Erstwhile president Iskander Mirza's wife passes away in London

LONDON: Nahid Iskander Mirza, the former first lady of Pakistan, passed away in London on Friday, said the Foreign Office.

Confirming the news, FO spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said she was the window of erstwhile president Iskander Mirza and had been ill since a while.

Sources relayed that Nahid was Pakistan People’s Party supremo Zufliqar Ali Bhutto’s wife’s older cousin. “Nusrat Bhutto was 15 years younger than Nahid Mirza,” according to a book titled, “From Plassey to Pakistan: The family history of Iskander Mirza,” written by Mirza’s son Humayun Mirza.

It is pertinent to mention here that Nahid was the second wife of Mirza. She was first married to a military attache at the Iranian embassy in Pakistan before marrying Mirza after his son died in a plane crash.

According to historians, Nahid played a pivotal role in ceding “Mirjaveh”, the crossing point between Iran and Pakistan during the presidency of Mirza. “She is the one who introduced Iskander Mirza and Ayub Khan to Bhutto.”

Mirza became the first president of the country in 1956.