Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Recollections and Remembrances

170 Pages·2009·1.47 MB·English

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

Recollections and Remembrances

Foreword
Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto

Reproduced By:
Sani Hussain Panhwar
Member Sindh Council, PPP

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Recollections and Remembrances; Copyright © www.bhutto.org 1
Dedicated

to

The people of Pakistan

Shaheed Bhutto’s source of strength

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Recollections and Remembrances; Copyright © www.bhutto.org 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 6

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9

HE WAS A LOVING HUSBAND
Begum Nusrat Bhutto .. .. .. .. .. 10

A HAPPY MAN ALWAYS
Ameer Begum .. .. .. .. .. .. 22

A SISTER SPEAKS
Mrs. Munawar -ul-Islam .. .. .. .. .. 28

MONJO PAYARO CHACHO
Miss Shabnam Bhutto .. .. .. .. .. 34

AN IDEAL OF MILLIONS
Mr. Tariq Islam .. .. .. .. .. .. 39

EARLY YEARS.
Mr. Omar Kureshi .. .. .. .. .. .. 50

AN UNCOMPROMISING LAWYER
Mr. G. H. Abbasi .. .. .. .. .. .. 53

COMMUNICATION WITH THE MASSES WAS HIS KEY
Haji Nazar Muhammad Leghari .. .. .. .. 58

MERA SAHIB
Mr. Abdul Qayum Khan .. .. .. .. .. 63

THE MEMOIRS
Mr. Dost Mohammad .. .. .. .. .. 67

IN THE LINE OF DUTY
Mr. Mohammed Urs .. .. .. .. .. 72

HOME SWEET HOME
Mr. Usman Flashman .. .. .. .. .. 76
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Recollections and Remembrances; Copyright © www.bhutto.org 3
MY LEADER.
Mr. Muhammad Hanif Khan .. .. .. .. 81

MR BHUTTO AS PRIME MINISTER
Major Gen. (Rd) Nasirullah Khan Babar .. .. .. 89

BHUTTO AS A REFORMER
Sheikh Muhammad Rasheed .. .. .. .. 99

MY FIRST MEETING WITH SHAHEED
Sheikh Rafiq Ahmed .. .. .. .. .. 123

A HOUSEHOLD NAME IN EVERY POOR HOME
Mr. Ghias-ud-din Janbaz .. .. .. .. .. 125

THE MAN WHO MEANT BUSINESS
Mr. F. K. Bandial .. .. .. .. .. .. 132

IK NARA BANA HEY USKA LAHOO
Mr. Habib Jalib .. .. .. .. .. .. 137

HISTORY LIVES IN HIM
Mr. Mahmood Sham .. .. .. .. .. 141

WHEN HE “DID NOT” SPEAK ON POLITICS
Dr. Kamil Rajpar .. .. .. .. .. .. 145

THEY ARE MY PAKISTAN
Mr. Sayeed Humayun Adv .. .. .. .. 154

BHUTTO SAHIB IN THE CAMERA’S EYE
Mr. Zahid Hussain .. .. .. .. .. 159

A DESIGNER’S VIEW
Mr. Curt Hill Fram .. .. .. .. .. .. 162

GOOD DEED PAYS
Munshi Mohammed Hassan Bhutto .. .. .. 163

HIS LAND FOR THE LANDLESS
Mr. Alan Narejo .. .. .. .. .. .. 164

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Recollections and Remembrances; Copyright © www.bhutto.org 4
DOORS ALWAYS OPEN
Mr. Abdul Wahid Soomro .. .. .. .. .. 165

TIMELY HELP FOR THE PEOPLE
Mr. Ghulam Mustafa Umrani .. .. .. .. 166

PROMISE FULFILLED
Mr. Mohammed Hassan Soddar .. .. .. .. 167

BHUTTO SAHIB ENCOURAGED GOOD WORK
Mr. Akhtar Ali Ghangro .. .. .. .. .. 168

RESPECT FOR TEACHERS
Mr. Nattik Garello .. .. .. .. .. .. 169

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Recollections and Remembrances; Copyright © www.bhutto.org 5
FOREWORD

“Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,
Nor set down aught in malice”.
Shakespeare: Othello

“ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO: Recollections and Remembrances” is one of the series
of books that will be published in due course of time. World leaders, men of
letters, intellectuals, journalists here and abroad who have had some association
with Shaheed Bhutto have written about him, their experiences with him on
various occasions. His charisma as a leader of the masses, his statesmanship and
his life long instinct by design and by his deeds to be part of history have left
indelible imprints on the sands of time, and his unique niche in the world of
politics have given him permanence as an engrossing subject in which the more
you learn the more you know of life and about life. For any student of history
understanding of politics in South Asia in the global milieu of changing
perceptions and realities would be incomplete without a study of him and
apportionment of his role in the populist movements of far-reaching universal
consequences.

Different people had different interests in Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Intellectuals saw in him a giant unequal to match skills with. World leaders felt
comfortable in his company because deliberating with him was always an
enlightening and enriching experience. For the masses he was an embodiment of
their suppressed aspirations. He was a singular phenomenon in a Third World
country which had been kept in chains by reactionary and obscurantist forces.
His progressive socio-economic and democratic ideas not only gave him the
strength but also a popular support to consolidate the edifice of the state on an
agenda which pledged total national commitment to power to the people as a
means to guarantee roti, kapra aur makkan for all.

Besides being a multi-dimensional subject for intellectual, academic research and
pursuit as has been manifested in unending writings on him, inconclusively
falling too short of the world canvas that he occupied. the present undertaking
“Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: Recollections and Remembrances” is just a small attempt
towards collecting and printing reminiscences of those who have been associated
with him as a child, as a student, as his friends, political colleagues, workers,
ministers, family members and those who attended to him at some stage or the
other in his illustrious life.

In their own way these recollections and remembrances throw some light on his
personality and the traits that made him an eternal flame for lightning up causes
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Recollections and Remembrances; Copyright © www.bhutto.org 6
pertaining to the welfare of the poor and the denied, for getting across through
the dark tunnel of despair. Anecdotes about him and about his life, his being the
most apt person to handle a crisis, the dauntless determination that he showed in
inspiring the nation to look to a better tomorrow after the fall of Dhaka in 1971,
and the unsurpassable chapter in human dignity that he wrote in his blood by
showing preference to an honorable death, to surrendering to the dictates of a
dictator open new vistas of inquiry into higher human values that survive even to
this day in un-diminishing legacy that he bequeathed to the people of Pakistan.

Shaheed Bhutto was a keen and ardent student of history. Many a great leader of
the yore and of his age, leading lights in the world of letters, diplomacy and
statecraft made him pick up the best from them to carve for himself an enviable
position among those who have helped in some way in the progress of mankind
against retrogressive forces. However, as other writings on him and this book
would show, he was most impressed by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah
founder of Pakistan. His friend late Piloo Mody in his book, “Zulfi My friend”
brings out Shaheed Bhutto’s devotion to the Quaid as follows: “For Zulfi
everything that Jinnah said or did was correct.” And that he was a fanatic supporter
of Jinnah’s two nation theory, demand for Pakistan and commitment to
enlightened Islam.

I have maintained that big and small contributions in making history need
always to be recorded. Shaheed Bhutto was yesterday a relevant subject for
comment, be is today an appropriate case for study and so shall be remain
tomorrow. Therefore, all those who knew him and for whom he was an
individual of interest--owe it to history to write about him, about his period, his
leadership and above all, the man that he was, to leave enough source-material
and data for posterity, as well as a homage to Shaheed Bhutto who, conscious of
his rightful place in history, lived and died for his people.

I am grateful to Mr. Khurshed Junejo, who hails from Shaheed Bhutto’s home
district of Larkana, for accepting the challenge of compiling Recollections of
Shaheed Bhutto. I am also grateful to all those who made contributions to the
book and helped make it a reality.

Finally the book is a tribute from a loving daughter to a loving father. Not only
was he a great political leader but a great family man. From him I learnt:

“The best thing any parent can give his child is a good education. Everything else
can be taken coral, but not an education:”

“Values and character are more important than material well being. We can take
nothing to the grave except a good name;”

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Recollections and Remembrances; Copyright © www.bhutto.org 7
“All men and women are equal. In Islam a king and a beggar are buried in the
same kafan:”

“Never go in for short term gains but your place in history:”

“Realities change. This time too shall pass.”

“Ultimate victory belongs to the masses”

“Politics is the highest Juror of public service”

“I would rather live like a lion for a day than a jackal Jar a decade”

“Honour is more important than life”

He is gone from us. Yet he lives amongst us. I see his face not only in my children
but in all children, in the future generations for whom he sacrificed his life.

I would request all those who wish to contribute their recollections for posterity
to send these articles to Mr. Khurshed Junejo at Bilawal House. Karachi.

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Recollections and Remembrances; Copyright © www.bhutto.org 8
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

“ZULFIKAR ALI BHUTTO: Recollections and Remembrances” has been the
outcome of tireless efforts of the following friends and colleagues, without whose
active participation and contribution at various stages of the book’s preparation,
editing and printing would not have been possible. Mr. Wajid Shamsul Hasan
and Mr. Taj Haider made the manuscript printable, after painstaking editing,
especially those contributions which had been rendered in Urdu and have been
converted in English. Mr. Waqar Abid Personal Secretary to Mohtrama Benazir
Bhutto, Ms. Naheed Khan, Political Secretary to Co-Chairperson of the PPP, Dr.
Safdar Abbasi, Political Secretary to Co-Chairperson. Mr. Yousaf Talpur, Incharge
PPP Sindh Secretariat, Mr. Ejazul Hassan, Mr. Sadiq Jalari. Mr. John Nazareth,
and Syed Muhammad Reza Kazmi helped in collecting the material persuading
people to write, proof-editing etc. Many others --- a long list that is impossible to
be mentioned individually, have also made immense contribution in the
preparation of the book Bhutto Memorial Society is indebted to them for their
invaluable assistance.

Khurshed Junejo
Compiler

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