Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

Who was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto?

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977, and prior to that as the 4th President of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973. He was also the founder of the Pakistan People's Party and served as its chairman until his execution in 1979.

Educated at USC, Berkeley and Oxford, Bhutto trained as a barrister at Lincoln's Inn. He entered politics as one of President Iskander Mirza's cabinet members, before being assigned several ministries during President Ayub Khan's military rule from 1958. Appointed Foreign Minister in 1963, Bhutto was a proponent of Operation Gibraltar in Indian-occupied Kashmir, leading to war with India in 1965. After the Tashkent Agreement ended hostilities, Bhutto fell out with Ayub and was sacked from government. He founded the PPP in 1967, contesting general elections held by President Yahya Khan in 1970. The Awami League in East Pakistan won a majority of seats, but neither Yahya nor Bhutto signalled yielding power. Subsequent uprisings led to the secession of Bangladesh, and Pakistan losing the war against Bangladesh-allied India in 1971. Bhutto was handed over the presidency in December 1971 and emergency rule was imposed.