Abstract
The paper tries to understand women‟s activism in Pakistan by reimagining the
reaction and response of “Bhutto ladies”, namely, Nusrat Bhutto and Benazir
Bhutto, to the steps taken by Zia-ul-Haq, President of Pakistan, after the execution
of Z. A. Bhutto, to control democracy and block political activities in the country.
The Pakistan People‟s Party (PPP) has been one of the most popular parties of
Pakistan but after the execution of Z.A. Bhutto it encountered enormous
challenges particularly of its very survival as a political entity. Nusrat Bhutto, wife
of ZA Bhutto, and Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of ZA Bhutto offered historic and
monumental resistance to Zia s dictatorial rule which brought out women to show
their approval/disapproval of the government‟s measures which was fantastic
dynamics of Pakistan‟s history. Profuse literature has been produced to discuss
the women activism and Benazir Bhutto‟s leadership but few have investigated the
phenomenon with the frame the authors intend to apply for reimagining the role of
“Bhutto ladies” in 1979. Therefore, this paper attempts to explore and analyze the
challenges these two “Bhutto ladies” faced following the execution of its
Chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, to the postponement of the general elections
promised by Zia- ul- Haq in October 1979. Moreover, it attempts to investigate the
nature and direction of PPP‟s politics during this period.
Basharat Hussain, Muhammad Iqbal Chawla. (2018) Women Activism in Pakistan: Reimaging the President Zia versus the “Bhutto ladies”, Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, Volume 55, Issue 2.
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