ZULFIQAR ALI BHUTTO’S ERA

(1971-1977)
RESOURCE PERSON: MS. FATIMA SAJJAD
OVERVIEW
Early life
Political career
Major Issues in Pakistan during his era.
 Major Policies adopted by govt.
Achievements of the govt.
Failures of the govt.
Death sentence and appeal
Evaluation
EARLY LIFE
He was born on 5 January 1928.
He was only son of Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto.
He completed his early education from Bombay Cathedral high school.
In 1947, he joined the University of Southern California and later the university
of California at Berkeley in June 1949.
 After completed his degree with honors in political science in 1950 he was
admitioned to Oxford.
POLITICAL CAREER
Bhutto was a Pakistani nationalist and socialist.
In 1957, Bhutto became the youngest member of Pakistan's delegation to the
United Nations.
In 1958, he became Pakistan's youngest cabinet minister.
In 1960, He became trusted ally and advisor of Ayyub Khan, rising in influence
and power despite his youth and relative inexperience.
He aided his president in negotiating the Indus Water Treaty in India in 1960.
He was Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the 10th Prime
Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977, and prior to that as the 4th President of
Pakistan from 1971 to 1973.
MAJOR ISSUES
Nationalization policy cause criticism and was serious damage to efforts for
economic development during 1960’s and results in economic insufficiency and
miss-allocation of resources.
On January 1977 The opposition organized into the Pakistan national alliance. A-
nine- party- coalition against government Bhutto and his allies.
MAJOR POLICIES ADOPTED BY GOVT.
Lying foundation of PPP
Nationalization policy
Atomic bomb program
Surpressing revolt in Baluchistan
MAJOR POLICIES ADOPTED BY GOVT.
Bhutto founded the Pakistan’s People Party ,which to date remains Pakistan’s
largest and most popular party.
PPP was founded in opposition to Pakistan’s 1st military ruler Ayub Khan in
whose cabinet Mr. Bhutto held the portfolio of foreign minister.
Bhutto started nationalization programme of industries, financial institutions
including banks and insurance companies and rice-husking units.
Bhutto was founder of Pakistan’s atomic bomb programme due to his
aggressive leadership he is often known as Father of nuclear deterrence.
In January 1973, Bhutto ordered the Pakistan Armed forces to suppress a rising
insurgency in the province of Baluchistan.
ACHIVEMENTS
 Domestic reforms
 Land, flood and agriculture reforms
 Economic policy
 Banking and Export expansion
 Constitutional reforms
 Right of passport to every citizen
ACHIVEMENTS
During his period as prime minister, a number of land reforms were introduced.
Bhutto introduced socialist economics policies while working to prevent any
further division of the country.
 Major heavy mechanical, chemical, and electrical engineering industries were
immediately nationalized by Bhutto, and all of the industries came under direct
control of government.
Banking reforms were introduced to provide more opportunities to small
farmers.
 Surveying the political instability, Bhutto's central government sacked two
provincial governments within six months, arrested the two chief ministers, two
governors and forty-four MNAs and MPAs.
 ACHIVEMENTS
•Bhutto government gave the right of a passport to every citizen of Pakistan and
facilitated millions of skilled and non-skilled Pakistanis to seek employment in
the Middle Eastern countries.
•The labor policy was among one of the most important cornerstone of Bhutto's
government, Shortly after assuming control, the government imposed some
conditions on the dismissal of workers.
•During his period in office the government carried out seven major
amendments to the 1973 Constitution.
FOREIGN POLICY
His vast knowledge, intelligence, and keen awareness of post-World War II,
and the nuclear history, enabled him to craft the foreign policy which brought
unmatched undivides in Pakistan's foreign policy history
 Bhutto sought to diversify Pakistan's relations away from the United States
and, soon Pakistan left CENTO and SEATO.
 Bhutto developed close and strengthened the Arab relations, and Sino-Pak
relations.
 Pakistan and Iran had cemented a special relationship, as Iran had provided
military assistance to Pakistan.
Bhutto, had built a strategic relationship with People's Republic of China.
FOREIGN POLICY
Bhutto hosted the second Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in
1974 where he delegated and invited leaders from the Muslim world to Lahore.
Bhutto had been an anti-SEATO and preferred a non-aligned policy.
Bhutto improved Pakistan's ties with the Arab world, and sided with the Arab
world during the Arab-Israeli conflict.
In spite of troubled relations with Israel, Bhutto had made it clear to Israel that
his policy against Israel is not based on "anti-Semitism“.
DECLINE OF GOVT.
Between the 1974 and 1976, many of Bhutto's original members had left
Bhutto due to political differences.
Powerful PPP leaders such as Ghulam Mustafa Khar, former Governor of
Punjab, openly condemned Bhutto and called for protests against his regime.
Amid protest and civil distress felt in Lahore, and People's Party lost the
administrative control over the city.
On 3 September the Army arrested Bhutto again on charges of authorizing the
murder of a political opponent in March 1974.
DEATH SENTENCE AND APPEAL
Bhutto was declared not guilty of murder, but was sentenced to death, On 18
March 1978.
 On 12 March 1978, Bhutto's former Legal Minister, A.H. Per-Zadah petitioned
the Supreme Court for the release of Bhutto's Science Adviser, Mubashir
Hassan, and to review Bhutto's death sentence based on the split decision.
The Supreme Court denied Hassan's release because he was held by Military
Police, but the court agreed to hear the arguments.
On 4 April 1979, the day Bhutto was executed.
 The New York Times published
its report after following the
entire chronological events
surrounding Bhutto's trial which
stated in part "The way they did
it, (Bhutto).. is going to grow
into a legend that will some day
backfire."
 Evaluation
Bhutto had been politically aware from an early age. His grave interest in politics led him to write
a letter to Mohammad Ali Jinnah on April 26, 1945 which read:

“You have inspired us and we are proud of you. Being still in school, I am unable to help the
establishment of our sacred land. But the time will come when I will even sacrifice my life for
Pakistan.”
He was the first Asian student to be elected to the student council at USC. Bhutto volunteered for
the election compaign of Democrat Helen Gahagan for a seat in the US senate.
He was a man full of contradictions. He was a democrat with despotic tendencies, populist but
not afraid of taking a stand, loved his country but not more than himself, socialist while owning
huge tracts of lands and much more.