Zulfikar Ali Bhutto


Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali

(zo͝ol`fĭkär älē` bo͞ot`tō), 1928–79, Pakistani political leader. Member of a wealthy landowning family, he entered politics as the protégé of General Ayub KhanAyub Khan, Muhammad
, 1907–74, military leader and president (1958–69) of Pakistan. He was commissioned in the British Indian army in 1928 and saw active service as a battalion commander in World War II.
..... Click the link for more information. . Bhutto joined the cabinet in 1958, becoming foreign minister in 1963. Critical of the Indo–Pakistan agreement ending the 1965 war, he left the government and formed (1967) the Pakistan People's party. In the 1970 elections his party won a majority in West Pakistan, but East Pakistan's Awami LeagueAwami League,
political organization in Pakistan and Bangladesh. It was founded in 1949 as an opposition party in Pakistan and had a moderately socialist ideology. The Awami [people's] League, with cofounder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as its leader from 1953, called in 1966 for a
..... Click the link for more information. , led by Mujibur RahmanMujibur Rahman
, 1921–75, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) political leader, prime minister of Bangladesh (1972–75), popularly known as Sheikh Mujib. Concerned that East Pakistan was unfairly dominated by West Pakistan, he helped found (1949) the Awami League to fight
..... Click the link for more information. , won an overall majority. Bhutto's refusal to meet Mujibur's demands for East Pakistan's autonomy or for participation in the government led to the (1971) civil war and Indian intervention. (see India-Pakistan WarsIndia-Pakistan Wars,
name given to the series of conflicts between India and Pakistan since 1947, when the Indian subcontinent was partitioned and the two countries became independent of Great Britain. The most violent outbreaks came in 1947–48, 1965, and 1971.
..... Click the link for more information. ). When Pakistan was defeated, losing East Pakistan in Dec., 1971, Bhutto took over the presidency. In 1973, under a new constitution, he became prime minister instead, retaining government control. In Feb., 1974, he recognized the former East Pakistan as Bangladesh. Bhutto was reelected in 1977, but was overthrown in a coup by General Zia ul-HaqZia ul-Haq, Mohammad,
1924–88, Pakistani military and political leader. Named general and chief of staff by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1976, he declared martial law in July, 1977, in response to agitations against election fraud.
..... Click the link for more information. . Removed from office, Bhutto was convicted of conspiracy to murder. He was executed in 1979, despite international protests.

Bibliography

See his If I Am Assassinated (1979). See also S. Kulmar, The New Pakistan (1979); S. J. Burki, Pakistan Under Bhutto, 1971–1977 (1980).