Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s maiden Goa visit to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conference put a spotlight on his grandfather’s legacy in India's financial capital, Mumbai.
It has come to light that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto owned a land plot of 1,226 sq meters in Mumbai's business district of Worli in the 1950s, which became one of the last imprints of his legacy, according to a report published by The Indian Express.
The Bhutto family is a prominent political family based in the Pakistani province of Sindh, with their roots going back to India. Zulfiqar, who would go on to become Pakistan's prime minister and grandfather of Bilawal, lived in Mumbai as a young boy. Born into a noble Rajput family that had accepted Islam, he was the son of prominent political figure Shahnawaz Bhutto, who worked in the Indian colonial government.
Pakistani President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto during his 1972 visit to the USSR, talking to Soviet Foreign Minister Andrey Gromyko and General Secretary of the Communist Party Leonid Brezhnev.
© Sputnik / Eduard Pesov
Zulfiqar was educated in Mumbai (Bombay at the time) at the Cathedral and John Connon School and later at St Xavier’s College. For higher education, he went to the University of California, Berkeley, and later on studied law at the University of Oxford. He taught law around England for some years, before returning to Pakistan in 1953, where he set up a law practice in Karachi, and was appointed a member of Pakistan’s delegation to the United Nations in 1957.
It was in 1948, that the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) allotted a land plot of 1,226 sq meters in Mumbai’s business district, Worli, to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, along with an old bungalow. It was numbered Plot 4A of the Worli Estate, which became the Bhuttos’ ancestral Mumbai home.
Bhutto reportedly paid Indian Rs 25,344 ($310) to BMC for getting a perpetual lease over the property, and the corporation charged an annual rent of Rs 1 for the property, with the period of lease dependent on the contractual agreement.
According to officials, the primary objective behind this lease was to promote housing and development in Mumbai, so during the 1950s, the Worli estate remained in Bhutto's family name. However, in the early 1960s, it was sold to the Morarji Family Trust, and from there to the Lodha Group.
While Bhutto’s ancestral home changed hands and saw new owners all through the 1960s and 1970s, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto worked his way up in politics, residing in Karachi. He formed the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and was elected PM of Pakistan in 1973. Bhutto was prophetic, or politically farsighted, and arguably one of the most beloved leaders that Pakistan ever had. He was later ousted and executed by hanging in 1979 under the Zia-ul-Haq regime.
However, a decade later, in 1988, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s daughter, Benazir Bhutto, became the first female prime minister of Pakistan at the age of just 35. She was also the first female Muslim prime minister in history. Hence, the Bhutto legacy lived on, and is carried forward today by Benazir's son Bilawal.
Just as the political environment has kept changing and evolving for the Bhuttos, the Mumbai area of Worli that was once home to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto has also witnessed incredible changes in the decades since.
Today, the area is surrounded by high-rise buildings offering scenic views of the iconic Bandra-Worli Sea Link, the Arabian Sea, and the Race Course. Besides being the most expensive area in Mumbai, it is also known for commercial spots like mega shopping complexes, fancy nightclubs, and high-end restaurants.
In 2005, Kheni Estate Private Limited bought the estate for 120 million Indian rupees ($1,468,077).
Today, the former estate of the Bhutto family stands behind green curtains and metal barricades, pointing to construction and redevelopment work. Despite its rich legacy and history, most of the local residents are still unaware of what made Plot 4A of the Worli Estate special.