By Noaman Shaikh,
4th April 2019 Death Anniversary,
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto belonged to a Sindhi family, he was born
to Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto and Khursheed Begum (née Lakhi
Bai) near Larkana on 5th January 1928. His father was
the Dewan of the princely state of Junagadh and enjoyed an
influential relationship with the officials of the British Raj. As
a young boy, Bhutto moved to Bombay to study at
the Cathedral and John Cannon School.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto married twice in his lifetime. His first
marriage took place in 1943 when he married his cousin and
first wife Shireen Amir Begum. In 1951, he married Begum
Nusrat Ispahani on September 8, 1951.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was Pakistani politician who served as
the 9th Prime minister Of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977, and
prior to that as the 4th President of Pakistan from 1971 to
1973. He was also the founder of the Pakistan People’s
Party (PPP) and served as its chairman until he was in 1979.
Educated at Berkeley and Oxford, Bhutto trained as a
barrister at Lincoln Inn. He entered politics as one of
President Iskander Mirza’s cabinet members, before being
assigned several ministries during President Ayub Khan’s
rule from 1958, appointed Foreign Minister in 1963, After
the Tashkent Agreement ended hostilities, Bhutto fell out
with Ayub and was resigning from government.
He founded the PPP in 1967, contesting general
elections held by President Yahya Khan in 1970. While
the Awami League won a majority of seats overall, the PPP
won a majority of seats in West Pakistan; the two parties
were unable to agree on a new constitution in particular on
the issue of Six point movement which many in West
Pakistan saw as a way to break up the country. Subsequent
uprisings led to the Secession of Bangladesh, and Pakistan
losing the war against Bangladesh-allied India in 1971.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was handed over the presidency in
December 1971 and emergency rule was imposed.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto sought a peace, Shimla
agreement with Indra Gandhi, Premier of India, and brought
back 90,000 prisoners of war to Pakistan and secured
5,000 sq miles (13,000 km 2) held by India without
compromising on Kashmir stance or recognizing Bangladesh
which were the key Indian demands.
He strengthened ties with China and Saudi Arabia,
recognized Bangladesh, and hosted the second Organization
of the Islamic Conference in Lahore in 1974. Domestically,
Bhutto’s reign saw parliament unanimously approve a new
constitution in 1973, upon which he appointed Fazal Ellahi
Choudhry President and switched to the newly empowered
office of Prime minister. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the founder of Pakistan’s atomic
Bomb programmed and due to his administrative and
aggressive leadership to lead this nuclear deterrence
programmed, Bhutto is often known as Father of Nuclear
deterrence programmed.
The Bhutto government carried out a number of reforms in
the industrial sector. His reforms were twofold:
nationalization and the improvement of workers’ rights. In the
first phase, basic industries like steel, chemical, and cement
were nationalized. This was done in 1972. The next major
step in nationalization took place on 1 January 1974, when
ZABhutto nationalized all banks. The last step in the series
was the nationalization of all flour, rice and cotton mills
throughout the country. This nationalization process was not
as successful as Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto expected.
During his period as prime minister, a number of land
reforms were also introduced. The important land reforms
included the reduction of land ceilings and introducing the
security of tenancy to tenant farmers. The land ceiling was
fixed to 150 acres (0.61 km2 ) of irrigated land and 300 acres(1.2 km2) of non-irrigated land. Another step that Bhutto took
was to democratize Pakistan’s Civil Service. In Baluchistan,
the pernicious practice of Shishak and Sardari System was
abolished.
Bhutto was a strong advocate of empowering small farmers.
He argued that if farmers were weak and demoralized then
Pakistan’s agricultural strength would be fragile, believing
that farmers would not feel psychologically safe unless the
country achieved self-sufficiency in food.
ZA Bhutto also made Pakistan a prominent member of the
Non-Aligned Movement. Since no single leader could replace
him and no single party could challenge his PPP, the state
establishment forged an alliance of his political adversaries
of all ideological hues and colors before the 1977
parliamentary elections which he was accused of rigging.
The allegation led to a violent opposition movement that his
government unsuccessfully tried to suppress. It was
eventually followed by a military takeover.
The last and crucial phase of his political career started in
July 1977, after his government was overthrown and ended
in April 1979 when he was convicted for murder in a highly
controversial trial and hanged by Zia-ul-Haq.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto faced those tough times with courage and
conviction. He never budged under pressure from an
oppressive military ruler. The last two years of his life are
entirely opposite to his eight years in politics when he was
working with non-elected rulers.
For his supporters, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto symbolizes the best
elements in politics, struggle against poverty and inequality
as well as sacrifices for democracy and civilian supremacy.
History will never forget the personality like Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto and he is real entitling for SHAHEED for the cause of
poor people, Democracy and sovereignty of the
Country. Shaheed Bhutto remains a contentious figure
in Pakistan’s history, his party remains among Pakistan’s,
his daughter Benazir Bhutto was twice elected Prime
Minister, and his son-in-law and Benazir’s husband, Asif Ali
Zardari, served as President. The Nation is still remembering
his vocal voice for supremacy of country and advocacy for Muslim cause.
(The author is Coordination Secretary PPP Sindh)