How tall was zulfiqar bhutto

Support Scroll. It may be regarded as a universal truth in a democratic polity that every active politician is liked or disliked by people according to their own political proclivities and social inclinations. In Pakistan, emotions always run high and voters tend to think in binaries about whom they support or detest. But once rulers or politicians are deceased, a consensus emerges over time about their overall position in history with respect to their character, ideas, actions and achievements: any mention of General Zia-ul Haq will be blown away by a waft of disdain and negativity; a reference to Benazir Bhutto will always evoke empathy and respect.

When it comes to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, opinion is always divided. The conflicting positions of his admirers and detractors make his character contentious, his ideas divisive, his actions controversial and his achievements disputed. He rose to prominence at an early age, achieved personal and political milestones at an extraordinary pace and was only 51 when he was hanged to death in His political career can be divided into four phases.

He continued to work under General Ayub Khan after the military coup. He held various important ministerial portfolios, finally becoming foreign minister in These were remarkable achievements for a recently created developing country in the highly polarised world of the Cold War era. He actively supported Ayub Khan in his presidential referendum against Fatima Jinnah and backed Operation Gibraltar in Kashmir that resulted in an all-out war with India in And military action was not long in coming.

When the army went into action late on 25 March, it was the state of Pakistan that lay grievously wounded. He duly notes the achievements of the government despite the various constraints it operated under. He records as well the deep flaws in the Bhutto character, those that would take him to his doom.

It has been given out that Bhutto composed the work in his final days as a prisoner condemned to death in a disputed murder case. Racy and brimming over with ideas, it is vintage Bhutto at his best. He dwells on the Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report. And he provides readers with his assessment of his own administration and the pressures, local as well as foreign, it worked under. If I Am Assassinated will make you, all these decades after Bhutto penned it, appreciate the huge possibilities he symbolized for his country.

In similar manner, it also gives you reason to understand why he fell so hard and so fast. Along the way, he showed promise but then dwindled into being a Machiavellian soul. His shrewdness gave him glory. His cunning caused the death of millions in what would one day be Bangladesh. Tryst with Mira Nair Kaveree Bamzai. Delhi and Lahore Madhulika Liddle.

Not Guilty Chintan Girish Modi. Kaveree Bamzai Palomi Ghosh, a singer and actor, who graduated in applied mathematics from the University of North Carolina, has delivered a string of fine performances. Madhulika Liddle The prologue to Partition.

Chintan Girish Modi A memoir by a fugitive who has committed no crime. Columns Guest Column. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. What we don't realise is that brutality makes an ordinary man immortal. I think Pakistan is more matured than what it was in Such incidents wont happen again.

Make Pakistan great. Abdullah What do you say about those responsible for the victims of Model Town firing - 14 dead and scores injured? He was a fast paced goer - in such a short period and the circumstances he took over country his achievements were enormous that SOME people couldn't digest.

Hussaini: Where?? Sami: For What? Saddened but lot to learn. America silenced wishleblowers in third world countries. Syed dani ahmed: Nothing has been made. He was the architect of the division of Pakistan.

It looks Bhutto expected till his last moments that this "dead nation" might not let him die! Lone wolf. This is bone-chilling narration.

You write well, author. Why do Pakistanis continue to hold onto the past? Pak lost such a bold and brave leader hence keep declining ever since. Mehr True. The day that changed the country for the worst forever. A man brave enough like Socrates to accept travesty of justice.

RIP in peace Bhutto; you are at a better place for sure in history and eternity. What lessons have we learnt from our tumultuous and violent history and are we destined to repeat our mistakes? The power of the State should firmly reside in Political hands 2.

The Politicians should be held accountable to the electorate and they should legislate through the assemblies 3. The electorate should choose their leaders wisely and not based on self interest but on National interest 4. The electoral process should be transparent and honest. Any act of irregularity must be investigated and redressed immediately by an impartial Election Commission.

If the aggrieved feel that justice has not been served they may have judicial recourse through the courts 5. The elected leaders must govern through consensus and in the national interest 6. The Armed forces should focus on their constitutional responsibilities of providing security to the nation and not indulge in governance.

If we follow these fundamentals no harm will come to the Nation or our Leaders! Although not a big supporter of Bhutto Sahab, I must say reading this piece brought tears to my eyes. An incredibly well written article, the structuring of the sentences and the word choice was very impactful. Harmony Please read your history even the world bank IMF and all agencies were propagating nationalization of industries to counter exploitation by the rich.

Why can't we agree on something for a change.. F Khan. Jamshed Marker is right. If it was 'I' than everything was secondary to him including Pakistan. Zia knew ZAB very well and he said there is one grave either he or goes in it or me. ZAB paid the price of being too clever. M Ahmed. What a tragedy! With him died a legacy. Talented man indeed. Adnan shafiq. Big loss for Pakistan, great And a brave leader. Butto focused IT in Pak well before India.

The unfortunate reality is that none of the above mentioned cardinal rules of democracy have been followed.

As a consequence the political system has been corrupted and the armed forces politicized. If we do not learn from history , we will continue the downward spiral.

Zardari is the heir to the Bhutto dynasty and the Sharif's are the mutants of the Zia legacy! Malik What were the crimes of Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Rajeev Gandhi for which they deserved to be murdered by fanatic zealots? It is often happened that one smart and intelligent person is too many for average type people and average people takes help from powerful guns and ammunition select then both come together to pull one person down so that they can abuse and plunder conman people's wealth in the name of religion, nationality or so called invented democracy.

Masood Haider. I am not a ZAB fan but his execution was an unpardonable offense. Big names, Big Ordeals , Big Silence ,. M Jamal. He may have been disliked by some due to his some failed policies but he gave tongue to the poor. You can't get a passport in Pakistan if you do not have links or money to pay the corrupts,Bhutto made it simple.

Finally he was not corrupt as our present rulers.. I was no fan of Bhutto but hanging him was unpardonable. The US should have intervened and saved his life by giving him asylum.

Zia should have been warned all military aid will stop if Bhutto was hanged,. Shahzad Akhund. I have been a student of history, and of course the hanging of Shaheed Z. Bhutto was one of the darkest chapters in the history. This article of Mr. Shaikh appears to be quite accurate; however, the missing information seems to be that he was almost dead when he was transported to the gallows.

It was because of the torture that was inflicted upon him in his cell. And what happened to Tara Masih? Food for thought. Tragic end but "As you sow so shall you reap" IMad qUreshi. Abdullah Zia faced the same fate Alhamdolillah.

Aamir RAth. No matter what your political conviction, it was a dark for Pakistan, when an elected leader is hung by a usurping General. Saad indeed. Miqbal Rangoonwala. Very sad story. Abbas ali. All those who joined forces in bringing the oil embargo and unified muslim nations were killed one by one. Last one to the leave the planet earth was Qaddafi. Not a single one was spared. Tragedy is that they all were murdered by their own people who played at the hands of RIP all of you who at the least made an effort to set an example that Muslim unity is possible and is very scary for our enemies.

Syed zafar kazmi u. Abdullah so did ZiaulHaq earn his end so well blown into smitherens in midair. Abdul Razaque Chhachhar. It was the tragedy of Bhutto family first he was hanged, later his son Shahnawaz was killed by poison his wife the history not stopped.

However, Bhutto is still live in heart of People. Very Tragic end of the Bhutto family. The list is endless Do we want to go there?? So much for the love his party and supporters had for him Just goes to show what the PPP was all about in those days and that how little they have changed. Tears to your eyes" Mine too as we're still paying for the damage that he and his progeny have caused Pakistan.

Well said Nasser sb. His ego would never allow him to relinquish power to Mujib. His ego and vindictiveness were his undoing. And who empowered AZ? We deserved exactly what we got as we didn't do anything about it. Sad indeed. How democracy was butchered in Pak. The people allowed it. Haris Asif. Such a loss , Pakistani History is full these tragedies I am bhutto. Long Live Bhutto. No human being deserves such treatment.

Those who give such punishments must ask themselves if they have not done anything wrong in their life. I felt sorry for him then in and feel sorry for him even today. Bhutto created an image of Pakistan in the world. He was the one who started nuclear program, today our country is safe.

Bhutto was the first prime minister who provided constitution to our nation. Today thousands of Pakistani workers are jailed in middle eastern countries, some work hard but are not paid. What we have achieved today , steel mill closed, PIA failed, Wapda failed, health system failed, education system failed, railway failed, agriculture production down, only corruption and terrorism is on the rise.

I , at the age of 60 plus years, could get a detail picture which facilitated me to understand the reality. However before my death I wish to see peaceful relation between India and Pakistan so that innocent persons, youths - whether army, police, or others do not die because of conflict.

Fazal Ahmad. Patriotic Absolutely correct analogy you have depicted on the current affairs of this country. It's a disaster and utter chaos. What about Nawaz and Zardari? Col Rafiuddin was standing besides the jail superintendent. That smile speaks a lot about what was going on inside Bhuto. He was thinking it will be over soon and alas he could not save his chair. Zaheer ZulfIqar. Adnan my dear friend your comment is the best tweet, take note that worse is yet to come. Aijaz Ali.

That is darkest day in the history of Pakistan. He was visionary leader in Pakistan. I don't think he was the cause of breakdown of Pakistan. Bangladeshis controversies starts from We Indians were also shocked to listen that Bhutto was hanged.

I still remember one of my friends in India telling me the following afternoon that Bhutto had been hanged since the story did not make it into the papers owing to it's early morning development. I remember the foreboding I had about the things that would follow not only for Pakistan but also for India.

Iqbal Malik Don't boast about Pakistani atomic program. We know how and who and which country is behind your atomic program.

Nevertheless China would have transferred this technology to your country whether you have or have not atomic program. For China Pakistan is a low cost check which suits it. PragmatIC Approach. It's absolutely useless if we keep on our memorizing such usual prison events,and feeling depressed,hundreds if not thousands of people got hanging fate for their deeds.

The critics of ZAB says such,besides they describe the " nationalization"of industries,nepotism, bad foreign policy, only rhetoricism, his uncomfortable relation to USA,etc.

The heirs,and legacy of ZAB in continuance today have disappointed the worker of PPP ,the party likenesses vanished from Punjab, only few feudals of rural Sindh claimed PPP as their party, while some in exile in Dubai facing fear of detention once they step in Pakistan. Khawaja nothing else. He was given an unfair trail, which by itself is injustice in the first place. In justice is always tolerable by this society. As for who was Zia, he was just a reflection of the society. Lahori kid. Reading this was very disturbing, I'm not a PPP supporter but back in the day, I always heard good things about Zulfi as my nana called him until the Bangladesh issue.

He was a human being, I'm not a political person but no one should have their life taken away just because someone said so. My thoughts and prayers for his family. May GOD bless his soul. Though many of Arab and Muslim countries requested Zia not to go for such an extreme decision, so much so that most of them were ready to accept in their country Bhutto as a head of an Islamic State.

But, the generals in Pak Army were so very scared of Bhutto, that, they did not let him live. The end was not required but its all about destiny. Its realty. What about them? We deserve the leaders we vote in. We know what they are doing and continue to vote for them. Riaz Ullah Baig. History pays you back in many ways! Nasir London. Harmony: For a developing country Nationalisation is not a bad thing. Soon after the WW11 most operational avenues were nationalised until recently.

Dec 04, am. Hail Liaquat Ali Khan. I do not like Bhutto. But the final solution was not the answer. Sridhar Raghunatha Rao. Hundreds and thousands of appeals, all over the world, to spare the life of Bhutto went unheeded. Very Sad to read his last moments.

Maqsud Zafar. A sad moment in the history of Pakistan. Adnan The decline started with Bhutto. He destroyed the education system of Pakistan by Nationalizing all private schools, while his own children went to Oxford to study.

Just one example. You have no idea what you are talking about. After killing Bhutto, Zia moved forward to destroy the peaceful society of Pakistan. He empowered the religious extremists and today Pakistan suffers. Very sad to read..!! A very sad day in the history of Pakistan. Bhutto was a great leader. Popular with common folks, yet highly destructive to the whole fabric of society, with borderline, if not altogether criminal activities.

John F. Bhutto was a great friend of India. Without his efforts, Pakistan would have still been intact. A Dark day indeed in Pakistan's Politics and future. I lived on Tariq Road and was on my way to the school bus stop in the morning at am along with my aunt and we got the news that Z. Bhutto was hanged, i was in class 2 and then that day i was not sent to school.

What a sad day for the people of this country. El Cid. A part of this narration is not correct. Irreparable loss. Being a human being I had tears in my eyes reading the final hours of Bhutto Sab.

Syed Zafar Kazmi U. Observer Thank you for saying what you said about that meanest of mankind that mankind has ever seen. Had the great visionary not been put to death, Pakistan would have been totally clean of any terrorism and in the ranks of world class countries well progressed and well developed out of the deep trenches chaos, mismanagement, poverty, power shortages, economic ruin and lack of direction and purpose. That was and still is a sad day in the history of Pakistan.

May he Rest In eternal Peace. Why was he not pardoned by the President? No compassion for a leader. O grow up let the dead be dead and work for the betterment of the living plz stop this boohooing for everybody's sake no one is gonna vote for PPP again for this sad old story serious ly Naveed Jafri.

Benazir has mentioned this in her memoirs but this one is more chilling. How that soul would have suffered? I was not born then , but I remember my mother telling many a times that she felt sick after hearing the news via All India Radio. She was in the bed whole day as she felt nausea whenever she tried to get up. We are Indians belong to the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

She had no love for Pakistani leaders ZAB could have been a better leader had he actually cared about the constituents he claimed he cared about. Siddiqi NY. Historic moment for Pakistan when this culprit was put to Justice. VJ Shah. Whatever be the case against him, Mr Bhutto should not have been executed. It's a mystery why the United States did not intervene to stop the execution! Tahsin Shah. Heart wrenching story.. Waqas Syed. Justice was served.

M F Fakhru. I am a Bangladeshi. I read this and felt sad. No human should be hanged. However extreme loyalty given to any leaders make them arrogant. Sadly Bhutto was never made accountable for his role in He made himself president with an election result that he did not accept on the first place as that would have made Sk Mujibur Rahman the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Even today extreme loyalty to the political dynasties in our part of the world make our democracies dysfunctional.

A criminal and murderer got what he deserved! He killed someone, court found him guilty, sentencing was announced and punishment was carried out. What was wrong with that? Rule was law was much better at that time than our current democratic dynastic rules.

Politicians' sons could not kill poor people on bikes at pleasure and be Scot free Have you forgotten or I can relate few very recent examples? It is on record that Bhutto was an illicit PM of Pakistan. It could not have happened without Bhutto and Indian collaboration. So he was punished much less than he deserved. Button was killer and blackmailer It's Bhutto's blood that is haunting Pakistan till date. He was a great speaker and ambassador for Pakistan.

He may have been over ambitious and did some serious miscalculation on the war with India. However he managed to negotiate PoW and was determined to get Pakistan ready for the future and was the original father of our nuclear bomb. Zia ruined Pakistan by becoming a hired gun for America and seriously lacked any thinking about the consequences of his actions. We are yet to recover from the the Zia years.

The seeds he has sown keep reaping and dooming our future and there is no sign for that we will ever get our once valued prestige back. Pakistan was once dubbed as the next Turkey full of modern intellects and followers of Islam. We were the cultured Muslims and we taught the Arabs how to mingle with the west.

The silent scream of Nusrat Bhutto pierces my heart and shakes my soul, every time I see this photo. M Rafique. As we were walking towards our parked car, I was suddenly rooted to the spot. I spied our house-cleaner Aftab Masih, a short, dark, scrawny, spindly-legged Punjabi Christian in the crowd all excited, frothing in the mouth drunk or doped rendering full throated pro-Bhutto slogans.

He was prancing and clapping in a group. As soon as he saw me he melted away. Next morning, he showed up late for work at our house. I charged him for absenting and lying that he was ill. He was sitting on his haunches while swabbing the floor. He went on to say in a sonorous voice that Bhutto had promised the ghareeb poor and mazdoor workers of the nation with, "roti, kapra aur makkhan!

I laughed aloud and corrected him by saying ,"Arey bewakuf, makkhan nahin, makan! Suddenly, an otherwise shy and submissive Masih stood up rag in hand, eye-balled me and said audaciously," tera ye makan ek din hamara hoga" one day this house of yours will be mine. I was young and became speechless with shock and anger. I exploded and told him, " Abhey, geedar ke bacche tussi foren ye kamre se nikal toh sahi" why you son of a jackal, you get out of this room immediately. Murmuring with down cast eyes he obliged and left the room.

I recall being upset for days from this unexpected incident. In hindsight, this pseudo-socialist, populist image assiduously cultivated by Bhutto in a well entrenched feudal society will perhaps remain his abiding legacy in the political culture of Pakistan.

Nobody else before him had ever spoken to the poor people in the then West Pakistan like him. How much of it he really meant, and how much of it was for self-aggrandizement or cheap popularity, is best left for posterity to judge? Bhutto's rise to power and prominence was as meteoric as was his downfall. In the end his former 'monkey general' turned military President, Zia-ul-Haq, would hang him in , in a controversial court judgment for an alleged murder charge.

Initially, Zia's coup in , looked curiously like an apologetic one. I was in the US when it happened. The leading American newspapers were regularly reporting on Pakistan, sometimes with photographs of Bhutto and Zia together. One such photo showed Zia visiting Bhutto in Murree, where he was kept comfortably under house arrest. It showed Zia in army uniform seated somewhat in an obsequious manner across from a scowling Bhutto, who appeared to be visibly upset.

In the beginning Zia allowed a regular supply of newspapers, magazines, books and even the choicest of hard drinks for Bhutto.

However, Bhutto's arrogance and diatribes against Zia in his presence gradually convinced him that if a vindictive Bhutto ever managed to get free through legal means then he Zia would be in deep trouble. He, therefore, hardening his stance. Still out of power and on bail, a belligerent Bhutto had the temerity to threaten Zia with dire consequences for staging a coup against him, and upbraid him publicly.

He could still draw record crowds at rallies with his popularity and charisma. It alarmed Zia. Thus, Zia realized that it would be risky to hold an election, he had earlier hinted at. If Bhutto ever won it, then his neck would be on the line! So, he had Bhutto rearrested again. Meanwhile, Zia tactfully released Yahya conditionally from house arrest, with a request to him to implicate Bhutto as the main culprit responsible for precipitating the political crisis, leading to the army action in March , in East Pakistan.

Yahya meekly complied. That was exactly what Zia wanted and as a special gesture, allowed Yahya to proceed to USA for treatment of his heart ailment. With Yahya's tacit confession of Bhutto's full complicity in , his fate was further sealed. Moreover, a western journalist has written a very telling book, where he clearly mentions that the Americans too, wanted a non compliant and unmanageable Bhutto out of the way.

They were very upset with him when he clandestinely acquired nuclear capability. Actually, the impetuous Bhutto had been causing annoyance to the Americans for a quite awhile.