The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is the culmination of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s resolve to bring down the dictatorial regime of General Ayub Khan. He brought together all strata of the society at the Party’s inaugural convention which was held in Lahore in 1967 when Ayub Khan led the dictatorial rule of Pakistan. Unperturbed by the very personal repercussions of their struggle for democracy in Pakistan, the group of revolutionaries came together from across the country to form Pakistan Peoples Party under the leadership of Shaheed Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The nation needed a savior and a leader, to empower all people of Pakistan equally. Pakistan Peoples Party was his solution to the dictatorship and despotism destroying Pakistan. It inspired the beginning of an organized struggle for a peaceful and progressive Pakistan.
The Pakistan Peoples Party quickly became the first and only populist movement, that espoused policies such as land reforms to help the peasants; nationalization of industries, and administrative reforms to reduce the power of the bureaucrats.
PPP is Born A Vehicle for Revorlution
Pakistan Peoples Party’s message of social democracy quickly spread among the workers, peasants, and students throughout Pakistan with great enthusiasm. A mass uprising broke out against Ayub Khan’s dictatorship, and the Pakistan Peoples Party played a leading role in this movement. Even the most violent of responses couldn’t break the people’s resolve. As a result, Ayub Khan resigned in March 1969.
An interim military government took over and announced elections for December 1970. The Pakistan Peoples Party contested these elections on the slogan of “Roti, Kapra Aur Makan” (bread, clothing, and shelter). The Party won the hearts of Pakistanis as well as the elections.
In his 1971 book ‘The Great Tragedy,’ Zulfikar Ali Bhutto writes, “Pakistan is passing through a terrible ordeal. This country, born in pain, is experiencing its gravest crisis. The nightmare of Pakistanis killing Pakistanis is not yet over. Blood is still being spilled. The situation has become greatly complicated by the aggressive involvement of India. Pakistan will live purposefully forever if we survive the turmoil of today; otherwise, catastrophic convulsions will lead to total ruin. Much depends on what is done now.”
Pakistan Peoples Party formed the government from Dec. 20, 1971, to July 5, 1977. The government made significant social and economic reforms improving the lives of Pakistan’s impoverished masses. It also gave the country a new Constitution in 1973 that is upheld till now. The government also ensured Pakistan’s economic and political recovery after the disastrous years of military rule.
A civil war broke out in East Pakistan leading to Indian Military’s intervention into Pakistani territory. The resulting martial Law didn’t last long, thanks to the untiring efforts of the Bhutto regime and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto took over as the President.
He nationalized several key industries and undertook the taxation of the landed families in his first acts as president. His social reforms laid the foundations for an egalitarian Pakistan, while also building the social and economic infrastructure of the country.
Later on, an interim constitution was passed by the National Assembly and shortly afterward Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto assumed office. He also handled the foreign affairs of the country.
As the 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became the main architect of Pakistan China Relations in 1962. The late Mao Zedong and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto personified the Sino-Pakistan alliance, leading to a relationship with China that would later be described as “higher than the Himalayas, deeper than the oceans, stronger than steel, dearer than eyesight and sweeter than honey.” This is how the late Prime Minister laid the necessary groundwork for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which was later taken to greater heights by President Asif Ali Zardari.
The 1973 Arab-Israeli conflict represented a watershed in Pakistan’s relations with the Middle East. Pakistan’s swift and absolute offer of assistance to the Arab states was deeply appreciated. Pakistan’s solidarity in the Ramadan war was followed by the holding of the magnificent 1974 Islamic Summit in Lahore. It represented the most direct and compelling expression of solidarity with Muslim causes, particularly that of Palestine.
The Simla Agreement was another example of his stellar non-aligned foreign policy. Not only did he bring back thousands of political and war prisoners from India, but also ensured the longest spell of peace between Pakistan and India since separation.
After solidifying a strategic alliance with China, Prime Minister Bhutto had made up his mind that Pakistan must acquire nuclear capability. In his 1969 book The Myth of Independence, he wrote that it was ‘vital for Pakistan to give the greatest possible attention to nuclear technology, rather than allow itself to be deceived by an international treaty limiting this deterrent to the present nuclear powers.’ Within a month of his assumption of power, a meeting of nuclear scientists was convened to deliberate how to achieve the capability. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is also called the Father of Nuclear Deterrence for bestowing the nation with nuclear technology.
The commitment with which Bhutto and the Pakistan Peoples Party empowered the people and institutions of Pakistan, created widespread resentment among other contenders for power in Pakistan. In 1977 Pakistan Peoples Party again won 155 of the 200 seats in the National Assembly.
The Pakistan National Alliance (PNA), a coalition of nine opposition parties, won only thirty-six seats. The resulting Pakistan Peoples Party-PNA confrontation and the accompanying civil unrest precipitated the imposition of martial law.
Pakistan Peoples Party became the only concrete hope for a better future of the masses.
These are just a few of the reasons why Pakistan Peoples Party won with a landslide victory in the 1977 elections as well.
The most important and enduring legacy of Bhutto was raising the consciousness of the people for democracy as he woke the masses making them understand that they were the legitimate source of political power in Pakistan.
Unfortunately, the remnants of a tyrannical rule again tried to put out the fire of democracy in Pakistan. The army rulers refused to transfer the power. The dictatorial powers that be, in cohesion with the losing opposition, unleashed a campaign of violence and openly called for the military to take over the government. The military, led by General Zia-ul-Haq staged a coup d’etat and seized power on July 5, 1977.
The World Shed Tears with Pakistan
Quaid-e-Awam Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was mercilessly and despicably murdered on April 4, 1979. Had he not been hanged, today Pakistan would be one of the leading nations of this world. However, his detractors couldn’t diminish his legacy.
Justice Nasim Hasan Shah was among the four judges who upheld the death sentence given to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto by the Lahore High Court. In his famous and revealing interview with Iftikhar Ahmed on TV’s “Jawabdeh” and later in his book Nasim Hasan Shah admitted the wrong done to Bhutto. Other stakeholders in the decision, Asghar Khan, and Professor Ghafoor, also admitted that their decision indeed amounted to judicial murder and not justice.
Shah also acknowledged that the judges felt overawed by the army because: “They have rifles and we have our jobs to protect.” He also agreed that Justice Maulvi Mushtaq was Bhutto’s “enemy” and should not have presided over the LHC bench that tried Bhutto. When confronted by the interviewer he admitted that never before in the judicial history of the country any abettor was given capital punishment. He further hinted that General Ziaul Haq had fears that Bhutto’s survival could be risky for him.
To this day, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto remains a popular figure, a sign of hope for the country’s peasantry and a charismatic representation of Pakistan for the rest of the world. He was a visionary and a statesman of the highest caliber. He saved Pakistan when the military regime of General Yahya had left the country on the verge of disintegration, under the ashes of defeat and humiliation. A nation demoralized was born again under his leadership, and he took his country to the heights of splendor and glory.
But Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is more than just a man – he is an ideology. He is the courage and integrity our nation needed to face the common enemy of tyranny. He is the brave defiance that inspired Pakistan to become one nation in the face of death. And he is the belief that each Pakistani has an undeniable worth.
His life is an inspiration for hundreds of popular struggles around the world. As millions of Pakistani youth stepped forward chanting his name, ‘Jeay Bhutto’ became a battle cry that demolished tyrants and made dictators tremble.
Today his name resonates across the world – in hopes of freedom fighters, in the make-shift townships of those in exile, in movements that aspire to overthrow dictators and corrupt rulers. His name haunts the enemies of democracy to this day.
He lives in everyone who believes in the peace, prosperity, and progress of Pakistan.
His accomplishments and services to Pakistan remain unparalleled to this day. Quaid-e-Awam’s legacy couldn’t be diminished despite his judicial murder at the hands of the dictator. Not only did Pakistan lose a visionary leader, but the world lost one of the foremost devotees of democracy. He did more than just provide ‘Bread, Clothing, and Shelter,’ he gave the people a voice and an identity. That is why the masses adored him, and Pakistan bloomed under the leadership of Shaheed Bhutto.
After his judicial murder, his widow Begum Nusrat Bhutto and his daughter Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto led the party as co-chairpersons. The two women brought together a grief-stricken nation and devastated Party and that too during the trying times of martial law.
The Pakistan Peoples Party joined hands with other parties in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) in 1983. Its purpose was to pressurize Zia’s dictatorial government to hold free elections under the 1973 constitution.
Four of the MRD’s component parties were earlier members of the PNA, which had been formed to oppose the Pakistan Peoples Party in the 1977 elections. However, PPP kept aside the animosity and joined the MRD coalition for the greater good of the country. The primary objective of joining MRD was that the military would be prepared to negotiate with the MRD if it were part of a broader political alliance.
Pakistan Moves towards Progress and Prosperity
A young lady in her late 20s, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto – the Daughter of Destiny, resumed the fight for her father’s Pakistan along with her mother, Begum Nusrat Bhutto. She was a young woman charged with a mission. She drowned her sorrows in all the passionate work she did to alleviate the miseries of her people. She fought Zia-ul-Haq and brought about democracy and justice to Pakistan once again.
In 1984, the tyrannical regime bowed to international pressure, and finally released the Bhutto family from house arrest. This is when Mohtarma started her political activities and started raising global awareness about the mistreatment of political prisoners in Pakistan during Zia-ul-Haq government. In 1985, Shah Nawaz Bhutto, brother of Benazir Bhutto was heartlessly murdered by poison. It was another blow from the dictator Zia-ul-Haq who falsely believed that this would finish the family of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. She traveled back to Pakistan from London for his burial and was again arrested for participating in rallies against the dictator.
After the death of Zia-ul-Haq, she contested for the post of Prime Minister in 1980’s from NA-207. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto became the youngest and first woman Prime Minister of the whole Islamic World in 1988.
At 35, she was one of the youngest chief executives in the world, and the first woman to serve as Prime Minister in an Islamic country.
In her first address to the nation as Pakistan’s first female Prime Minister, Mohatarma Benazir Bhutto pledged to work for a more progressive and democratic Pakistan – one guided by principles of brotherhood, equality, and tolerance. At the same time, she invoked Quaid-e-Azam’s vision for a Pakistan that would grow as a tolerant and progressive state. She strengthened relations with the United States, the Soviet Union, and China; protected minority rights; increased provincial autonomy; improved education; introduced a comprehensive national health policy; and gave enhanced rights to women, with equal pay for equal work.
While in office, she brought electricity to the countryside and built schools all over the country. She made hunger, housing and health care her top priorities. Her vision was to create a modern state of Pakistan, a genuinely prosperous and peaceful Pakistan. She ensured the provision of necessary facilities to all people of this country and did her best to remove the hindrances to the progress of Pakistan.
She empowered women by providing an unprecedented number of opportunities for financial freedom and professional fulfillment. Mohtarma established First Women Police Station, appointed women judges in high courts, set up first women bank, appointed more than 50,000 Lady Health Workers and women ambassadors to other countries. She worked tirelessly to create a healthier Pakistan, eradicate poverty, reduce unemployment and of course, remove dictatorship from Pakistan’s identity. She wanted to create a strong country that worked according to the Constitution of 1973.
However, only two years into her first term, the government was dismissed by then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan. She initiated an anti-corruption campaign, and in 1993 was re-elected as Prime Minister. The people had chosen their leader, and no power could keep them from reelecting her again and again, against all the odds.
After her second reelection, she declared 1996 a year of “information technology” in hopes of making Pakistan a global player in IT. She established technology institutes across the country. Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto also expanded the space program.
She also took the time to strategically expand relations with the rest of the world. She visited Libya and thanked the Libyan leader Muammar-al-Gaddafi for his tremendous efforts and support for her father during his government.
She launched a project integrated research program, a missile policy which successfully ended in 1996. The first military satellite Badr-I was also launched in her government and Pakistan became the first Muslim country who launched a satellite in Earth’s Orbit.
However, by the end of the year, President Leghari dismissed the Prime Minister from her office, wrongfully alleging mismanagement, and dissolved the National Assembly. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s husband was imprisoned, and once again, she was forced to leave her homeland. For nine years, she and her three children lived in exile in London, where she continued to support and work for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan.
These were dark and challenging times for the Bhutto family. Their bank accounts had been blocked. Mohtarma looked after her ailing mother who lived in Dubai, as well as her children, while her husband was being tortured extrajudicially in jails of Pakistan. She traveled to different countries to give lectures to keep the family’s finances steady. And all this while she stayed in touch with her party workers back home and across the world because she remained worried about her country and her people all this time.
Paksitan's Daughter Comes Home
The internal politics of the establishment however never accepted Mohatarma Benazir Bhutto, as was evident from multiple events between 1988 and 2007. Even after she wrote and signed the historical, ‘Charter of Democracy,’ her return from exile was not welcomed by the then military dictator, retired General Pervez Musharraf.
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto signed the Charter of Democracy (COD) with Nawaz Sharif, in 2006 in London. The political parties of Pakistan put their differences aside and joined Mohtarma with the goal of defeating the dictator Parvez Musharraf. The COD was their call to the people of Pakistan, inspiring them to save the country from military dictatorship. It was a call to defend the social, economic and political future of Pakistan from the clutches of a dictator. COD detailed Mohtarma’s vision for creating a progressive, prosperous and peaceful Pakistan as dreamt by the Founder of Pakistan.
The Charter of Democracy was no ordinary step. It was a historic agreement where the democratic leaders of Pakistan expressed their ambition to give the will of Pakistan back to its people.
These struggles against the dictator bore fruit, and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto finally came back to Pakistan. She returned to her homeland on 18th October 2007. She knew that it was risky for her to visit Pakistan and she had mentioned the possibility of her murder in an earlier interview. Hope persevered.
She was greeted by enthusiastic crowds on the roads of Karachi. The people were ecstatic, but the dark forces were still at work. Within hours of her arrival, her motorcade was attacked by a suicide bomber. She survived this first assassination attempt, although more than 250 jiyalas of PPP were martyred in the attack.
The world looked on in disbelief as Parvez Musharraf refused to take any security measures for Mohtarma.
On December 27, 2007, Shaheed Prime Minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto held a jalsa at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi. It was attended by hundreds of thousands of Pakistan Peoples Party followers, making it one of the biggest political gatherings the country had ever seen. As she was leaving, an attacker opened fire. A few seconds later, a bomb went off at the scene, murdering 20 other people as well as taking the life of Shaheed Prime Minister Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
In the wake of her death, riots erupted throughout the country. The loss of the country’s most popular democratic leader plunged Pakistan into turmoil. The people were inconsolable. They had lost their hope, their inspiration and their leader, whom they had trusted wholeheartedly.
She had come back to save us, her people, from the brutality of a dictator. But we failed to protect her from the violence that took her from us.
Many thousands of mourners paid last respects to former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on December 28, 2007, as she was buried at the family’s mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, Sindh. She was laid to rest alongside her father Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s first popularly elected prime minister who was executed by hanging, a judicial murder at the hands of a previous dictatorial regime.
Solidarity and Democracy for a Stronger Paksitan
Pakistan Peoples Party continued, post-Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s tragic assassination. It was decided by the Party’s Chief Executive Committee (CEC) that Asif Ali Zardari should lead the Party. He guided the party to win a majority in the 2008 general elections. He assumed his responsibilities as the President of Pakistan, while Bilawal Bhutto Zardari completed his studies abroad.
“Time will prove he is the Nelson Mandela of Pakistan,” Shaheed Mohtarma had said this statement to a former senator Dr. Abdullah Riar, referring to Asif Ali Zardari. He had stood steadfastly by Shaheed Mohtarma’s side, providing unconditional support and wise counsel in her time of need. She had called him a ‘Paragon of Virtue’ for all his unfaltering respect for this cause.
President Asif Ali Zardari continued the struggle against forces that were attempting to paralyze this country. Under the visionary leadership of President Asif Ali Zardari, liberal and democratic Pakistan Peoples Party government once again took the most difficult, yet noble route. It fought against extremists trying to besiege this nation.
In the process, the Pakistan Peoples Party once again won the trust of liberal and progressive sections of society. The spirit of participation, centralization, and equal opportunity became the guiding principles of President Zardari’s policy.
He made history by signing the landmark constitutional reforms bill in the form of the 18th Amendment. It will be remembered in history as President Asif Ali Zardari’s most outstanding achievement. He will stand out in history as the first president who strengthened the federation and stabilized democracy in Pakistan. Through the 18th Amendment, the parliamentary form of government was restored and several packages for the regions, including Fata reforms, Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan, and the National Finance Commission Award, and the Gilgit Baltistan autonomy, will be remembered as mechanisms to strengthen the federation.
No elected government ever finished its term in Pakistan’s history except the one led by Asif Ali Zardari. Despite several economic and security challenges, the parliament was strengthened, laws were passed, especially rights-based laws strengthening fundamental rights in the country, providing for an independent judiciary and independent election commission.
President Asif Ali Zardari continues working to materialize the dream of a democratic, secular and prosperous Pakistan, alongside Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
PPP's Legacy
“Islam is our Faith; Democracy is our Policy,
Socialism is our Economy. All Power to the People.”
“Roti, Kapra Aur Makaan.”
These are our beliefs as learned from Quaid-e-Awam Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s passionate speeches, which became a signature statement. These values form the Party’s primary principles, around which all initiatives have revolved ever since its formation. Employment, improved literacy rates, charitable initiatives and government schemes in favor of the masses were a part of not just Quaid-e-Awam’s term, but Shaheed Mohatarma Benazir Bhutto’s terms as well.
The Pakistan Peoples Party has tirelessly worked as a force of change bringing social democracy to Pakistan. These struggles have given the nation a voice of its own, as well as the ability to elect a leader and break free from the shackles of military regimes previously enforced on Pakistan.
