Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the most charismatic politician of Pakistan, second only to Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He gave us the basic document of governance, the 1973 constitution that was unanimously passed by the constituent parliament of the 70s, a compliment to his political sagacity and leadership. After Quaid-e-Azam, he had the distinction of having ruled the hearts and minds of the people of Pakistan. His government laid down the basic infrastructure for developing an industrial base which could have made us self reliant if only the process had continued without any interruption. Whilst he enjoyed undisputed power, never did he display in public a desire to behave or act like royalty. He always proclaimed in public to be a servant of the people and had his finger on the pulse of the masses. It was Bhutto's decision to acquire nuclear capability for Pakistan and he played a key role in making the Arabs use oil as a tool, something that irked the powers in Washington no end. This led to conspiracies being hatched against him and his inner circle was systematically proliferated with men who worked to erode his power base. Like all humans, he fell prey to the wiles of these sycophants and opportunists. Eventually, the international players succeeded in getting him out of power through a coup made by General Ziaul Haq. Bhuttos' legacy, the PPP, survived his judicial assassination. Despite her tender age, his daughter Benazir Bhutto waged a heroic struggle against Zia's tyrannical rule. After her tragic assassination the void left behind has not been filled, nor has her party done justice to the legacy of Bhutto. -ALI TARIQ, Lahore, via e-mail, April 1.