Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Urdu: ‫ذوالفقار علی بھٹو‬, Sindhi: ‫ذوالفقار علي ُڀٽو‬

, IPA: [zʊlfɪqɑːɾ ɑli

bʱʊʈːoː]) (January 5, 1928 – April 4, 1979) was a Pakistani politician who served as
the fourth President of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and as the ninth Prime Minister of
Pakistan from 1973 to 1977. He was the founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP),
the largest and most influential political party in Pakistan.

Educated at the University of California, Berkeley, in the United States and University of
Oxfordin the United Kingdom, Bhutto was noted for his economic initiatives and
authoring Pakistan's nuclear programme. He was executed in 1979 after the Supreme
Court of Pakistan sentenced him to death for authorizing the murder of a political
opponent,

Early life

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was born to Khursheed Begum née Lakhi Bai and Sir Shah Nawaz
Bhutto. He was born in a prominent Sindhi Muslim family.[6] Bhutto's father was a
prominent political figure in the Indian colonial government. Bhutto was born in his
parent's residence near Larkanain what later became the province of Sindh. He was
their third child — their first one, Sikandar Ali, died from pneumonia at age seven in 1914
and the second child, Imdad Ali, died ofcirrhosis at the age of 39 in 1953.[7] His father
was the prime minster of junagadh state, who enjoyed an influential relationship with the
officials of the British Raj. As a young boy, Bhutto moved to Worli Seaface in Bombay
(now Mumbai) to study at the Cathedral and John Connon School. During this period, he
also became a student activist in the League's Pakistan Movement. In 1943, his
marriage was arranged with Shireen Amir Begum (died January 19, 2003 in Karachi). He
later left her, however, in order to remarry. In 1947, Bhutto was admitted to
the University of Southern California.

In 1949, Bhutto transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned an

honours degree in political science. Here he would become interested in the theories
ofsocialism, delivering a series of lectures on the feasibility of socialism in Islamic
countries.During this time, Bhutto's father, Sir Shahnawaz, played a controversial role in
the affairs of the state of Junagadh (now in Gujarat). Coming to power in a palace coup
as thedewan, he secured the accession of the state to Pakistan, which was ultimately
negated by Indian intervention in December, 1947.[8] In June, 1950 Bhutto travelled
to England to study law at Christ Church, Oxford. Upon finishing his studies, he was
called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in the year 1953 (the same school at which Muhammad
Ali Jinnah studied law) .
Bhutto married his second wife, the Iranian-Kurdish Begum Nusrat Ispahani who was
a Shi'a Muslim,[9] in Karachi on September 8, 1951. Their first child, his
daughter Benazir, was born in 1953. She was followed by Murtaza in 1954, a second
daughter, Sanam, in 1957, and the youngest child, Shahnawaz Bhutto, in 1958. He
accepted the post of lecturer at the Sindh Muslim College, from where he was also
awarded an honorary law degree by the then college President, Mr. Hassanally A.
Rahman before establishing himself in a legal practice in Karachi. He also took over the
management of his family's estate and business interests after his

Political career

In 1957, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became the youngest member of Pakistan's delegation to
theUnited Nations. He would address the United Nations Sixth Committee on
Aggression on October 25, 1957 and lead Pakistan's deputation to the first United
Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea in 1958. In the same year, Bhutto became
the youngest Pakistani cabinet minister when he was given charge of the energy
ministry by President Muhammad Ayub Khan, who had seized power and
declared martial law. He was subsequently promoted to head the ministries of
commerce, information and industries. Bhutto became a close and trusted advisor to
Ayub, rising in influence and power despite his youth and relative inexperience in
politics. Bhutto aided Ayub in negotiating the Indus Water Treaty with India in 1960. In
1961, Bhutto negotiated an oil exploration agreement with the Soviet Union, which also
agreed to provide economic and technical aid to Pakistan

Foreign minister
In 1962, he was appointed Pakistan's foreign minister. His swift rise to power also
brought him national prominence and popularity.

Ppp

In a speech in October, 1966 Bhutto declared the PPP's beliefs, "Islam is our
faith, democracy is our policy, socialism is our economy. All power to the people."[11] On
November 30, 1967 Bhutto founded the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in Lahore,
establishing a strong base of political support in Punjab, Sindh and amongst the Muhajir
communities. Bhutto's party became a part of the pro-democracy movement involving
diverse political parties from all across Pakistan. PPP activists staged large protests and
strikes in different parts of the country, increasing pressure on Ayub to resign. Bhutto's
arrest on November 12, 1968 sparked greater political unrest. After his release, Bhutto
attended the Round Table Conference called by Ayub in Rawalpindi, but refused to
accept Ayub's continuation in office and the East Pakistani politician Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman'sSix point movement for regional autonomy.
Following Ayub's resignation, the new president Gen. Yahya Khan promised to hold
parliamentary elections on December 7, 1970. Bhutto's party won a large number of
seats from constituencies in West Pakistan.[11] However, Sheikh Mujib's Awami
League won an outright majority from the constituencies located in East Pakistan. Bhutto
refused to accept an Awami League government and famously promised to "break the
legs" of any elected PPP member who dared to attend the inaugural session of
the National Assembly of Pakistan. Capitalising on West Pakistani fears of East
Pakistani separatism, Bhutto demanded that Sheikh Mujib form a coalition with the PPP.
[11]
Under substantial pressure from Bhutto and other West Pakistani political parties,
Yahya postponed the inaugural session of the National Assembly after talks with Sheikh
Mujib failed.[11] Amidst popular outrage in East Pakistan, Major Ziaur Rahman declared
the independence of "Bangladesh" on March 26, 1971 after Mujibur was arrested by the
Pakistani Army, which had been ordered by Yahya to suppress political activities. .
[12]
While supportive of the army's actions and working to rally international support,
Bhutto distanced himself from the Yahya regime. He refused to accept Yahya's scheme
to appoint Bengali politician Nurul Amin as prime minister, with Bhutto as deputy prime
minister. Indian intervention in East Pakistan led to the very bitter defeat of Pakistani
forces, who surrendered on December 16, 1971. Bhutto and others condemned Yahya
for failing to protect Pakistan's unity. Isolated, Yahya resigned on December 20 and
transferred power to Bhutto, who became the president, army commander-in-chief as
well as the first civilian chief martial law administrator.[11]