CH MUNAWAR ANJUM
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and its founding chairman Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto will always be remembered in golden words in the political history of Pakistan. It was the first political party which came into power after being elected and making constitutional government to complete its constitutional term.
Had nine opposition parties of that time realizing the reality refrained from starting agitation on the behest of external signals, the issue could have been resolved amicably. At the same time path would have not been paved for those enforcing the longest martial law but unfortunately, this did not happen and the opposition parties did not realize the truth.
The PPP is still the most popular political force in the country. Bhutto Shaheed laid the foundation of the Pakistan People’s Party after differences developed with the Ayub government over the Tashkent Agreement. Being a Foreign Minister he defended the national interest in a beautiful way. Demonstrated such foresight and political insight on global and regional issues that in a short period of time he became a prominent politician of the country and also gained international fame.
He always had the public interest in mind and his passion made him a true public leader, so when he laid the foundation of the PPP in Lahore and put Roti Kapra aur Makan (bread, cloth and house) at the top of his manifesto, all at once Opposition parties lost their popularity and majority, and the PPP became the country’s most popular political party, the PPP won a landslide victory in the elections held under General Yahya Khan. People were heard saying that even a lay man could be game changer in the general election by contesting elections on PPP ticket, he could overthrow the biggest politician, so many political monopolists were badly defeated compared to ordinary PPP workers. As a result of Yahya Khan’s mistake, after the fall of East Pakistan, the PPP was given the power of present Pakistan and Bhutto Shaheed became the Prime Minister. Soon after Bhutto Shaheed came to power, he started putting his election manifesto into practice. He pursued a policy of alleviating the plight of the poor, concentrating wealth and national resources in a few hands. He took some industries, banks and other institutions into national custody to prevent them from accumulating. He also announced the nationalization of educational institutions to raise the standard of education and alleviate the deprivation of teachers. Survived and strengthened the concept of equality in society, thousands of people were employed in nationalized industries.
The most important act of Bhutto Shaheed was to declare the Qadianis as a non-Muslim minority and draft an Islamic democratic constitution. Before he came to power, the land of Pakistan was called unconstitutional and even after fifty years. This status was in no way was in accordance with national dignity of Pakistan. Bhutto Shaheed formulated an Islamic and democratic constitution in the light of the Pakistan Resolution and this constitution was passed unanimously by all the members of the National Assembly. That is why today every political party demands from the government to restore the Islamic and Democratic constitution of 1973. Bhutto Shaheed did a great job by declaring the Qadianis a non-Muslim minority. He launched a program to provide shelter to poor and homeless families across the country, so that millions of homeless families in the country were able to build houses for themselves to have shelter. To strengthen national security and defense, he pursued the core of his nuclear program. Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan was called from Holland to Pakistan and appointed him in charge of this program. The fact is that this program was started by Bhutto himself and the credit for its completion and today being a nuclear power of Pakistan also goes to Bhutto Shaheed as the founder. His other major achievement was the establishment of Pakistan Steel Mills. The project was launched in collaboration with Russian industrialists at a time when the whole world was divided into communist blocs and capitalist blocs. Bhutto Shaheed played a pivotal role in creating a climate of trust. At that time, no one could have imagined that the head of the Communist Bloc could provide technical and financial support to one of the most important defense projects in Pakistan.
But Bhutto Shaheed’s political insight and foresight made it possible. Pakistan’s development, and especially its nuclear program, was in the spotlight of some world powers, so the then US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s threat to Bhutto Shaheed to set a precedent regarding the program was materialized with martial law at the hands of Ziaul Haq and then martyrdom of Bhutto. But Bhutto is a golden chapter in Pakistan’s political history and nation would be always indebted for his matchless services. Today, once again, the country is passing through extreme difficulties and the PPP will never leave its people alone. On the occasion of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s birthday, let us pledge that we will strengthen the four provinces for the supremacy of the Constitution, for the protection of the Eighteenth Amendment, for the rule of law, for the complete restoration of democracy, clean and transparent elections. To eradicate poverty of the poor, to provide employment to the unemployed, to save the clash between the institutions, the party leadership and workers will continue to play their role and strengthen the hands of Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Asif Ali Zardari. PPP leadership and workers will fully face the selected Prime Minister. PPP workers, activists, leaders are united under the leadership of Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The politically motivated lawsuits against our leadership will be faced.
