Adil Najam
Today, April 4, marks the death anniversary of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
There is probably no other political figure since Mohammad Ali Jinnah who has left as deep and lasting a shaddow on Pakistan politics as Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB). You can love him or hate him, but you cannot possibly ignore him.
Those who love him, love him with a passion that few - if any - other Pakistani leaders evoke. Those who hate him - and many seem to do - do so with equal ferocity. No one I know is indifferent to him.
I use the words “love” and “hate” because the intensity of people’s views on him cannot really be captured by dispassionate terms such as “like” and “dislike” alone. Whatever else we might think of him, no one can deny his intensity, or the intensity with which Pakistanis of all generations - including those who have never even seen him - talk about him.
So today, on his death anniversary, let me not talk about my views on him. Let him talk to us himself. In his own words and in his own unique and passionate style.
Bhutto was a political animal in true literal sense. He got 90,000 Paky army men freed from imprisonment in India but also established FSF, a civil armed force, to counterpoise the army’s onslaught on the nation. He gave the left-over nation a Constitution in 1973 which contained Art.6 to check its subversion or abrogation but amended it soon to make it a ‘Takfiri Fatwa’ to render the faith of every Paky Muslim questionable. He did great blunders indeed which caused the nation some irreparable losses but atoned them all with his ‘Shahadat’ which made him live for ever in the hearts of the people. May God bless him ‘Ajab azzad mard tha’!
ZA Bhutto had charisma and a personality unlike any present day leaders we have had , he was a man of the masses, sure his arrogance and economic policies needed work. However, I think he is one of the few awami leaders we have had who won respect not only from the awam but from the educated middle class and elite as well.
There were two obstacles to Bhutto achieving complete power: the military and the Bengali majority who gave him no support
He could not remove the military because he had no armed forces of his own. So he had to get another country’s army to remove the military obstacle.
In 1970, Bhutto did the math: with no traction among the majority Bengalis he knew he could never win an election in united Pakistan - so he agreed with Mujeeb to split the country
Mujeeb fielded no candidates in WP and Bhutto fielded none in EP: that surely was no coincidence.
We admire leaders but we don’t learn from their mistakes. Bhutto made a fair share but he remains popular because he atleast made an effort to give to the people of Pakistan what Jinnah had promised them “sovereignty”.
we adore him from his personality and the tyranny he faced.
yes video isnt working, same problem here.
The videos do not seem to work for me. I am getting “Sorry the video is no longer available” message when I click to play. Is it just me or something wrong with the links?
ATP Friends,
Consider another perspective on Bhutto saab via link:
http://www.otherpakistan.org/bhutto-saab.html
Feimanallah
Wasim
I thank Adil Najam and the people who manage this portal for posting these videos, which have brought many tears to my eyes. All I can think of are the words of Iqbal….hazaron saal nargis apni benouri pay roti hai - barri mushkil say hota hai chaman main deedawar paida…..