal". The News. Islamabad. 28 May 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  28. ↑ "Bhutto's son makes debut in Pakistan politics". Al Jazeera. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  29. ↑ "Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to be new chief of Zardari tribe Formal tribal ceremony of Dastar Bandi". asianetpakistan.com. 27 May 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  30. ↑ "Bilawal qualifies to become MNA". The Nation. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  31. ↑ "I will take back entire Kashmir from India: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  32. ↑ The Newspaper's Correspondent. "India terms Bilawal's Kashmir statement 'far from reality'". dawn.com. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  33. ↑ "Indian hackers deface PPP website". dawn.com. Retrieved 16 April 2015.

External links

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Party political offices
Preceded by
Benazir Bhutto		 Co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party
2007–present
With Asif Ali Zardari 		Incumbent
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