PM Shehbaz hails Bhutto’s role in promoting democracy in Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif paying tribute to Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on his 45th death anniversary said he played a very important role in promoting democracy and democratic traditions in Pakistan.

“Due to the efforts of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan got the 1973 constitution which was agreed upon by all political parties,” the prime minister said in a statement.

He emphasized that the Supreme Court, in its latest ruling, affirmed the true extent of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s political aspirations.

“His services in promoting democracy and democratic traditions in Pakistan will always be remembered,” the prime minister added.

The 45th death anniversary of People’s Party (PPP) founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is being observed today to pay glowing to the former prime minister,

On April 4, 1979, Bhutto was hanged at Central Jail in Rawalpindi during the regime of military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq. He was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in Sindh.

Zulfikar Bhutto was born in Larkana, Sindh, on January 5, 1928.  He received his higher education from the University of California, Berkeley and Oxford University and took up law as a profession but later joined politics. He became a member of Iskandar Mirza’s cabinet and the foreign minister under Gen Ayub Khan.

He founded the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in 1967 and gained popularity among the masses in a short span of time. He raised slogan of roti, kapra aur makan (bread, cloth and house) and swept the 1970 general elections in West Pakistan.

He gave first unanimously accepted 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. He was overthrown in military coup in 1977 and sentenced to death two years later.