The 45th death anniversary of People’s Party (PPP) founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was observed today (Thursday). On April 4, 1979, Bhutto was hanged at Central Jail in Rawalpindi after Gen Ziaul Haq upheld the death sentence on murder charges. He was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in Sindh. Zulfikar Bhutto, who gave the first unanimous constitution to Pakistan, was born in Larkana, Sindh, on January 5, 1928. His father Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto was dewan (prime minister) of princely state of Junagarh. He received his higher education from the University of Southern California and Oxford and took up law as a profession but later joined politics. He became a member of Sikandar Mirza's cabinet and the foreign minister under Gen Ayub Khan.

He parted ways with Gen Ayub and founded the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in 1967. He gained popularity among the masses in a short span of time and won their confidence. He raised slogan of roti, kapra aur makan (bread, cloth and house) and swept the 1970 general elections in West Pakistan, as it was known then. He gave first unanimous constitution to Pakistan in 1973, enacted land reforms and labour laws, implemented a series of reforms in the industrial sector, started nuclear programme, and set up Pakistan Steel Mills with the assistance of erstwhile Soviet Union. However, his policy of nationalisation of industries drew widespread criticism. Recently, Bhutto was declared innocent by the Supreme Court on a presidential reference. Meanwhile, the Sindh government announced a public holiday on the occasion of his death anniversary.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan