Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto^[a] NPk (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth prime minister of Pakistan from 1973 until his overthrow in 1977. He was also the founder and first chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) from 1967 until his execution in 1979.

Born in Sindh and educated at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Oxford, Bhutto trained as a barrister at Lincoln's Inn before entering politics. He was a cabinet member during president Iskandar Mirza's tenure, holding various ministries during president Ayub Khan's military rule from 1958. Bhutto became the foreign minister in 1963, advocating for Operation Gibraltar in Kashmir, leading to the 1965 war with India. Following the Tashkent Declaration, he was dismissed from the government. Bhutto established the PPP in 1967, focusing on a left-wing and socialist agenda, and contested the 1970 general election, arising as the largest political party in Western Pakistan^[b] with a landslide victory in Punjab and Sindh; and a coalition victory with National Awami Party in Balochistan and the North-West Frontier. The Awami League, victorious with a landslide in East Pakistan, and the PPP were unable to agree on power transfer, leading to civil unrest in the east — further intensified by military action under Yahya Khan's military government — followed by a civil war and a war with India, resulting in the creation of Bangladesh. After Pakistan's loss in the east, Yahya resigned amidst a military revolt against him and Bhutto assumed the presidency in December 1971, imposing emergency rule and securing a ceasefire on the western front.

Bhutto secured the release of 93,000 prisoners of war through the Delhi Agreement, a trilateral accord signed between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh on 28 August 1973, and ratified only by India and Pakistan. He also reclaimed five thousand square miles (13,000 km²) of Indian-held territory through the Simla Agreement, signed between India and Pakistan in July 1972. He strengthened diplomatic ties with other Muslim countries, as well as China; and recognised Bangladesh while hosting the historic OIC Islamic Summit in Lahore in 1974. Bhutto's government drafted and promulgated the current constitution of Pakistan in 1973, after which emergency rule was lifted and the country became a parliamentary democracy with Bhutto assuming the prime minister's office. He played a crucial role in initiating the country's nuclear program. However, his policies, particularly extensive nationalisation, have remained controversial throughout.

Despite winning the 1977 parliamentary elections, the Peoples Party faced allegations of vote rigging by the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA), the right-wing conservative and Islamist opposition, sparking violence across the country. In an effort to resolve the crisis, Bhutto's government reached an agreement with the opposition to hold fresh elections under a neutral caretaker administration in October of the same year, but Bhutto was deposed two days later in a military coup by army chief Zia-ul-Haq on 5 July 1977. Controversially tried and executed in 1979, his trial — widely described, both in Pakistan and internationally, as a 'judicial murder' — was later declared 'unfair' by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in a mea culpa.^[c]

Bhutto's legacy remains contentious, praised for nationalist and a secular internationalist agenda, yet criticised for economic challenges, political repression and human rights abuses. He is often considered one of Pakistan's greatest leaders and referred to as the Quaid-e-Awām ("the People's Leader"). He was posthumously awarded the Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian award of the country. His party, the PPP, continues to be a significant political force in Pakistan, with his daughter Benazir Bhutto serving twice as prime minister, and his son-in-law, Asif Ali Zardari, becoming president.

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