Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister, and statesman who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973, and as the ninth prime minister of Pakistan from 1973 until his overthrow in 1977. He was 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 Southern California, 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 and considered General Burki as a mentor. 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 Pakistan Peoples' Party (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 with a landslide victory in Punjab and Sindh. 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 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 in 1974 while hosting the historic Islamic Summit in Lahore — attended by leaders from 37 Muslim countries — marking the largest gathering of top Muslim leaders in modern history. After declaring a state of emergency in Balochistan in 1973, he dismissed Ataullah Mengal's government and imposed 'governor's rule', appointing Akbar Bugti as governor and ordering a military operation to suppress insurgency in the province. In collaboration with the parliamentary opposition, Bhutto's government drafted and promulgated Pakistan's current constitution in 1973, with the approval of 97 percent of the parliament — bringing an end to emergency rule and restoring parliamentary democracy across the country, with Bhutto assuming office as prime minister. He brought in Abdul Qadeer Khan, strengthened the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, and initiated the country's nuclear program which he regarded as a 'national priority'. Bhutto also introduced a policy of extensive nationalisation under his socialist agenda.
Despite winning the 1977 parliamentary elections, the Peoples Party faced allegations of vote rigging by the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA), the populist opposition, sparking violence across the country. 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, following which he was posthumously awarded the Nishan-e-Pakistan, the country's highest civilian award, by the government of Pakistan.
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 referred to as the Quaid-e-Awām ("the People's Leader") by his supporters. His daughter Benazir Bhutto served twice as prime minister, and his son-in-law, Asif Ali Zardari, twice as president.
Early life and education Zulfikar Ali Bhutto belonged to a Sindhi family; Owen Bennett-Jones writes that the family traces its ancestry back to a 9th-century Rajput prince of the Bhati clan who ruled the town of Tanot (in current-day Rajasthan, India), Bhutto's ancestors later appearing in different Rajasthani chronicles in prominent roles, the family converting to Islam mostly around the 17th century before moving to Sindh.
He was born to Shah Nawaz Bhutto and Khursheed Begum near Larkana. His father was the dewan of the princely state of Junagadh and enjoyed an influential relationship with the officials of the British Raj. His mother, Khursheed Begum, was born Lakhi Bai, and had been a professional dance girl from a Hindu family and converted to Islam when she married Shah Nawaz. Reportedly, Shah Nawaz Bhutto had seen her dancing and had proposed, eventually marrying her. Zulfikar was their third child — the first, Sikandar Ali, had died from pneumonia at age seven in 1914, and the second, Imdad Ali, died of cirrhosis at age 39 in 1953.
As a young boy, Bhutto moved to Worli Seaface in Bombay, where he studied at the Cathedral and John Connon School and later at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. He then also became an activist in the Pakistan Movement. In 1943, his marriage was arranged with Shireen Amir Begum. In 1947, Bhutto was admitted to the University of Southern California to study political science.
In 1949, as a junior, Bhutto transferred to the University of California, Berkeley from the University of Southern California, where he earned a B.A. (honours) degree in political science in 1950. A year later on 8 September 1951, he married a woman of Iranian Kurdish origin—Nusrat Ispahani, popularly known as Begum Nusrat Bhutto. During his studies at the University of California, Berkeley, Bhutto became interested in the theories of socialism, delivering a series of lectures on their feasibility in Islamic countries. During this time, Bhutto's father played a controversial role in the affairs of Junagadh. Coming to power in a palace coup, he secured the accession of his state to Pakistan, which was ultimately negated by Indian intervention in December 1947. In June 1950, Bhutto travelled to the United Kingdom to study law at Christ Church, Oxford and received a BA in jurisprudence, followed by an LLM degree in law and an M.Sc. (honours) degree in political science. Upon finishing his studies, he served as a lecturer in international law at the University of Southampton in 1952, and he was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1953.
Political career In 1957, Bhutto became the youngest member of Pakistan's delegation to the United Nations. He addressed the UN Sixth Committee on Aggression that October and led Pakistan's delegation to the first UN Conference on the Law of the Sea in 1958. That year, Bhutto became Pakistan's youngest cabinet minister, taking up the reins of the Ministry of Commerce by President Iskander Mirza, pre-coup d'état government. Bhutto became a trusted ally and advisor of Ayub Khan, rising in influence and power despite his youth and relative inexperience. Bhutto was a junior minister in Ayub Khan administration at the time of signing the Indus Waters Treaty with India in 1960 and was not part of the negotiating team. Bhutto was against this treaty due to yielding too much of water resources to India. Later he vehemently talked publicly against the IWT during his campaign against Ayub Khan regime. Bhutto negotiated an oil-exploration agreement with the Soviet Union in 1961, which agreed to provide economic and technical aid to Pakistan.
The Pakistan Association of Medical Editors in its book, Medical History, wrote: "Gen. Burki maintained very good relations with the late Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who looked at him as a sort of mentor since Mr. Bhutto had joined the 1958 cabinet as a very junior minister and looked to General Burki for support during cabinet meetings."
When President Ayub Khan enacted his 1962 Constitution of Pakistan On the evening of 8 June 1962, Bhutto was almost dropped from the cabinet. Author Syed Shabbir Hussain recalled that it was Wajid Ali Khan Burki who came to Bhutto's rescue when Bhutto "entreatingly" approached Burki at the President's reception that evening who then got him included in the new set-up.
Foreign Minister
Bhutto, a Pakistani nationalist and socialist, held distinctive views on the democracy required in Pakistan. Upon becoming foreign minister in 1963, his socialist stance led to a close relationship with neighboring China, challenging the prevailing acceptance of Taiwan as the legitimate government of China when two governments each claimed to be "China". In 1964, the Soviet Union and its satellite states broke off relations with Beijing over ideological differences, with only Albania and Pakistan supporting the People's Republic of China. Bhutto staunchly supported Beijing in the UN and the UNSC, while also maintaining connections with the United States.
Bhutto's strong advocacy for closer ties with China drew criticism from the United States, with President Lyndon B. Johnson cautioning him about potential repercussions on congressional support for aid to Pakistan.H. W. Brands, The Foreign Policies of Lyndon Johnson: Beyond Vietnam, Texas A&M University Press (1999), p. 171 Bhutto, known for his demagogic speeches, led the foreign ministry assertively, rapidly gaining national prominence. During a visit to Beijing, Bhutto and his staff received a warm welcome from the Chinese leadership, including Mao Zedong. Bhutto contributed to negotiating trade and military agreements between Pakistan and China, fostering collaboration on various military and industrial projects.
Bhutto signed the Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement on 2 March 1963, transferring 750 square kilometers of territory from Gilgit Baltistan to Chinese control. Bhutto embraced non-alignment, making Pakistan an influential member in non-aligned organisations. Advocating pan-Islamic unity, Bhutto developed closer relations with Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. Bhutto significantly transformed Pakistan's pro-West foreign policy. While maintaining a role in the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization and the Central Treaty Organization, Bhutto asserted an independent foreign policy for Pakistan, free from U.S. influence. Bhutto also visited Poland in 1962, establishing diplomatic relations and fostering mutual cooperation, reaching out to the Polish community in Pakistan. Using Pakistan Air Force's Brigadier-General Władysław Turowicz, Bhutto initiated military and economic links between Pakistan and Poland.
In 1962, as territorial differences escalated between India and China, Beijing considered staging an invasion in northern Indian territories. Premier Zhou Enlai and Mao invited Pakistan to join the raid to reclaim the State of Jammu and Kashmir from India. Bhutto supported the plan, but Ayub opposed it due to fears of Indian retaliation. Instead, Ayub proposed a "joint defense union" with India, shocking Bhutto, who felt Ayub Khan lacked understanding of international affairs. Bhutto, aware of China's restraint from criticising Pakistan despite its membership in anti-communist western alliances, criticised the U.S. for providing military aid to India during and after the 1962 Sino-Indian War, seen as a breach of Pakistan's alliance with the United States.