Pakistani public figure and educationist
Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari (Urdu: بختاور بھٹو زرداری; Sindhi: بختاور ڀٽو زرداري; born 25 January 1990) is a Pakistani public figure and educationist. She is the chairperson of SZABIST. She is the daughter of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and former President Asif Ali Zardari, sister of former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and granddaughter of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, making her a member of the politically prominent Bhutto family of Pakistan. She is also a trustee of SZABIST Foundation,[1] and Sindh Peoples Welfare Trust.
Early life and education
Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari was born on 25 January 1990 at the Lady Dufferin Hospital in Karachi, Sindh.[2] She is the eldest daughter of Benazir Bhutto,[3] the first female prime minister of Pakistan and the Muslim world, and Asif Ali Zardari,[4] the former president of Pakistan. She was born while Bhutto was serving her first term as prime minister, making her the first child born to a sitting prime minister in history.[5][6] She is the granddaughter of former president and prime minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and Begum Nusrat Bhutto Ispahani. Her paternal grandfather, Hakim Ali Zardari, was a businessman, politician, and member of the National Assembly of Pakistan. From her mother's side, she is the niece of politicians Murtaza Bhutto and Shahnawaz Bhutto. Politician Ghinwa Bhutto is her aunt by marriage. Author Fatima Bhutto and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr are her first cousins.
On her father's side, her aunts are politicians Azra Fazal Pechuho and Faryal Talpur.
For early education, Bakhtawar Zardari attended Karachi Grammar School in Karachi[7] and OPF School in Islamabad.[8] In 1996 Benazir Bhutto sought exile in Dubai with her three children in 1998[9] where Bakhtawar started and completed her secondary high-school education at Latifa School for Girls. For further studies, she studied at the University of Edinburgh and in 2012 graduated with a degree of Master of Arts in the college of humanities and social science, with honours in English literature.[10][11]
Career
Bakhtawar is the chairperson of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST).[12] The HEC recognized organization was founded by her mother in 1995 and has numerous university campuses, schools, and technical and vocational centers across Pakistan.[13] The institute is named after her grandfather. It is also the only Pakistani university with an offshore campus in Dubai where Bakhtawar started her affiliation in 2008 before being elected chairperson by the board in 2019.[14]
Though Bakhtawar does not participate in mainstream politics she remains vocal as a social activist online to her three million Twitter followers.[15]
Personal life
Bakhtawar got engaged to Mahmood Younas Choudhry on 27 November 2020. She married Mahmood two months later on 30 January 2021.[16][17] She gave birth to their first son Mir Hakim Mahmood Choudhry on 10 October 2021.[18][19] He is named after Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari's late grandfather Hakim Ali Zardari and late maternal uncle Mir Murtaza Bhutto.[20] She gave birth to their second son Mir Sijawal Mahmood Choudhry on 5 October 2022.
