THE BIRTH OF A LEGEND 

ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO SHAHEED
Birthday tribute for Shaheed Bhutto, 5th Jan. 2006
BY: Jehangir Bader, Secretary General PPP

Moenjodaro and Bhutto, both are now legends in today’s world. Moenjodaro, as one of the oldest civilization and heritage; while Bhutto as a political asset. The ancient city called, Munj Jo Dero in Sindi means, my place, and Bhuttos in politics can be interpreted as politics of the people, for the people, by the people. There is no difference between Moenjodaro and Larkana, (where Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was born) in the historical perspective. Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was a well-read man; he wrote from his death cell to his daughter Benazir Bhutto on her 25th Birthday on June 21st, 1978, on a day when she reached to a Parliamentarian age in Pakistan, “You are the heir to and inheritor of the most ancient civilization. Please make your full contribution in making this ancient civilization, the most progressive and the most powerful. The most progressive and powerful society in the civilized sense, is a society which has recognized its ethos, and come to terms with the past and the present, with religion and science, with modernism and mysticism, with materialism and spirituality, a society free of tension, a society rich in culture.”

One old man at Larkana once told me that in the old language of Sindh Bhutto means ‘Brave’. I thought this to be his belief as I myself have observations in this regard. But while researching, I found, in the early languages, other than ‘Sanskrit’ there was ‘Apabhramsa” which was spoken and written. “Apabhramsa” is a word from “Sanskrit” which means defaced or disfigured. In linguistic history, such disfigured languages appeared and existed periodically with the arrival of new invaders having different backgrounds; and emerged as a result of mixture of local and foreigner interactions. “Apabhramsa” was the language, spoken and written, in the subcontinent, at Punjab and Sindh, having different pronunciations during 500 AD to 1000. It first appeared in Sindh and then in Punjab. Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru in “Glimpses of the World History” (letter to Indira 14th Jan., 1931) wrote about languages of India, “In a big country like India there are of course numerous dialects that is, local variations of a language. There are many hill tribes and small groups in various parts of the country with special languages.” When I discovered this, I mused and as a conclusion I feel that the old man of Moenjodaro could be right not only regarding his belief about the word “Bhutto”, as Brave in meaning; but he could be right linguistically also. The word Bhutto could be a synthesis of local and outside languages spoken or written at a given stage. The word “Bhutto” seems to be very near to Urdu word (which is a combination of many languages) “Bahadur”; which also means “Brave”. Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru in his book “Glimpses of the world history” have mentioned the favourite name “Bagatur” used by Mongolian nobles, which he had interpreted as hero; or Urdu word Bahadur. After reading that I find myself very near to what had been said to me by the old man of Larkana, i.e., Bhutto means Bahadur. I believe, old man from Larkana is right.

Bhutto’s for the first time distinctively appeared in Indian history from Indus valley civilization centre when Saif-ud-Din Aibak Bhutto became the chief commander of Forces at Sultanate of Delhi (Which was spread over a vast area from Sindh to Baharamputra) by Razziya Sultana, the Queen of India. (Year 1236).

Bhuttos have many records since their emergence in history which can be discussed from event to event. Saif-ud Din Aibak Bhutto was the first chief commander of forces of Indian Empire and was a local. There was a tradition at Sultanate of Delhi that they always used to appoint somebody to this august office who was a Turk. This fact has been mentioned by famous historian Maulana Minhaj-us-Siraj who was a contemporary historian of Razziya Sultana and wrote in Tabquat-i-Nasiri, his book, page No. 810. This fact has been further confirmed and elaborated by Pakistani historian Mr.Yahya Amjad in his book (on history of Pakistan) at pages 642, 647 and 648. He writes that there happened to be other generals also who had the same title of name as Saif-ud-Din Aibak but the one appointed by Razziya Sultana was a Bhutto. He was given the title of “Qutlaq Khan” on his elevation to this office, by Razziya. Since the time Bhuttos used title of ‘khan’ for them. The title “Khan” was further endorsed by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. In 1921 Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto (Father of Shaheed Bhutto) was also made a Khan Bahadar by British Raj.

Chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Shaheed was born on January 5, 1928 at Larkana, in the land of Moenjodaro, one of the oldest civilizations of the world. As a legend in the politics of Pakistan, he opened the gateway of politics for the lower classes. The awareness of fundamental rights and love for real freedom and equality has been inspired in the masses by him. He emerged as leader in the International stage at the very young age of 31 years. He is ranked amongst the great leader in the political history of the world.

He was born in an atmosphere of politics in the house of his father. He did not depend on being the scion of a feudal lord but carried himself in a manner that enabled him to emerge as a national and international leader of high calibre. He went through different stages of his development by passing test and trials successfully. He acquired all the required qualification like high knowledge, experience and skill and gone through difficult paths and hard sacrifices, in the journey of his destiny and had several big achievements at his credit. His services for the country and its people could bring no match near to him compared with any other leader in the country before and after him other than the father of the national himself. That is the reason why he is being appreciated even today by his staunch opponents and critics. This is because of his several abilities, and qualities like courage; including the honourable way he adopted, in the presence of other options, to sacrifice his life for his principles and in the struggle for the poor people of Pakistan fighting for their democratic rights.

During his student’s days, Shaheed Bhutto had acquired an anti-imperialist view of the world. He was a firm believer in economic self-reliance and political independence; themes he expounded in his famous book “Myth of Independence”. Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto has earned a place in the pantheon of leaders from the Third World who earned everlasting fame in the struggle against colonialism and imperialism. He had the privilege of interacting with many of those leaders who played a great role in the epic struggle for national independence in the 20th century including Mao TSE Tung, Ahmed Soekarno, Chou – En-Li, Jawaharlal Nehru, Jamal Abdul Nasser and Salvador Allende. During the period between the end of 2nd world war and the end of cold war, the world was divided into two blocks; the capitalist west and the socialist East. All these leaders aspired to a socialist pattern of economy; Bhutto Shaheed shared their faith and believed in a leading role for the public sector as an instrument of self reliance. He buried the old feudal culture in politics for ever and gave birth to a new culture of politics with an inspiration of power of vote in the hands of poor classes who now get acknowledgement in the politics of Pakistan. It is Shaheed Bhutto’s political culture gifted in the politics of Pakistan that every landlord and elitist has to go to the poorest door even today. Bhuttoism is being developed as a creed and was a result of PPP’s struggle for democracy and the role played by the Bhuttos. Oriana Fallacy wrote about her interview with Shaheed Bhutto that ‘he was a man full of contradiction. He was a rich man who cared for the poor. He was a feudal but a socialist. He was an orthodox Muslim but a liberal man at the same time.’ Shaheed Bhutto had to fight and defeated many shabbiest. He fought against those who called him an infidel, as excommunicate because he had spoken of justice, of equality, of socialism. He denounced those hired religious leaders and absurdist fanatics who proclaimed that Islamic socialism means the death of Islam.

General Zia ul Haq, a dictator dismissed Shaheed Bhutto’s democratic government, arrested and made him killed through the judicial process and the torture by his greedy officials. Many facts regarding the murder of Shaheed Bhutto came into light after the sad incident; One Major General Rahat Lateef who was DMLA Rawalpindi Division was said to have tortured Shaheed Bhutto on the night of execution and became a cause of death before hanging as he wanted to have signatures of Shaheed Bhutto on certain documents regarding the tragedy and fall of East Pakistan and the imposition of Martial Law in the country. The tragedy happened when Shaheed Bhutto refused to sign and tore out the documents, and after exchange of hot word the General carried on his hidden desires and tortured Shaheed Bhutto in person. Mr. Yahya Bukhtiar, an advocate for Shaheed Bhutto is on the same frequency when he wrote in the foreword of the book,” My dearest daughter” (letter written to Ms. Benazir by Shaheed Bhutto in death cell, 21.06.1978) stated,” His tormentors wanted to break his will and expected him to compromise his honour and principles in the “hope” of saving his life. They failed. Thank God they failed miserably. They under-estimated his courage and sense of honour and dignity. His consideration for morality and humanity were beyond their comprehensions. They were judging him with their own low standard. They failed to break his will, his optimism, romanticism-he was maltreated by those whom he trusted and by those who used to cringe and crawl to him for petty favour”.

Shaheed Bhutto can be called a son of the 20th century, who fought for the noble cause for the democratic rights and sufferings of the poor and down trodden people of Pakistan. He was the only leader in Pakistan who could be able to communicate with the common man in the street and motivated the masses to come out to fight for their legitimate rights denied by the upper classes and civil-military bureaucracy in togetherness. The history has chosen him to perform this “Divine Duty” as a role in the journey his destiny, wherein he sacrificed his life for the rights of the people; the poor and helpless. He was not afraid; I was with him at Kot Lakhpat Jail, when Maulvi Mushtaq sentenced him death punishment. He was calm like a deep sea, and being well read, was fully aware about Socratic living, the sacred crucification, and honourable path of scarifying one’s life for greater cause, as a chosen necessity in the process of making the history. During his incarceration, his himself believed and preferred to opt to die by the hands of the general than to die in the pages of history. He fought for truth and wrote the democratic history with his blood. As an ongoing tribute his party will continue his mission under the leadership of his daughter Ms. Benazir Bhutto. People of Pakistan still acknowledge his struggle and sacrifice for them. The word Bhutto has become the savoir for people in Pakistan, stands for the civil liberties, a symbol of emancipations, and a democracy for the commoners. He, in performance of his Divine Duty, is not failed and laid down his life for the cause of the peoples rights. His martyrdom gave birth to new doctrine in political science, “Bhutto dies, and never dies the Bhutto”.

Mr. Stanley Wolpert in his book “Zulfi Bhutto of Pakistan” has confirmed my views by writing, “There remains a powerful persistent, possibly growing, but certainly undying, mystic belief held by millions of Pakistanis, not only Sindhis but Punjabis, Baluchis, and Pathans Frontiersmen as well, that “Shaheed” (Martyr) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was never hanged, that he never died. “Zulfi Bhutto lives on,” they say,” and he always will.”

By writing this, Mr.Stanley Wolpert has also confirmed my political thoughts and beliefs and my political philosophy that, “Bhutto is dead, Never dies the Bhutto”.