Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, a member of the Bhutto family, one of the most well-known families in Pakistan, is the first member of the family to be killed. Benazir Bhutto, his daughter, who followed in the footsteps of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, also died as a result of an assassination in the same region.
The only survivor of the Bhutto family's children was Zülfikar Ali Bhutto's youngest daughter, Senem Bhutto. Other children were killed while living in exile. The Bhutto family, one of the prominent families of Pakistan, took its place in the archives with executions and assassinations.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth President from 1971 to 1973, and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977. His government drafted the Constitution of Pakistan in 1973, which remains in effect. He was the founder of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and served as its chairman until his execution.
Born in Larkana, Sindh, India in 1928, a British colony, Zülfikar Ali Bhutto first completed his undergraduate degree in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, and then completed his master's degree at Oxford University Law School. The habit of reading in England in the Bhutto family came from his grandfather, Shah Nawaz. All subsequent children also spent part of their education in England.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto returned to Pakistan in 1953 and started teaching law. In 1958, he served as the Minister of Commerce in the government established by Iskander Mirza as the first president. Although Mohammed Ayub Khan, the chief of staff at that time, staged a coup and took over the administration, Bhutto still continued to be the minister.
When he started to work as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he moved away from the west and had close contact with Russia and China. In the war with India, he was dismissed from his post because he opposed peace and was seen as pro-war. After that, he decided to continue his political life as an individual and founded the Pakistan People's Party.
The Bhutto family continued as a Muslim family when Shah Nawaz Bhutto, the father of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the grandfather of Benazir Bhutto, converted from Hinduism to Islam at the age of 18. The second-generation member of the Bhuttos, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, has become one of the most well-known figures in Pakistani politics.
He accused Ayub Khan of the thought that he was implementing a dictatorship, and was subsequently arrested along with all the opposition leaders after the assassination attempt against Ayub Khan. Eyüb Khan, unable to withstand the pressures of the opposition, handed over the power to the Shiite chief of staff, Yahya Khan, and Zülfikar Ali Bhutto, who was released along with other opposition leaders, was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the East Pakistan war, when Pakistan was defeated by India, Yahya Khan was imprisoned and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto took over the government in 1971.
He then revived the commercial and political relations with India and emerged as the sole power in the general elections held in 1977.
It was said that he rigged the elections without any written documents about him. He was accused of numerous corruptions, and most recently, he allegedly ordered the killing of an opposition lawmaker named Ahmed Riza Kasuri and was brought to trial for this reason.
The Lahore High Court issued a death sentence and was hanged on April 4, 1979, in Rawalpindi.
Benazir Bhutto, his daughter, who followed in the footsteps of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, also died as a result of an assassination in the same region. The only survivor of the Bhutto family's children was Zülfikar Ali Bhutto's youngest daughter, Senem Bhutto. Other children were killed while living in exile.