His role in two wars.
Islamabad: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the former Pakistan Prime Minister and President would have been 97 years old on Sunday, 05 January 2025, had he been alive.
He was hanged on April 4, 1979, during the rule of General Zia-ul-Haq. After him, his family carried forward the political legacy and the Bhutto family is highly influential in Pakistan’s politics.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is known for his other decisions as well as for his hostility towards India. Zulfikar Bhutto was a Pakistani leader who spoke publicly about building an atomic bomb and fighting a thousand years of war with India.
Zulfikar Bhutto was also the brain behind Operation Gibraltar and Operation Grand Slam, which led to the beginning of the Indo-Pak war in 1965. Bhutto’s ideology can be understood from the fact that in 1943, at the age of just 15, he wrote a letter to Mohammad Ali Jinnah supporting the creation of Pakistan, saying, “Muslims should understand that Hindus can never live with us, they are enemies of us.”
Bhutto’s role in two wars
In August 1965, Pakistan sent 30,000 soldiers to Jammu and Kashmir, which was called Operation Gibraltar. The Indian Army took action on these and it escalated into a full-fledged war. One of the strongest supporters of Operation Gibraltar was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He felt that India was in a weak position due to the loss in the war with China in 1962 and the death of Jawaharlal Nehru. In such a situation, Pakistan should take possession of Kashmir by force. However, Pakistan had to face a crushing defeat in this war.
As Pakistan’s foreign minister, Bhutto made a fiery speech against India in the UN Security Council on the eve of the ceasefire in the 1965 war, which earned him immense popularity in Pakistan. He called India a devil and an aggressive country.
“Today we are fighting a war which India has imposed on us. Jammu and Kashmir is not an integral part of India. It is a disputed territory between India and Pakistan. Kashmir is more a part of Pakistan than India. The people of Kashmir are closer to Pakistan in culture, geography, history and in every way,” he said.
Bhutto was also behind the 1971 war
Bhutto is also believed to be behind the 1971 war between India and Pakistan. The chain of events leading to the 1971 war began after Bhutto refused to form a government with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who won in eastern Pakistan. Pakistan suffered a humiliating defeat in this war too, but this time too, Bhutto had garnered a lot of attention from his speech in the UNSA.
“I am not a rat and will not die like a rat,” Bhutto told the council in 1971.
“I find it disrespectful to my country to stay here even for a moment. I would rather fight than be part of the humiliation. I will not be part of the humiliating surrender of a part of my country,” he said.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto walked out of the Security Council with tears, which won him sympathy in Pakistan.
Studied in the United States
Born into an influential political family, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto studied in the United States. He was among the most educated leaders of his time. Bhutto became Pakistan’s foreign minister at the age of just 34. As Foreign Minister, his speeches were widely discussed on global forums. This made him very popular and opened the way forward in politics. He became the President of Pakistan in 1971. Two years later, in 1973, he became the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
In 1977, army chief Zia-ul-Haq overthrew Bhutto and removed him from the post of Prime Minister and became President himself. Bhutto faced several cases and was hanged in Rawalpindi jail in 1979. Bhutto was the founder of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). The government of Pakistan is currently running with the support of PPP. Zulfikar Bhutto’s daughter Benazir Bhutto was also the Prime Minister of Pakistan. His son-in-law Asif Zardari is the President of Pakistan and his grandson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was the foreign minister of Pakistan.