There are such persons and leaders who cross the boundaries of time and circumstance to take their places among icons of change and vision. Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was one such leader. His name alone echoes across the annals of Pakistani political history. Bhutto was born into the riches of Sindh in 1928. In his early years, he experienced all luxuries possible in that society, but it was through education and exposure to the world that he eventually found a pathway for his future to become one of Pakistan’s most important political figures. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the point of turning for the nation’s history, not because of his brains or his birth, but because of his steadfast perseverance to change the socio-political landscape of Pakistan.
Bhutto came into politics by education at the University of California, Berkeley, followed by his studies at Oxford University. This education exposed Bhutto to new concepts about governance, economics, and social justice. Upon his return to Pakistan, he entered politics very quickly; by 1967, he had founded the Pakistan Peoples Party. His charismatic leadership coupled with his grasp of the intricate complexities of Pakistan helped him strike a chord with the Pakistani masses, the rural and lower-class population being the most excluded by the elites in Pakistanian politics.
Pakistan’s vision from Bhutto is bold and visionary. He intended to make it a modern society, progressive in nature, with equity for its citizens. This was manifested in his now-famous slogan, “Roti, Kapra, Aur Makan” or bread, clothing, and shelter. In his tenure, he encouraged the land reforms as well as the nationalization of strategic industries for the people. Being a politician, he also was a statesman who had faith in Pakistan as an emerging leader for the Muslim world as well as further afield. Bhutto played a very pivotal role in forming the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, an organization aimed at unifying the Muslim nations of the world, and he played a key role in realigning Pakistan’s foreign policy at a crucial juncture of geopolitical readjustment of the world.
Bhutto’s time remains one of the most transforming and debated periods in Pakistan’s history. From 1971 to 1977, he was the prime minister who reshaped the country’s political and economic structure as a leader. His pro people welfare schemes won over the hearts of the working class and marginalized people and branded him as the messiah of the poor.
Bhutto was undoubtedly a charismatic, dynamic leadership quality that inspired millions. He set out the prospect of self-reliant, progressive Pakistan on the principles and ideology against which the entrenched privileges of feudal landowners, military élite, and industrial magnates had survived, thus necessarily inciting opposition against those who his leadership intended to curb.
While he had to endure the harsh realities which include polarized politics and economic roadblocks, he has left behind a legacy of resilience, modernity and tireless quest for justice. Many consider him to be a person who was ready to stand up against all odds to give new dreams to Pakistan and its people. His was not a very smooth tenure in the eyes of his critics; however, no one can deny his contribution to creating modern Pakistan.
In 1977, Bhutto’s fate was sealed when, after the general elections his party had won, the military, under General Zia-ul-Haq, overthrew him in a coup d’état. Bhutto was tried in a process that many considered political, convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, and sentenced to death. He was hanged on 4 April, 1979 after the tremendous clemency calls that had swept from around the world. This judicial murder over an apparent power play is probably the most tragic and controversial episode of Pakistan’s history. His murder was also treated as a calculated move in order to firmly establish stranglehold on the country.
However, though Bhutto martyred with a tragic end, his legacy was not carried to his grave. His dream for a just and democratic Pakistan came alive in the person of his daughter, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. Benazir had seen her father executed brutally but within no time became the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan. Leadership, like her father, was of strength, courage, and the devotion to democracy. Although her political life was marked by attempted assassination and years in exile, the return of Benazir in the 1990s was actually a revival of the political philosophy of her father.With her assassination in 2007, her husband Asif Ali Zardari became the president of the PPP and was elected as President of Pakistan. Leadership came with its problems, but the critics were not so certain if he could lead and do justice to the country’s ever-increasing economic and security issues. Yet, over time, this too became a test of endurance while still being a supporter of the Bhutto legacy.
The Bhutto legacy lives on in Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, one of the most important politicians of Pakistan. As the chairman of the PPP, Bilawal has done much to resuscitate the party and its role in the country’s politics. Being himself a very young politician, Bilawal will take Pakistan forward into the future by continuing the ideals of his grandfather and mother and meeting the needs of modern Pakistan.
It has not merely to do with political victory but is rooted within far larger change he worked towards for Pakistan, so much broader that he aspired a progressive, democratic, and fair society; yet many Pakistanis will always take Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto as an icon and strive towards the ends for justice, human rights, and for a powerful underrepresented mass. In each failure and catastrophe, it was this stand for democracy which inspired not only his family but millions of Pakistanis.
Well, as a noted historian Stanley Wolpert aptly remarked, “Few figures in Pakistan’s history have matched the Bhutto family’s vision and ability to inspire.” A bold statement itself, it places into words what the Bhutto family has come to mean and signify across the social and political world of Pakistan. Despite all kinds of trials and tribulations that they have faced in their lives, Bhuttos have continued to remain a symbol of hope, improvement, and the idea that democracy-fragile and frail though it may be-is indeed worth fighting for. Based on the ideals of justice, equality, and freedom, the Bhutto legacy will shape Pakistan for generations to come.
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