Draft:Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
| Zulfikar Ali Bhutto | |
|---|---|
| File:Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 2.jpg | |
| Name | Zulfikar Ali Bhutto |
| Personal Details | |
| Birth Place | Pakistan |
| Death Place | Pakistan |
| Religion | Islam |
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is the former President and Prime Minister of Pakistan. He is known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Awam, Leader of the People, and the Father of the Constitution of Pakistan. He is the most popular Prime Minister in the history of Pakistan. During his premiership, Pakistan acquired the atomic bomb. He was removed from the premiership in 1977 AD following the coup by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and was executed in 1979 AD. The people of Pakistan hold a memorial ceremony every year on the anniversary of his execution.[1]
Biography
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto belonged to a Sindhi Bhutto family; he was born to Shah Nawaz Bhutto and Khursheed Begum on 5 January 1928 AD, near Larkana. Zulfikar was their third child. Sikandar Ali, at the age of seven in 1914 AD, and Imdad Ali, in 1953 at the age of 39, passed away due to illness.
Shah Nawaz Bhutto, Ruler of Indian Muslims
Shah Nawaz Bhutto was in the Junagadh Pradesh state in southwest Gujarat in India during the British Raj. During the Partition of India in 1947 AD, the Muslim ruler of Junagadh wanted to accede his state to the newly created Pakistan, but Shah Nawaz Bhutto faced rebellion by the population of Junagadh, most of whom were Hindu. The Indian government annulled the accession of Junagadh to Pakistan, and the Bhuttos moved towards Sindh in modern Pakistan. Shah Nawaz moved to the Larkana region in Sindh, and there his land ownership turned him into one of the wealthiest and most influential people of Sindh.[2]
Education
In 1950 AD, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. On 8 September 1951 AD, he married a Kurdish woman of Iranian origin, Nusrat Isfahani, known as Begum Nusrat Bhutto. During his studies at the University of California, Berkeley, he became interested in Socialism theories and delivered a series of lectures on their feasibility in Islamic countries. In June 1950, he traveled to Britain to study law at Christ Church, Oxford, and obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree, and subsequently received a law degree and a Master's degree. After completing his studies in 1952 AD, he worked as a lecturer in International Law at the University of Southampton. He also taught at the Sindh Islamic Law College in Karachi during the years 1956–1958 AD.[3]
Political activities
In 1957, Bhutto became the youngest member of Pakistan's delegation to the United Nations. During Ayub Khan's tenure, he served as Pakistan's Minister of Commerce for one year. In 1959–1960, he was Minister of National Reconstruction and Information, and during the same years, Minister of Kashmir Affairs and Minorities. In 1960, he was selected as Minister of Fuel, Power and Natural Resources; in the same year, he assisted his President in negotiations over the Indus Waters Treaty with India and in 1961, he negotiated an oil exploration agreement with the Soviet Union, which agreed to provide economic and technical assistance to Pakistan. He served as Pakistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1963 to 1966.
Foreign Minister
He was a nationalist and socialist with specific views on the type of democracy needed in Pakistan. When he became Foreign Minister in 1963, his socialist views influenced him to establish close relations with the neighbor China. At that time, many other countries accepted Taiwan as the sole legitimate government of China, but Pakistan accepted China's claim [4].
On March 2, 1963, he signed the Sino-Pakistan Border Agreement, which transferred 750 square kilometers of Kashmiri territory under Pakistani control to Chinese control. He emphasized his belief in non-alignment and turned Pakistan into an influential member of the Non-Aligned Movement. Believing in Pan-Islamic unity, he established closer relations with countries such as Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. He changed Pakistan's foreign policy, which until then had been pro-Western. While maintaining Pakistan's prominent role in the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization and the Central Treaty Organization, he began to declare a foreign policy for Pakistan that was independent of United States influence. Meanwhile, he visited East and West Germany and established a strong bond between the two countries. He signed economic, technical, industrial, and military agreements with Germany and strengthened Pakistan's strategic alliance with Germany.
Kashmir War
In 1962, with increasing territorial disputes between India and China, Beijing intended to attack northern regions of India. The Chinese Prime Minister invited Pakistan to join this attack. He defended this plan, but Ayub Khan, the President of Pakistan, opposed the plan and feared retaliation by Indian forces. In 1962, the United States assured Pakistan that Kashmir issues would be resolved according to the wishes of Pakistanis and Kashmiris. Therefore, Ayub Khan did not participate in the Chinese plans. He criticized the United States for providing military aid to India during and after the Sino-Indian War of 1962, which was considered as annulling Pakistan's alliance with the United States.[5]
Resignation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Meanwhile, Ayub Khan, at his recommendation, launched Operation Gibraltar in an attempt to liberate Kashmir. This war ultimately ended in defeat, and the Indian armed forces launched a successful attack on West Pakistan. This war was the consequence of short conflicts that occurred between March and August 1965, on international borders in Rann of Kutch, Jammu and Kashmir, and Punjab. Bhutto joined Ayub Khan in Uzbekistan to negotiate a peace treaty with Lal Bahadur Shastri, the Prime Minister of India. Ayub and Shastri agreed to exchange prisoners of war and withdraw respective forces to pre-war borders. This agreement was deeply hated in Pakistan and caused major political unrest against the Ayub Khan government. His criticism of the final agreement caused a major rift between him and Ayub. Initially denying rumors, he resigned from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in June 1966 and expressed his strong opposition to the Ayub Khan government.
Formation of the Pakistan People's Party
250px|thumb|left|Zulfikar Ali Bhutto speaking among his party supporters Following his resignation from the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs, a large crowd gathered to hear his speech upon his arrival in Lahore on 21 June 1967. Amidst a wave of anger against Ayub Khan, he traveled across Pakistan to deliver political speeches. In October 1966, he explicitly stated the beliefs of his new party: Islam is our faith, democracy is our politics, socialism is our economy. All power to the people. On 30 November 1967, at a gathering, he, along with Jalaluddin Abdur Rahim Bengali and Basit Jahangir Sheikh, established the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and created a strong base in Punjab, Sindh, and among the people of Pakistan.
Protests and Arrest
Lahore was the main center of his success and emergence. Activists of the People's Party carried out widespread demonstrations and strikes in various parts of the country, increasing pressure on Ayub Khan to resign. The arrest of Dr. Hassan and Bhutto on 12 November 1969, caused greater political unrest. After his release, he participated along with key leaders of the Pakistan People's Party in a roundtable conference called by Ayub Khan in Rawalpindi, but refused to accept the continuation of Ayub Khan's presidency and Sheikh Mujib Rahman, the East Pakistani politician.
Following Ayub Khan's resignation, the military commander Yahya Khan, his successor, promised to hold parliamentary elections on 7 December 1970. Under his leadership, democratic socialists, leftists, and Marxist communists came together and formed a united party for the first time in Pakistan's history. The united parties under his leadership took migrants and poor farmers in West Pakistan under their protection, and through education, encouraged the people to cast their votes for a better future.
Entry of the People's Party into Parliament and Dispute with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Gathering and uniting scattered socialist-communist groups in a single center was considered his greatest political achievement. As a result, his party and other leftists won a large number of seats from constituencies in West Pakistan. However, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Awami League won an absolute majority in the Legislative Assembly and gained more than twice the votes of the People's Party. Bhutto strongly refused to accept a government from the Awami League. On 17 January 1971, then-President Yahya Khan and Bhutto met with a number of Pakistani military commanders. The Pakistan Army and the Deputy Chief Martial Law Administrator on 22 February 1971, in West Pakistan, decided to suppress the Awami Party and its supporters.
Fearing the secession of East Pakistan from West Pakistan, he requested Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to form a coalition with the Pakistan People's Party. And he proposed that he administer West Pakistan and Mujib Rahman administer the East. Yahya Khan postponed the National Assembly session, which fueled the popular movement in East Pakistan. And amidst the anger of the people of East Pakistan, on 7 March 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called on Bengalis to join the struggle for Bangladesh.
Separation of East Pakistan and Establishment of the Country of Bangladesh
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman no longer believed in Pakistan and was determined to build Bangladesh. Many also believed that Bhutto desired power in the West even at the cost of East Pakistan's separation. Yahya Khan initiated a negotiation conference in Dhaka to reach an agreement between the two. It was expected that this discussion would be fruitful until the President went to West Pakistan on the evening of 25 March 1971. On that night, 25 March 1971, the Army launched Operation Searchlight, designed by Yahya Khan's martial law government to suppress Bengali political activities and movements. Mujib Rahman was arrested and imprisoned in West Pakistan.
While supporting the army's actions and trying to garner international support, Bhutto distanced himself from Yahya Khan's government and began criticizing Yahya Khan for mismanagement of the situation. He refused to accept Yahya Khan's plan to appoint Nurul Amin, the Bengali politician, as Prime Minister and himself as Deputy Prime Minister. Immediately after his refusal and continued dissatisfaction with Yahya Khan's mismanagement, the President ordered the military police to arrest him on charges of treason. He was imprisoned in Adiala Jail. The army's suppression of Bengalis in East Pakistan faced armed resistance from guerrilla forces trained by India. Pakistan carried out an air attack on India on the western border, which led to India's intervention in East Pakistan, resulting in a very bitter defeat for Pakistani forces; Pakistani forces surrendered on 16 December 1971. As a result, the Government of Bangladesh was born, and Bhutto and others condemned Yahya Khan for failing to protect the unity of Pakistan [6].
President of Pakistan
President Yahya Khan resigned on 20 December 1971 and transferred power to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who became the President, Commander-in-Chief, and the first civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator.
He was the country's first civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator since 1958, and also the country's first civilian President. With his assumption of power, leftists and democratic socialists entered the country's politics and later emerged as power players in national politics. For the first time in the country's history, leftists and democratic socialists had the opportunity to govern the country with a popular vote and exclusive mandates widely endorsed, which had been granted to them by the people of West Pakistan in the 1970s elections.
A Pakistan International Airlines flight was sent to bring him from New York, where he was presenting Pakistan's case at the UN Security Council regarding the East Pakistan crisis. He returned to Pakistan on 18 December 1971. On 20 December 1971, he was taken to the President's House in Rawalpindi, where he assumed two offices from Yahya Khan, one as President and the other as the first civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator. Thus, he was the first civilian Chief Martial Law Administrator of the dismembered Pakistan. When he took control of what remained of Pakistan, the people of Pakistan were isolated and angry. He addressed the people via radio and television:
My dear compatriots, my dear friends, my dear students, workers, dear peasants, those who fought for Pakistan, we are facing the worst crisis in our country's life, a fatal crisis. We must gather the very small pieces. But we will build a new Pakistan, a prosperous and progressive Pakistan, a Pakistan free from exploitation, a Pakistan desired by Quaid-e-Azam (Muhammad Ali Jinnah).[7]
Domestic and Foreign Challenges
As President, he faced increasing challenges on domestic and foreign fronts. This damage was severe in Pakistan; a psychological defeat and the collapse of Pakistan. Foreign policy was compromised. It lost international credibility, including from long-standing allies such as the US and China.
Inside Pakistan, nationalism among Baloch, Sindhi, Punjabi, and Pashtun was at its peak, and they demanded independence from Pakistan. Finding it difficult to keep Pakistan united, he launched full-scale intelligence and military operations to neutralize any separatist movements.
He immediately placed Yahya Khan under house arrest. He mediated a ceasefire and ordered the release of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was in the custody of the Pakistan Army. To implement this, he annulled the previous military court verdict against Mujibur Rahman, which had sentenced him to death. He attempted to prevent the dismemberment of the country by offering Sheikh Mujibur Rahman the presidency of East and West Pakistan, but Mujib did not accept, and thus he did not recognize the independence of East Pakistan. And since England recognized Bangladesh, Pakistan withdrew from the Commonwealth of Nations.
On 2 January 1972, he announced the nationalization of all major industries, including iron and steel, heavy engineering, heavy electrical, petrochemicals, cement, and public utilities. A new labor policy was announced increasing workers' wages and the power of labor unions [8].
He visited India to meet Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and negotiated a formal peace agreement and the release of 93,000 Pakistani prisoners of war. The two leaders signed the Simla Agreement, which committed both countries to establishing a new and meanwhile temporary Line of Control in Kashmir and obliged them to resolve disputes peacefully through bilateral talks. He also promised to hold a summit for the peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute and committed to recognizing Bangladesh. Although he secured the release of Pakistani soldiers held by India, he was criticized by many in Pakistan for conceding too much to India.
Nuclear Pakistan and Acquiring the Atomic Bomb
He was the founder of Pakistan's atomic bomb program. It is said that his interest in nuclear technology began during his university years in America when Bhutto attended a course in political science. He discussed the political impact of the first American nuclear test. While he was at Berkeley, when the Soviet Union detonated its first bomb in 1949, he witnessed the public panic that prompted the US government to begin its research on it. Long before that, in 1958, as Minister of Fuel, Power and National Resources, he played a key role in launching the institutions and research institutes of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. In 1958, he offered a technical post to Munir Ahmad Khan at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC).
In October 1965, as Foreign Minister, he visited Vienna where nuclear engineer Munir Ahmad Khan was working in a senior technical post at the International Atomic Energy Agency. Munir Ahmad Khan informed him about the status of India's nuclear program and the options Pakistan had for developing its own nuclear capability. Both agreed on Pakistan's need to establish a nuclear deterrent to counter India. While Munir Khan failed to convince Ayub Khan, Bhutto had told Munir Khan: Do not worry, our turn will come. Shortly after the 1965 war, he announced at a press conference that even if we have to eat grass, we will make a nuclear bomb. We have no other choice. Because he saw that India was making its way towards bomb development.
The militarization of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission began on 20 January 1972 and in its early years was implemented by military commander Tikka Khan, Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Army. The Karachi Nuclear Power Plant was inaugurated by him during his presidency of Pakistan at the end of 1972. Under his control, senior academic scientists had direct access to Bhutto, keeping him informed about every inch of progress.
After India's nuclear test codenamed Smiling Buddha in May 1974, he considered this test the final prophecy for the death of Pakistan. In a press conference held shortly after India's nuclear test, he said: India's nuclear program is designed to intimidate Pakistan and create hegemony in the subcontinent. Despite Pakistan's limited financial resources, he was very eager for the nuclear energy project.
He slowly reversed and neutralized any US attempt to infiltrate the nuclear program as he had expelled many American diplomatic officials. In the country, under Operation Sunrise, he intensified his firm support and supported Abdul Qadeer Khan to quietly bring weapons technology to Pakistan and keep nuclear laboratories hidden. Regional rivals such as India and the Soviet Union had no preliminary information about Pakistan's nuclear energy project during the 1970s, and it seemed that the intensification of his covert efforts yielded results in 1978, when the program had fully matured.
He argued that nuclear weapons would allow India to use its Air Force fighter planes with small battlefield nuclear equipment against Pakistan Army concentrations, armored columns and infantry, and military bases and nuclear industrial facilities. As long as civilian casualties are minimized, the Indian Air Force will not face an adverse reaction from the international community. Thus, India would defeat Pakistan, force its armed forces to a humiliating surrender, and occupy and annex northern Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. Then India would divide Pakistan into small countries based on ethnic divisions, and this would be the end of the Pakistan problem for India once and for all. In sum, he knew that Pakistan had become a nuclear-armed country in 1978, when his friend Munir Ahmad Khan met him in his prison cell. There Munir Ahmad Khan told him that the weapon design process was complete and a milestone in the complex and difficult enrichment of nuclear fuel was achieved. He demanded an immediate nuclear test, and no response was issued by Zia-ul-Haq or any member of his government.
He expressed these words in prison:
We (Pakistan) know that Israel and South Africa have full nuclear capability. The Christian, Jewish, and Hindu civilizations have this (nuclear) capability. The Islamic civilization is without it, but the situation is changing[9].
Constitutional Reforms
He is considered the main architect of the 1973 Constitution, as part of his vision to put Pakistan on the path of parliamentary democracy. One of the important achievements in his life was drafting the first consensus constitution for the country. He oversaw the promulgation of the 1973 Constitution, which created an unstoppable constitutional revolution through his policy that was linked to the liberation of the oppressed masses, by giving the people a voice in parliament, and fundamental changes in the economic sphere in their favor.
During his tenure, the government made several fundamental amendments to the 1973 Constitution. The most important of these was the recognition of Bangladesh and diplomatic relations with it. And it focused on limiting the power and jurisdiction of the judiciary, which was approved on 15 September 1976.
Also works including: general amnesty for prisoners, confiscation of passports of the wealthy to prevent capital flight, abolition of privileges and secret budgets of former rulers of about seventy princely states, nationalization of major industries and important factories of Pakistan, limiting large landowners, increasing workers' benefits by passing new labor laws and land reforms. He was able to end the old tradition of royal treasuries, meaning the payment of annual salaries that the government paid to Nawabs or other old aristocrats since the period of United Kingdom rule. These measures caused the value of the rupee, which had decreased by more than 50%, to increase again, and consequently added to Pakistan's export revenues.
Prime Ministership
The new constitution came into effect on 14 August 1973, following lengthy debate and amendment, establishing a federal and parliamentary system of government. Concurrent with the implementation of the new constitution, he stepped down from the presidency. After securing 108 votes in a house consisting of 146 members, he was sworn in as the Prime Minister of the country. Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry was elected as President under the new constitution. During his five-year rule, the Bhutto government carried out extensive reforms at every level of the government. The capital of Pakistan and the Western reforms initiated in 1947 and continued throughout the 1970s were altered and replaced with a socialist system.
Reforms
200px|thumb|left|Allama Iqbal University in Pakistan
Industrial Reforms
The Bhutto government carried out a number of reforms in the industrial sector. His reforms had two aspects: nationalization and improvement of workers' rights. In the first phase, he nationalized basic industries such as steel, chemical, and cement. This was done in 1972. The next major step occurred on 1 January 1974, when he nationalized all banks. The final stage in this series was the nationalization of all flour, rice, and cotton factories across the country.
Educational Reforms
The next step in reforms was in education. He established a large number of rural and urban schools, including approximately 6,500 primary schools, 900 middle schools, 407 high schools, 51 intermediate colleges, and 21 degree colleges. He also abandoned the Western education system. His government made Islamic and Pakistan Studies compulsory in schools. He was credited with the establishment of Quaid-e-Azam University and Allama Iqbal Open University in Islamabad in 1974, as well as the establishment of Gomal University in 1973. As Foreign Minister in 1967, he established the Institute of Theoretical Physics with the help of Abdus Salam. As Prime Minister, he made revolutionary efforts to expand the education network. He also established Allama Iqbal Medical College in 1975 Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag.
Trial and Execution
The army arrested him again on charges of permitting the murder of a political opponent in March 1974. A 35-year-old politician, Ahmad Raza Kasuri, and his family were ambushed, and Kasuri's father was killed. Ahmad Raza Kasuri claimed that he was the actual target and accused Bhutto of organizing the attack. Kasuri later claimed himself that he had been the target of 15 assassination attempts. Nusrat Bhutto formed a team of senior Pakistani lawyers to defend him. Bhutto was released 10 days after his arrest after the judge found the evidence "contradictory and incomplete".
Zia-ul-Haq arrested him again on the same charges, this time under martial law. He was tried in the Lahore High Court instead of a lower court, and he was denied the right to appeal. The judge who had granted him bail was removed. Five new judges were appointed, headed by Mushtaq Hussain, Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court. The trial lasted five months. Masood Mahmood, Director General of the Federal Security Force, testified against him. Masood Mahmood had been arrested immediately after Zia-ul-Haq's coup and had been in prison for two months before testifying. In his testimony, he claimed that Bhutto had ordered Kasuri's murder and that four members of the Federal Security Force organized the ambush on Bhutto's orders.
When he began his testimony on January 25, 1978, Mushtaq Hussain, the Chief Justice, closed the court to all observers. Bhutto demanded a retrial and accused the Chief Justice of bias. The court rejected his request. On March 18, 1978, Bhutto was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. The appeal request was completed on December 23, 1978. On February 6, 1979, the Supreme Court issued the conviction verdict, a decision made by a 4–3 majority. His family had seven days to file a review petition. While reviewing the petition, the court stayed the execution. On February 24, 1979, when the next court session began, many clemency requests arrived from world leaders. On March 24, 1979, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal request. Zia-ul-Haq confirmed the death sentence. And Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged on April 4, 1979, in Rawalpindi Central Jail and was buried in his family mausoleum [10].
Family and Children
His first marriage took place in 1943 to his cousin Shirin Amir Begum, but they separated. On September 8, 1951, he married Nusrat Isfahani, of Iranian Kurdish origin, known as Begum Nusrat Bhutto. Their first child, Benazir, was born in 1953. Murtaza was born in 1954, Sanam in 1957, and Shahnawaz in 1958.
Two of his children, Shahnawaz and Murtaza, were killed at a young age. Also, Benazir Bhutto became Prime Minister of Pakistan for two terms and was assassinated in 2007. Bhutto remained a highly influential and respected figure even after his death. He is recognized as one of the most influential men in the history of Pakistan. His supporters gave him the title Quaid-e-Awam (Leader of the People) [11].
Footnotes
- ↑ Adapted from the Urdu Wikipedia site
- ↑ Adapted from globalsecurity site
- ↑ Adapted from dawn.com site
- ↑ Retrieved from ghostarchive.org site
- ↑ Retrieved from countrystudies.us site
- ↑ Adapted from t27.ir website
- ↑ Retrieved from ppp.org.pk
- ↑ Retrieved from countrystudies.us
- ↑ Retrieved from nuclearweaponarchive.org
- ↑ Taken from nytimes.com
- ↑ Taken from indiatoday.in