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April 10, 2026
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s Visionary Leadership PraisedBy Peerzada Salman
Karachi: Eminent speakers shed light on the life and accomplishments of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto at a seminar on the eve of his 47th death anniversary on Friday evening.
The seminar titled ‘Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: Global Vision and Contemporary Conflicts’ was held at the Arts Council of Pakistan.
Presiding over the event, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said when he was a child, it was Bhutto’s prime. Mr Shah’s family was associated with the PPP from the beginning. Three times he had the opportunity to get close to the late prime minister and shake hands with him. It made him feel like a big man, he said.
With reference to Mr Bhutto’s global vision, the chief minister mentioned seven points. During the 1965 Indo-Pak war, Mr Bhutto was the foreign minister of the country. After the war he left the government on policy matters. “Because Bhutto sahib’s foreign policy was based on strategic autonomy. He didn’t want to be associated with a single bloc. He wanted an independent foreign policy for Pakistan,” he said.
The second point that Mr Shah talked about was that Bhutto was the first individual to recognize China’s strategic importance.
The third point the chief minister mentioned was that the late prime minster wanted unity in the Islamic world. “At the time, Muslim leaders would not even look at each other. He brought them together at one place. If Bhutto was alive today, this [war against Iran] would not have happened.”
Mr Shah said Mr Bhutto was the first to mention the global south. “We are to date working on the same principles.”
The fifth point: Mr Bhutto’s was the strongest voice in favour of Palestine. The second last point that the chief minister mentioned was about Mr Bhutto’s stance on Kashmir — Kashmir was the unfinished agenda of the partition. “To date, it’s unfinished. His speeches at the UN are still inspiring to us.”
The seventh and last point that Mr Shah mentioned was that Mr Bhutto initiated Pakistan’s nuclear program because of which today we stand strong as a country.
He then briefly spoke on the late prime minister’s personal qualities. He said Mr Bhutto could easily interact with both a hari and a government official in France. He was also the one who introduced the concept of the ‘awami leader’ into Pakistani politics.
Earlier, former information minister Mushahid Hussain said, “I’m from Lahore. We [in Lahore] achieved political consciousness thanks to the leadership of Mr Bhutto.”
He highlighted three achievements of the late prime minister.
Arts Council President Ahmed Shah, journalists Mazhar Abbas and Sohail Waraich, Labor Minister Saeed Ghani, academic Dr Huma Baqai and former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani also spoke at the event, which was moderated by Dr Jaffer Ahmed.
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