Karachi’s children offer their moms to Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa

By Uroos Ahmed

KARACHI: Twelve-year-old Uzair would happily share his mother with Benazir Bhutto’s three children Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa so that they don’t feel deprived.

“Mothers are the most important part of a child’s life, I can’t imagine living without my mother. Benazir’s assassin and anyone else who was involved in her killing will be dealt with severely by Allah,” he said.

Five-year-old Eman would have been happy to share her mother if only she and her brother Bilal were not the naughty twins that they were. But she is more than willing to share her father with them, as their paternal grandmother had died and their maternal grandmother was not well enough to look after them.

Bilal, however, was reluctant at first. He wondered if he would have to share his birthday parties with them too. “My mother can’t bake so many cakes in one day,” Bilal pointed out. When reassured that their parties would be on different dates as they would have separate birth dates, he was rather excited at the prospect hoping that there would be a jumping castle on their birthday parties also.

Nine-year-old Zain feels that all three children were already away from their mother and now they would never be able to see her again. “Even if they didn’t miss her, now they must miss her. I can share my mother with them but she will be very different so they will have to live according to my mother’s rules.”

When asked how he felt about the situation in the city, Zain said the people are overreacting and that while they are allowed to mourn and be upset, lashing out on the city is no way to go about it. “My father had campaigned for Benazir during his youth but I don’t see him outside burning the city down and stoning innocent people. Instead, he prayed for her and made everyone else in the house pray for her forgiveness.”

Eight-year-old Omar and six-year-old Osman are brothers visiting from Abu Dhabi. Last time they were here, Bhutto was returning and in their recent trip, she was killed. They had to be homebound the last time they were here, and this time, they were hoping things would be different. “I had made plans to go to Park Towers and Forum Mall and other restaurants with my cousin, but it doesn’t seem possible now. We can’t even go to the Arena and we don’t know when we will come to the city next,” said Omar, who was probably more bereaved over the failure of his plans than over Bhutto’s death. But when asked about how he felt for Benazir’s children, he suggested they should be invited to accompany him and his cousins to Arena. “This way they will also cheer up a little bit and the police will be there to take care of us so our parents would let us go also.”

Thirteen-year-old Mehr, who likes taking care of her younger brother said she would herself go and spend time with them and wouldn’t mind if her mother had to go take care of them either. “I feel very sorry for Benazir but I feel very angry about the riots that have followed her assassination. It is unfair how people are reacting because other people have plans and needs and everything is being ignored. We can’t go out, there is nothing to watch on TV and people can’t travel.”

Seven-year-old Mustafa felt very upset when his father told him that Bilawal had fainted. “They should come live with me and my sister so that our mother can take good care of them. She stays awake all night if either one of us is sick, and because she feels sad about Benazir’s death, she will take more care of Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa than of us.”