Bureau Report
KARACHI: Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari, late Benazir Bhutto and former president Asif Ali Zardari’s eldest daughter, on Friday exchanged the rings with her fiancé Mahmood Chaudhry as the city’s prominent names including politicians, business tycoons, and lawyers at the engagement ceremony at the Bilawal House.
Held in the open area of Bilawal House Karachi, Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari’s engagement ceremony was without the presence of her brother and PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto, who is quarantined after testing positive for the COVID-19.
At least 100-150 guests attended Bakhtawar’s engagement ceremony, with Zardari also in attendance. The former president reached the venue from the hospitals after his doctors gave the go-ahead. Also among the guests at Bakhtawar’s engagement were PPP Senator Sherry Rehman, former law minister and Zardari’s legal counsel, Farooq H. Naek, and Omni Group Chief Executive Anwar Majeed, the sources added. Bakhtawar had earlier Friday thanked people for their “love & prayers”, saying she would “be able to celebrate in a post-Covid world”.
“Very sentimental & emotional day,” she had said on Twitter. “So grateful for everyone’s love & prayers. Especially our PPP family who, I know, are eager to participate.”
However, Bakhtawar’s father only attended the engagement ceremony for a short duration due to his health condition, sources had revealed a day prior. Zardari had to be shifted to a private hospital in Karachi on November 22 after he fell ill once again.
A few days ago, Bakhtawar had clarified that the videos and clips shared on the Internet purportedly from her engagement celebrations were “not my videos nor have anything to do with me”.
The former president’s daughter was upset at social media users for recklessly sharing videos without any verifying them first.
Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari’s fiance-to-be, Mahmood Chaudhry, reportedly arrived in Karachi on Thursday alongside his family.
A group of employees of the Bilawal House Karachi were selected to entertain Chaudhry’s family, the sources had said. They also mentioned that samples of the staffers and the security personnel were taken for their coronavirus tests after an aide of the PPP chairperson contracted COVID-19.
