Bilawal Bhutto, the teenaged son of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto who was being groomed by his mother for a career in politics, was today thrust into the spotlight to take on the troubled legacy of a family that has played a key role in Pakistani politics.

Bilawal reportedly fainted on hearing about his mother’s death in Dubai and was inconsolable at his mother’s funeral. He had joined his father and his sisters for an Eid break in Dubai and was to fly back to his college this week.

The suave Bilawal is studying at Oxford — his mother and grandfather Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s alma mater.

Proud of the Bhutto legacy, Bilawal once said he had “powerful role models” in the family who would influence his career choices when he is older.

The eldest of Bhutto’s children, Bilawal is described as a fitness freak and a keen sports enthusiast. He is a black belt in Taekwondo and also loves swimming, horse riding, squash and target shooting. In a rare interview to a Pakistani daily three years ago, he said he regretted that he could not play cricket because of the “circumstances in which my family had been put”.

Bilawal spent his childhood with his two sisters Bakhtawar, 17, and Aseefa, 14, in Dubai and London. He did his ‘O’ levels from the elitist Rashid School for Boys in Dubai and served as a vice-president of the students’ council there. He joined Oxford soon after turning 19. Asked about joining politics when he was 15, Bilawal said: “We will see, I don’t know. I would like to help the people of Pakistan, so I will decide when I finish my studies. I can either enter politics, or I can enter another career that would benefit the people.”

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