Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
(1928-1979)
Life and Legacy of the Founder
Chairman
Shaheed
Bhutto was born on 5th
of January 1928. Incidentally,
this was the year when for the
first time Quaid-e-Azam Jinnah
came to stay at Bhutto’s
ancestral home ‘Al-Murtaza’ at
Larkana, on invitation of Sir
Shahnawaz Bhutto, who presided
over Sindh Mohammedans
Association. Both the leaders
developed a very intimate
relationship, which grew further
when Sir Shahnawaz, along with
his family, shifted to Bombay as
a Minister in the Bombay
Presidency, where Jinnah
practised as a lawyer. Both of
them had a common physician and
friend in Dr. Pinto, who was
famous for his evening tea
parties attended by the giants
of Indian politics.
Zulfikar was just six years old
when the family shifted to
Bombay. Bhuttos lived in their
palatial home ‘The Nest’ in the
most sought after residential
area of the metropolis. Young
Zulfikar was admitted in the
city’s most prestigious
Cathedral High School, which was
near the famous bachelor
doctor’s clinic. His keen
interest in the politics can be
judged from the fact that after
attending his school he used to
go to Dr. Pinto’s clinic to
listen to the discussions going
on amongst the top most
leadership of India on the
intricate constitutional,
political and socio-economic
issues confronting the
subcontinent. It was during this
period that Zulfikar developed a
great reverence, respect and
admiration for Quaid-e-Azam
Jinnah.
A seventeen-year-old Zulfikar
wrote a letter to Quaid-e-Azam
Jinnah in April 1945. He wrote:
“You, Sir, have brought us on
one platform, under one flag,
and the cry of every Muslim
should be onward to Pakistan.
Our destiny is Pakistan. Our aim
is Pakistan. Nobody can stop us.
We are a nation by ourselves and
India is a subcontinent. You
have inspired us and we are
proud of you. Being still in
school, I am unable to help the
establishment of our sacred
land. But the time will come
when I will even sacrifice my
life for Pakistan.” And true to
his word, he sacrificed his life
for Pakistan exactly thirty-four
years later in April 1979.
Quaid-e-Azam Jinnah wrote back
young Zulfikar, from his Mount
Pleasant Road residence at
Malabar Hills of Bombay on 1st
of May 1945, advising him as
follows:
I was very glad to read your
letter of 26th April
and to note that you have been
following the various political
events. I would advise you, if
you are interested in politics,
to make a thorough study of it.
But, don’t neglect your
education, and when you have
completed your student’s career,
I have no doubt that you will be
all better qualified if you
study thoroughly the political
problems of India, when you
enter the struggle of life.
Signed:
M.A. Jinnah
A year later, Zulfikar enlisted
himself as a political activist
and strategist for the cause of
Pakistan under the command of
Quaid-e-Azam Jinnah. It was the
time when India's political
landscape was infused with
unprecedented heat and fury. The
conflict amongst the three main
parties, the British, the
Congress and the Muslim League,
had intensified to almost
no-return level. Jinnah’s all
out efforts to retain a united
India had failed due to the
Congress leadership’s inflexible
attitude. Many political
developments had taken place.
Several proposals had been
discussed. But, the issue
relating to the status of
Muslims in the future scheme of
things in the subcontinent was
not getting resolved. By now,
Jinnah had lost the last shred
of faith in united India.
Against this backdrop, when the
cabinet mission plan could not
bear any positive result, Jinnah
directed the Muslims to observe
Direct Action Day on 16 August
1946 to make it clear for
everybody that Muslims had their
own entity and strength.
However, in the
city of Bombay, Muslims were in
a negligible minority. There was
almost no likelihood of the
success of the direct action day
in Bombay. But, Quaid-e-Azam
wanted to make it a success in
the city was considered the
nerve-centre of the subcontinent
and a successful day was bound
to yield a tremendous
psychological benefit to the
advantage to the Muslims. In
this backdrop, Mr. Jinnah
invited nineteen-year old
Zulfikar and some other active
Muslim students to his
residence. Most of the students
were evasive and did not forward
any concrete proposal in view of
brute majority of Hindus in the
city. ‘Every one talked in
circles and used vague language.
I remarked that Bombay was a
Maharashtrian stronghold and
Elphinstone College was a
student fortress of
Maharashtrian militant students.
Some kind of strike in
Elphinstone College would have a
tremendous psychological
effect,’ remembered Shaheed
Bhutto later.
Zulfikar knew the
college principal’s son who was
his classmate. Both of them
rounded up around two hundred of
their fellow students and staged
a sit-in at the entrance of the
college. The police were called
but the principal, anxious to
avoid hurting his own son,
closed down the college instead
of asking the police to clear
the entrance. Next day all the
leading newspapers of the city
carried the news of successful
protest demonstration and
closure of the college in
response to the direct action
day called by Mr. Jinnah.
Quaid-e-Azam was very pleased
over the successful strategy and
operation by young Zulfikar.
After passing his
Senior Cambridge, Zulfikar got
admission in the University of
Southern California in the
United States to become the
first person from his family to
go for foreign education. It was
September 1947 and just a few
days had passed since the new
country, Pakistan, had appeared
on the map of the world. Always
an active and socialising man,
he quickly adjusted himself in
his new environs and took up his
studies. He was very fond of
books and his special interest
was in history. He had read
almost the entire literature
available on history and
economics. Coupled with his
interest in his studies was his
active participation in the
co-curricular activities. Since
his student days, he had very
strong communication skills. In
university, he joined the
debating team and emerged as one
of the most remarkable and
outstanding speakers, becoming a
most sought after person amongst
his friends and fellows.
Even in the
foreign lands his love and
reverence for Jinnah remained
unaffected. For him he always
used to say, ‘That is my man!
That is my idol, the man I
respect’. Shortly after
Quaid-e-Azam’s death in
September 1948, he wrote a
letter to Pakistan’s ambassador
in United States Mr. Hassan
Isphani, who also was one of
Jinnah's closest friends.
Zulfikar wrote: “(We) have been
orphaned at this crucial moment
when we needed more than any
other the force, the torrential
magnanimity of our beloved
leader.... Though the Quaid is
no longer with us, yet his pure
virgin spirit will remain
forever fertile in our mind. His
entire life was a struggle for
the betterment and emancipation
of his people.”
During his summer
holidays, when the rest of his
fellow students preferred to
have fun, Zulfikar chose to
spend his free time as a
volunteer in the Pakistan
Embassy in Washington. One of
the papers he wrote there dealt
with the man he highly revered.
He wrote: “Jinnah is solely
responsible for the creation of
a state for those whom he led in
the struggle for the
emancipation of their lives.
His dream of creating a Muslim
homeland, Pakistan, was a great
dream, and the realisation of
his dream has been nothing short
of a miracle, for it has been an
achievement carried out
single-handily. He has led a
people who were thoroughly
derelict and disunited and
depressed. He was a
God-inspired Man, a man with
purity of heart, with
unbelievable audacity and unique
courage and determination.”
After spending a
little less than two years at
the University of Southern
California, in June 1949,
Zulfikar moved to Berkeley for
his further studies. It was here
that he contested the first
election of his life
by running for
the seat of
Representative-at-Large on the
Students’ Council. He was the
only non-American candidate out
of seven in the contest. And as
social and popular he was; he
won the election with quite a
good margin.
In 1950, he went
to
England
to study jurisprudence and law
at
Oxford's Christ
Church
College. His chosen subjects
required three years of learning
at the university. Always eager
to do things ahead of time, he
wanted to do it in two years.
When his counselor knew that he
did not have any background in
Latin, a compulsory subject and
prerequisite for understanding
the Roman Law, he advised
Zulfikar to do it in three
years, telling him, “You know
even our own best boys would not
be able to do it in two years.”
Zulfikar replied that he would
do it in two years, “because of
what he had said and I had to
show him that I had the brains
as good as the British boys, if
not better,’ Shaheed Bhutto
recalled later. And he did the
course in two years and got high
honors. The Oxford professor was
so impressed that he became his
admirer and a lifelong friend.
Zulfikar returned back to
Pakistan in 1953, the year his
daughter Benazir was born. He
was now a Barrister, with a
degree from one of the world’s
most prestigious institution. He
joined Karachi Bar and also
lectured at a law college on
honorary basis. But, his primary
interest was in the
Constitutional issues facing the
country. This was the time when
the first constituent assembly
was still striving to arrive at
some Constitutional formula
agreeable to all the five
federating units, and two wings
separated by a thousand miles of
Indian territory,
in the backdrop of their
cultural, ethnic, regional,
racial and linguistic
differences. Zulfikar wrote
articles in the leading
newspapers suggesting a
framework for the future
Constitution. Though at that
time the exercise did not bore
fruit, but two decades later
culminated in form of the
Constitution of 1973,
unanimously agreed and approved
by the Parliament, when he
himself was the elected leader
of the country.
In 1957 Zulfikar was chosen to
represent Pakistan at the United
Nations General Assembly. It was
a singular achievement for
somebody less than thirty years
old, to be called to represent
his country at the highest
international forum. Zulfikar’s
grip on his subject, style of
presentation, logic and vision
highly impressed his listeners
at the world assembly that
November. Next year, he was
offered to be a Central Minister
in Government of Pakistan. He
accepted the offer and was
entrusted the portfolio of
Commerce Ministry, becoming the
youngest cabinet member the
country ever had. This placed a
great deal more responsibilities
on his shoulders. But, as hard
working and devoted person he
was, he dedicated himself to his
work. On the basis of his
outstanding performance, he was
entrusted about half a dozen
more ministries and divisions to
look after.
Few years later,
Zulfikar was appointed the
foreign minister of the country.
“[He] was well qualified to fill
it on account of his penchant
for foreign affairs, his
abilities, and his academic
background… Tall, dashing,
flamboyant and brilliant, he
seemed to be cut out for the
job,” opined Hamid Yousuf in his
book
Pakistan: A study of Political
Developments 1947-97.
As the Foreign Minister,
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto brought much
needed moderation in the foreign
policy of the country,
especially bringing about a
balance in the country’s
relations with
the then two superpowers.
Another bold initiative by him
was his support for China’s
admission in the United Nations.
He was very popular amongst the
international political
leadership. During one of his
official visit to Washington in
October 1963, he called on
President Kennedy in the White
House. When the meeting ended,
President Kennedy shook foreign
minister Bhutto’s hand and
remarked, 'If you were an
American you would be in my
Cabinet’. Bhutto sharply
retorted: 'Be careful, Mr
President, if I were American, I
would be in your place’. At
which they both laughed
heartily.
By 1966, Shaheed
Bhutto developed serious
differences with the government
of President Ayub over post war
handling and resigned from the
cabinet. This proved to be the
beginning of Shaheed Bhutto’s
career as the most popular
leader of the country. He saw
two opposite phenomenon taking
place simultaneously in his
political life. While, on
one hand his
rupture with the government
brought him under the wrath of
the military ruler who used
every possible weapon in his
armoury -- threats, murder
attempt, false cases – to subdue
his will, he tasted, on the
other hand, for the first time
the great mystic love amongst
the common people for him for
taking a principled based stand.
When, after quitting his cabinet
position, he reached Lahore on
the night of 20 June 1966, he
saw a sea of people filled every
inch of the space on the
platforms. He was garlanded, his
hands were kissed, and he was
lifted onto shoulders by
thousands of his admirers who
had flocked just to catch a
glimpse of him. The
handkerchief, with which he
wiped his eyes filled with
tears, was later sold for
thousands of rupees.
Following months
and years witnessed the country
in the grip of political
turmoil. East Pakistan had
exploded in an open rebellion.
West Pakistan was groaning under
the weight of an unpopular
military despot, who was fast
losing his grip on power.
Zulfikar’s popularity grew by
leaps and bounds. He had emerged
as the only hope to most of the
Pakistanis. In December 1967, he
founded Pakistan Peoples Party
(PPP), the party which would
remain the most popular party in
Pakistan since its foundation.
The foundation of the party was
laid at Lahore, where he
addressed the delegates and
presented the motto of the new
party. It was to be a centrist
party. The delegates approved
the proposal and the PPP came
into being with him as the
founder Chairman.
“The first floor
of our house at 70 Clifton,
Karachi, began to serve as a
branch office of the PPP,”
remembered his daughter Benazir
Bhutto, who would succeed him as
the leader of the party. The
party launched its offices all
over the country -- in huts,
small shops and modest houses of
PPP workers -- where unending
crowds gathered to secure the
membership and pay the nominal
subscription fees. Very soon,
whole of the country was in the
grip of an unprecedented
agitation and unrest against
Ayub Khan’s government. There
was not a single day when there
would not be a procession or a
public meeting somewhere in the
country. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
addressed numerous rallies,
fearlessly attacking the
policies of the rulers. When
this became unbearable for the
government, an attempt was made
on his life.
When this could
not intimidate to dauntless
Zulfikar, he was arrested and
sent to Mianwali Jail, one of
the worst prisons in Pakistan,
where he was kept in solitary
confinement. This gave birth to
violent agitation in the
country. The President could
speak nowhere in public without
getting shot at or causing a
riot. Everywhere people demanded
an end to his rule and the
release of Zulfikar. Finding no
other way, in February 1969, the
government decided to shift him
from the jail to his Larkana
house, where he was placed under
house arrest for some more time
before releasing him. Finally,
by March 1969, President Ayub
decided to step down. But,
instead of handing over power to
the political leadership, he
invited the army chief to take
over the country who proclaimed
martial law, bringing the
country into yet another crisis.
The military government headed
by General Yahya Khan undid the
One-Unit scheme, which had
amalgamated four provinces of
the
West Pakistan into one unit. The
policies of the martial law
authorities deepened the already
existing gulf amongst the five
provinces, and more so between
the two wings of the country. In
this backdrop Pakistan was going
to have general elections that
December, for the first time in
its quarter century history.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s Pakistan
Peoples Party was one of the
major contenders in the
election, with an agenda to
provide basic necessities of
life, Roti, Kapra aur Makan
(Food, clothing and shelter) to
all the citizens of Pakistan.
The election took place on 7th
December 1970. PPP won a
majority in the western wing,
securing 82 of 138 National
Assembly seats. Shaheed Bhutto
himself won five seats of
National Assembly from various
constituencies and from
different provinces. Most of his
party candidates had defeated
big feudal lords as well as
wealthy and influential
political rivals, setting a new
trend in the country’s politics.
However, the
things were different in the
eastern wing of Pakistan, one
thousand miles away beyond the
eastern border of India.
There Awami League had captured,
almost unopposed, the entire
bloc of seats on the basis of
its ‘Six-Points’ agenda. It
provided for an
extremely weak federal structure
with limited jurisdiction to
defence and foreign affairs,
minus foreign trade and aid. The
scheme envisaged a federal
government having neither taxing
authority, nor foreign exchange
resources of its own. It was to
meet its expenses out of the
amounts provided to it by the
federating units. Each of the
federating units was authorised
to levy taxes, control the use
of its foreign exchange
resources, make and carry out
its fiscal policy independent of
the federation. Furthermore,
each of the federating units had
to have their own currency, or
their own Federal Reserve banks
to prevent the transfer of
resources and flight of capital
from one region to the other.
The federating units were to
have the authority to raise and
maintain their own paramilitary
forces.
Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto, being a federalist was
naturally against this
anti-federalist scheme. Two
wings of the country, separated
by a thousand miles of Indian
Territory, had two totally
divergent ideological grounds.
It was a conflict like that
between the North and South
American States in 1860s, when
two slogans and two ideologies
-- United States of America and
Confederate States of America --
pulled the country down. It was
a struggle between the forces of
federation and confederation.
Here Shaheed Bhutto took a leaf
out of Abraham Lincoln. But,
unlike Abraham Lincoln he was
without power and helpless. The
country was in for a crisis as
at this most crucial hour of
Pakistan’s political history an
army general of mediocre
intellect presided over the
destiny of the country.
Once in power,
the general indulged excessively
in women and wine, leaving
matters of state in the hands of
his unimaginative and
incompetent advisors to the
extent that his military chief
had to advise his military
governors “not to implement the
President's verbal orders, if
given to them personally by him
after 10 p.m.”
In such circumstances the
tension between the two wings
increased by every passing day.
East Pakistani leadership
hardened their stance on their
anti-federalist formula, while
West Pakistani leadership led by
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto insisted for
federalist structure. The Awami
League went for agitation in the
East Pakistan and effectively
took control of the entire wing.
Instead of finding a political
solution, the nervous military
President ordered for military
action in the wing, which
further alienated
the local population. General KM
Arif later wrote: “The military
action caused casualties which
further alienated the people. At
considerable political cost, a
modicum of order had been
restored. But the people lost
confidence in the government.
Their wounds were bleeding.”
At this juncture
India intervened and sent her
army in East Pakistani. A war
broke out. Pakistani army was
fighting against heavy odds, the
most important being the
alienation of the people of East
Pakistan. Soon the separation of
East Pakistan became evident. At
a belated stage the Generals
turned towards Zulfikar for
their salvation, to help saving
what could be saved of the
country. There was not a single
Pakistani leader except Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto, as Dr. Henry
Kissinger later noted, who could
match the stature, caliber and
influence of the Indian leaders.
He was to win the losing battle
at the negotiation table of
United Nations.
Just few days
before the war was formally
over, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was
designated as the Deputy Prime
Minister and Foreign Minister to
represent Pakistan at UN and
safeguard the remaining
Pakistan. He immediately rushed
to New York and
engaged himself
immediately in damage-control
efforts. By then, East Pakistan
had virtually gone out of hand,
while West Pakistan was most
vulnerable to the Indian
advances. Worst of all, the
moral of the nation and the
armed forces had touched the
lowest ebb. He initiated his
diplomatic endeavours with his
meeting with Dr Kissinger at the
house of the then US Ambassador
to United Nations, Mr George
Bush, who later became US
President and is father of the
present US President Mr. George
W. Bush.
Recalling his
meeting with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
that December, Dr. Kissinger
wrote: “The next morning, still
in New York City, I met for
breakfast with Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto, who had been appointed
Deputy Prime Minister a few days
before, in the elegant apartment
of our UN Ambassador at the
Waldorf Towers… Elegant,
eloquent, subtle, Bhutto was at
last a representative who would
be able to compete with the
Indian leaders for public
attention.... I found him
brilliant charming, of global
stature in his perceptions. He
could distinguish posturing from
policy. He did not suffer fools
gladly. Since he had many to
contend with, this provided him
with more than the ordinary
share of enemies. He was not
really comfortable with the
plodding pace of Pakistan's
military leaders... But in the
days of his country's tragedy he
held the remnant of his nation
together and restored its
self-confidence. In its hour of
greatest need, he saved his
country from complete
destruction.”
Despite his best
efforts, Zulfikar could only
ensure the integrity, security
and intactness of the present
Pakistan. In East Pakistan the
Pakistani army commander
surrendered before his Indian
counterpart and the wing became
an independent country
Bangladesh. The news of the
separation of East Pakistan and
army’s surrender resulted in
mass rallies and demonstration
all over the country. The demand
for immediate transfer of power
to elected civilian leadership
grew louder and louder.
Unfortunately, the military
rulers were still planning to
hang on, but an incident in
National Defence College, where
the young officers hooted upon
and hurled abuses on the army
chief when he tried to address
them, changed generals’
perceptions and compelled them
to transfer power to Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto.
He was still away
from the country, when he
received the cable from home to
reach immediately and take over
reigns of the remains of the
country. As soon as he arrived,
he was rushed to the Presidency,
where he was handed over the
power of a broken and a most
demoralised Pakistan. He had to
‘pick up the pieces, very small
pieces,’ as he said in his
televised broadcast. ‘We will
make a new Pakistan, a
prosperous and progressive
Pakistan, a Pakistan free of
exploitation, a Pakistan
envisaged by the Quaid-e-Azam. I
want the flowering of our
society... I want suffocation to
end... This is not the way
civilised countries are run.
Civilisation means Civil Rule...
democracy ... We have to rebuild
democratic institutions ... We
have to rebuild hope in the
future,’ Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,
the President of Pakistan shared
his ideals with his countrymen.
The first task before Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto after assuming power
was to get the country back to
normalcy.
Pakistan’s international image
had nose-dived due to the
alleged atrocities of military
action in the former East
Pakistan. India held more than
93,000 Pakistani soldiers as the
prisoners of war and occupied
5139 square miles of Pakistani
territory. On the other hand,
Pakistan held only 637 Indian
personnel and 69 square miles of
India’s territory. The balance
of power had never been that
heavily tilted in favour of
India since 1947. Defeated and
dismembered Pakistan wanted to
regain on negotiation table what
the country had lost at the
battleground. On the other hand,
India
wanted to extract maximum
advantage out of its position as
the victor of the war. The stage
was set at Indian hill station
Simla for a diplomatic encounter
between the two celebrated
political leaders of their
respective countries, Mrs Indra
Gandhi and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Before leaving for Simla,
Shaheed Bhutto visited fourteen
Muslim countries in the region
and obtained public assurances
of their support for the cause
of
Pakistan. At home he consulted
the opposition leaders,
industrial workers, students,
teachers, lawyers, journalists,
religious leaders, and the
military commanders. Hence, he
was going to India as a sole
spokesman of his own country as
well as the important Muslim
nations of the region. This
tactical move enhanced his
strength to match that of victor
India. At Simla, the
negotiations were deadlocked.
But, thanks to his diplomatic
skills, the situation was saved
and the two countries were able
to sign an agreement that has
ushered the longest spell of
peace between the two countries
since their independence.
The provisions provided that the
territories occupied by either
country along the recognised
international border would be
vacated. This for
Pakistan meant that its more
than five thousand square miles
area in its two key provinces,
Sindh and Punjab, shall be freed
from Indian forces, allowing
hundreds of thousands of
Pakistan’s uprooted people to
return back to their homes. On
the other hand, Pakistan had to
vacate less than seventy square
miles that its army had captured
during the war. One of the two
most important immediate
objectives of Pakistan, to get
back its occupied land and the
prisoners of war, was achieved
with full marks. Regarding the
release of Pakistani prisoners
of war, though it was not stated
in the agreement, the India
formally agreed to repatriate
them subject to the concurrence
of the Government of newly born
Bangladesh: the concurrence that
came after sometime when
Pakistan formally recognised
Bangladesh. Even his critics
regard the Accord as one of the
greatest achievement of Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto.
The next most important
contribution by Shaheed Bhutto
to
Pakistan was providing the
country a Constitution framed by
the representatives of the
people. It was irony that the
country since its independence
had still been without a
Constitution. Two dictatorial
regimes had tried to provide two
constitutions in 1956 and 1962,
but both of them had disappeared
with the disappearance of their
authors. Since his assuming the
power Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
focused his utmost attention to
the task of Constitution
framing. On 17th
April 1972,
a parliamentary committee was
appointed to prepare a draft.
But, the task of preparing an
acceptable draft for all the
divergent ethnic, cultural and
ideological groups in the
country was most difficult one.
There was a chronic controversy,
whether the form of the
government should be
presidential or parliamentary
democracy. Then, there was a
conflict on the division of
powers between the federation
and the four provinces. All
these issues had made the
framing of the constitution,
which should be agreeable to all
the federating units and
political parties in the
National Assembly, a Herculean
task.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s
determination won the day and
finally, after long discussions
amongst the parliamentary
committees, public debates, and
candid discussions spread over
about a year, on 10th
of April 1973, the National
Assembly adopted the
Constitution without dissent.
Under the new constitution, the
country had to have a federal
parliamentary system with a
bicameral legislature and a
constitutional head. The
executive power was to vest in
the Prime Minister. The four
provinces were to have statuary
powers. It provided for adult
franchise as the basis of
election for the national and
provincial assemblies. This is
the Constitution, which is still
intact in
Pakistan. It is Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto’s baby. Even his worst
enemies and the dictatorial
regimes including his
executioner General Zia could
not dare to abrogate it; they
could only suspend it for time
being.
In February 1974, Shaheed Bhutto
hosted an Islamic Summit
Conference at
Lahore. This was the most
important assembly of the top
leaders from all the
thirty-eight Muslim nations,
comprising one fifth of the
mankind. They included King
Faisal of Saudi Arabia,
President Anwer Saddat of
Egypt,
Colonel Qaddafi of Libya, Shaikh
Mujib Ur Rehman of Bangladesh,
Chairman Yassar Arafat of
Palestine Liberation
Organization and almost every
other monarch, president and
prime minister of the Islamic
World. “In the name of Allah,
most gracious, most merciful,”
This unprecedented large
assembly lasted for three days
and took stock of all the
important issues relating to the
Islamic nations spread all over
the world. At the end of the
Conference, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
was elected Chairman of the
Organisation of Islamic
Conference.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was standing
at the pinnacle of his
popularity and power, when he
decided in the beginning of 1977
to hold national elections in
March that year. “I am going to
call for additional land
reforms,” he told his daughter
Benazir. “And I am also going to
call for elections in March. The
Constitution doesn’t require
elections until August, but I
see no need to wait. The
democratic institutions we have
installed under the Constitution
are in place. The parliament and
provincial governments are
functioning. With a mandate now
from the people, we can move on
more easily to the second phase
of implementation, expanding the
industrial base of the country,
modernising agriculture by
sinking new tube-wells,
increasing seed distribution and
fertiliser production,” he
shared his vision of a forward
looking and prosperous Pakistan.
All the independent observers
agreed that Prime Minister
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was riding
on the crest of his popularity
and there was not even a
slightest chance of his losing
the elections. Predictions were
there that he may acquire a
two-third or may be three-fourth
majority in the National
Assembly. The Opposition was in
complete disarray. These were
mostly the parties, ranging from
religious right to outright
leftist, which had been rejected
by the people of Pakistan for
many times in the past. They
held divergent views to such an
extent that they were even not
ready to sit under one roof.
Suddenly, just a day after the
announcement of the elections
nine political parties and
splinter groups formed an
alliance namely Pakistan
National Alliance (PNA) to
confront PPP candidates.
The worst of all,
the chief of army staff General
Zia ul Haq was nourishing secret
ambitions to get the power in
his hands, as two of his not
very distant past predecessors,
Ayub and Yahya, had done.
Outwardly, “Zia of course,
continued to behave as
deferentially as ever toward the
prime minister, smiling, bowing,
quietly accepting whatever
Bhutto told him with the seeming
humility for which he was to
become famous the world over,”
wrote Bhutto’s biographer
Stanley Wolpert. Zia had
leanings towards a very well
organized and very well funded
religious political party, which
served as backbone of the
opposition alliance. The
opposition and army chief
alliance was set for a big
showdown with
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
and the
democratic forces.
To gain the
public support, the PNA decided
to run their election campaign
on the slogan of Islam,
promising that they would return
back the system of governance
and the society to the days of
the beginning of Islam, fourteen
centuries earlier. But, still
with all these tactics, the
Opposition was not able to win
popular support anywhere in the
country except for few urban
centers. From the very start,
the PNA launched its campaign
with two basic ingredients:
Islam and hatred for Bhutto, the
symbol of progressive mindset.
During all these days of
electioneering, the PNA was
again and again saying that they
would accept the results of
election only if they were
declared as the winners. ‘If PPP
won the elections,’ they held
openly, ‘they would never accept
the results.’ The language
became harsher and harsher with
open death threats to
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
in the
oppositions public meetings.
On the appointed
day, some seventeen million
eligible voters cast their votes
for their representatives in the
National Assembly. The PPP
received a little less than
sixty percent of the popular
vote, while the PNA secured more
than thirty-five percent of the
votes. There were certain
complaints about stuffing the
ballot boxes or rigging of the
elections in certain
constituencies. Making them a
base the PNA charted a course of
agitation. Following weeks saw
the agitation turning into a
terrorist movement. Following
negotiations between the
government and PNA, both the
parties reached to an agreement
in the late hours of 4th
July. This was against the
desire and wishes of army Chief
General Zia who wanted to take
over and impose martial law.
“One day, when he (Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto)
returned from the office, on the
dinner, he looked agitated,”
recalled Benazir. “He said that
General Sharif [Chairman of JCSC]
had just come to meet him and
had alerted him that General Zia
ul Haq was up to no good, and
might be planning some kind of
coup.” When ZAB inquired from
his ISI chief, he showed his
ignorance and attributed the
warning to his ill will towards
General Zia; because General
Sharif was not made the army
chief.
But, the ISI
chief was wrong. General Zia had
fully prepared his plan for
removal of the elected
government of
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The General had already sent his
family out of the country.
Lieutenant General Faiz Ali
Chishti, the Corp Commander of
10th Corp, the area
covering the federal capital
later wrote in his book: “When
Gen. Zia ordered me to take over
and execute the ‘Operation
Fair-play,’ he may well have
feared for the security of his
family in the event of an
abortive coup. In any event,
Gen. Zia’s family was not in
Pakistan on July
4/5. He had shifted his family
to UK during negotiations, under
the plea of his daughter’s
operation. Two sons and three
daughters along with his wife
were all abroad.”
Not only this, the General had
also prepared very well to flee
from the country, in case of any
such eventuality. General
Chishti narrates an interesting
tale: “On the night of the coup,
my Corps Intelligence Chief told
me that there was one ‘Puma’
helicopter ready to take off at
short notice from Dhamial. It
could have been for the PM or
for Gen. Zia. But it was
unlikely to have been for the PM
because he did not know what was
happening, and secondly he would
not leave his family behind. In
any case he had nothing at
stake. It could have been for
Gen. Zia, because he had
everything at stake. What would
happen to him if Operation
Fair-play had failed? I
recollected his last sentence to
me after giving orders.
‘Murshid, do not get me
killed.’ So I ordered my
Intelligence Chief to keep an
eye on the helicopter and not
let it take off. It did not
matter who the passenger was
going to be.”
The ambitious army chief had not
taken into confidence most of
his senior colleagues. The
senior army command, unaware of
such development, was called at
an odd hour, 11.00 O’ clock in
the night on 4th July
for a meeting with the army
chief at the General
Headquarters. “When the invitees
inquired about agenda for
discussion, Brigadier Khalid
Latif Butt, Personal Secretary
to General Zia, had a stock
reply: ‘No preparatory work is
needed for the meeting,’ wrote
General Zia’s most confidant
colleague, his Chief of Staff,
General KM Arif. A little after
midnight, the army contingents
took over the important
installations including Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto’s official residence,
where he was sleeping along with
his family, unaware of any
eventuality. He did not resist
the coup and saved his family
and him from perhaps immediate
execution as had happened in
breakaway Bangladesh few years
back.
Years later, the executioner of
the coup, Corps Commander
General Chishti wrote: “Just one
recoilless rifle or tank could
instantly kill the PM and his
entire family… I have been
blamed by some for not killing
Mr Bhutto the night the army
took over. I have also been
blamed by some for installing
Gen. Zia as CMLA after the
successful execution of the
coup. I have no regrets on both
counts.”
With imposition
of martial law that night, the
country ushered into a Dark Age
once again.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
was taken into custody and
shifted to the nearby Murree.
The General promised that the
army was there just for ninety
days, to hold impartial and fair
elections. When
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
called the army
chief, while the coup was
progressing, the General said,
“Sir, in three months time I
will be saluting you again as
the Prime Minister. This is my
promise.” Next day the General
told the nation on radio and
television “My sole aim is to
organize free and fair elections
which would be held in October
this year. Soon after polls, the
power will be transferred to the
elected representatives of
people. I give a solemn
assurance that I will not
deviate from this schedule.”
Eventually he would hold his
first elections, that too on
non-party basis, in 1985, after
ninety months!
After some time, the military
government released Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto from the protective
custody, believing that his
charisma was over. But, this was
a grave miscalculation. As soon
as he came out, hundreds of
thousands people came out to
greet him, listen to him, and to
pledge their unflinching support
for him. It was quite evident
that in case of holding
elections Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
would return back to power, with
more votes than he ever had got
in the past. Zia charted a new
course of action, to end the
very life of Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto. Less than two months of
the imposition of martial law,
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was
re-arrested on 3rd
September 1977, this time
charged with conspiracy to
murder a political opponent.
Within no time an upright high
court judge granted him bail and
he was set free. He was arrested
again.
The huge crowds, which the PPP
was getting all over the
country, were phenomenal. Zia
countered it by launching an
‘accountability process,’ a
whipping horse every Pakistani
establishment has flogged. The
Government released a number of
‘White Papers’ telling the
people how ‘bad and unworthy of
their love’ Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
was. But, all this propaganda
could not bring the desired
results. Instead of decreasing,
the size of the crowds
increased. The outcome of the
promised polls was evident
before their actually taking
place. The Chief Martial Law
Administrator could not stomach
it anymore and cancelled the
elections that he had promised
to hold in October. The country
had entered into a dark tunnel
with dead end for the next