Thread by @oolabmys

....., in March 1978, #Bhutto was sentenced to death. #Mustafa intensified his political efforts, joining forces with two of the former Prime Minister's sons, Mir #Murtaza Bhutto and Shah #Nawaz Bhutto. Mir had been studying at Oxford, but Mustafa convinced him to (1/15)

scrap his education in order to campaign for his father's release. We moved from Jam Sadiq's house to a shabby, claustrophobic flat in Hampstead, and Mustafa crowded it by inviting the Bhutto boys to live with us. Conditions were so cramped that I left Naseeba and Dai (2/15)

Ayesha with my family.

At times I was even thankful that Tanya was not with me.
Immediately Mustafa began to educate the young men in the art of politics and sought to raise them as symbols of resistance to the junta. Mir was a novice, but he learned fast. Younger (3/15)

brother Shah Nawaz exhibited the idealistic, faraway gaze of the revolutionary. They established a sort of headquarters of disgruntled Pakistanis in our flat, and plotted Zia's overthrow. The flat was always full of their friends, who kept odd hours and sprawled out (4/15)

wherever they could find room.

The two young men related to my background and sensed my predicament. I grew fond of them. Shah Nawaz made a point of chatting to me as I moved from room to room, picking up cups and MY #FEUDAL Lord plates, emptying ashtrays and (5/15)

gathering the laundry to send off to my mother's house. I wondered how they viewed me; I was not a part of their intense debates about the future of our country, or of their fanciful schemes to bring about change.
Mustafa introduced Mir to the exiled #Husna Sheikh, the (6/15)

woman Bhutto loved.

This was somewhat embarrassing for the boy, but he pushed aside his personal considerations because Husna had valuable contacts who might save Bhutto's life.
I desperately needed to talk to another woman, to gain reassurance that I was not going (7/15)

mad. I found Husna to be the first person in whom I could confide. 'Just leave,' she advised me, when I told her about Mustafa's constant beatings. 'There's no reason why you should take this.' Husna planted the seed, but it lay dormant.

Mustafa and Mir set off on a (8/15)

mission to persuade various world leaders to pressure the generals to spare Bhutto's life. Mustafa was also certain that these powerful friends would extend financial support to the exile movement. They received campaign funds from Libya's Colonel #Gaddafi and from (9/15)

Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al #Nahyan, Sultan of Abu Dhabi. Asad of Syria promised to keep pressure on the Zia regime.

Our drawing-room was converted into a firing range. Mir set up a target at one end of the room and practised his marksmanship with an air gun. I was not (10/15)

terribly impressed; he seemed to be just a spirited youngster playing at terror. My concern was for the slugs that peppered the carpet. For his part, Shah Nawaz looked more like a suave terrorist, but his soft eyes gave him away. He did not seem to be able to force a (11/15)

steely-cold look into them.

One day Mustafa informed us, in a conspiratorial tone, that #Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, had a plan to liberate Bhutto: Palestinian commandos would attack the #Rawalpindi gaol, create a diversion and (12/15)

snatch Bhutto from his cell. An aircraft from a friendly country would be waiting at the airport to whisk Bhutto to safety. Mustafa told Mir and Shah Nawaz that their father would soon be with us to carry on the fight in exile.

Mustafa was livid when he cam into our (13/15)

room. Apparently, a call disclosing details of the plan had been put through to Benazir - even LAW OF THE Jungle though it was known that the telephones were being bugged by various intelligence agencies. Suddenly the Rawalpindi gaol became a fortress, guarded by (14/15)

militant right-wing troops.

In the privacy of our bedroom Mustafa snapped, 'How could anybody do such a dumb thing? They have ruined everything by their childishness.'

My Feudal Lord
Book by #Tehmina Durrani (15/15)