January 5th 1928, history will remember this day as a precious day. There are few people who make the history, and 5th of January was the day when a superhero was born. His name was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He was just 8 months when he came into this world. His parents were Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto and Begum Khurshed Bhutto. He was a precious baby and a precious man in the history of democracy. He was the first one who brought democracy in Pakistan. He was a father of democracy and founder of Pakistan People’s Party.
His father was the PM of Junagarh state, which is now located in Gujarat (India). Following his father’s footstep, he was interested in politics too, and he was determined to bring change in Pakistan. He changed the history in Pakistan where people call military as the saviour of Pakistan. We, democrats, believe in ZA Bhutto as the saviour of this country.
He was the student activist at very young age. During his school life and was involved in many political movements. In 1947, he studied political science at University of Southern California and then he graduated from University of California, Berkeley. In 1950, he studied law from Christ Church in UK and by 1953 he got LLB degree and MSc in political science too. In 1957, he was the youngest member of the UN. In 1958, during the martial law of Ayub Khan, Bhutto was the cabinet minister in Ministry of Water & Power and in 1960 he was appointed as the Minister of Commerce, Communication and Industry, and in 1963, a year that changed his life forever, he was appointed as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan. His personality, his attitude, and his style everything was vintage. He built close relationships with China that’s how Pakistan-China Friendship came into being.
Pakistan and India fought 3 wars. During the war of 1965, Tashkent Agreement was signed by Ayub Khan and PM of India Lal Bahadur Shastri, who died the very next day. This agreement was opposed by ZA Bhutto and Indian people, because this agreement didn’t mention how to resolve the issue of Kashmir, it just said to give up the arms and end the war. This agreement was signed on January 10th 1966, and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto resigned as the cabinet minister in June 1966.
On 30th November 1967, Bhutto established PPP as the democratic political party of Pakistan. This was the first political party which demanded justice, equality, democracy and the main motto of this party was, “Roti, Kapda aur Makaan”. To this day, the motto is same. It demanded the basic human needs. After the foundation, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto demanded the resignation of Ayub Khan and declared him as the “dictator”. In 1970, elections took place in Pakistan and Bhutto won the elections.
In 1973, Bhutto introduced the third and final constitution in which parliamentary system was suggested that said that president will not be involved in the political decisions of the country. On 15th December 1971, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gave the historical speech at UN, which will be remembered long.
He also introduced the atomic power to Pakistan. Bhutto was the first civilian to become the president of this country.
During his Presidency, he allowed oppositions to be formed. His main agenda was to end poverty. He worked for the farmer’s rights. He established schools, colleges, universities, hospitals etc.
He wanted to make Pakistan a self sufficient country. He even established a program “Federal Flood Commission” which is responsible for protection plans during flood and how to tackle with flood water. Gen Zia accused him of the murder of Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Kasuri in 1974. After his murder, Bhutto was arrested, and his wife faced many problems during the trial. Finally on 4th April 1979, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi.
It has been 43 years, but still he is alive. Every year on his birthday and his death anniversary, many people visit his tomb for prayers. Still many people believe in him. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is a history himself.
Mustajab Nazir Dhoki
