When we say “Zinda Hai Bhutto Zinda Hai,” some people mock this slogan because of their partial and narrow -minded thinking without reflecting on their behavior. These individuals are not aware of the story.
They are not aware that many great leaders through political history have risen to the height of popularity and triggered revolutions that changed the course of events, but over time has shown that their political philosophies are deficient, making them politically irrelevant.
These leaders, despite their mass appeal, often received public support by promoting extremism and provocation.
The change or upheaval they brought about, though originally popular, ultimately turned out catastrophic, both for themselves, their political parties and the people they claimed to represent.
Such figures have included politicians from both right and left, nationalists, religious ideologues and military opportunists.
There are a few political leaders in history whose philosophies remain alive and relevant, even today. It can really be said that such leaders are still alive, both spatially and temporarily because of the persistent relevance of their political thinking and approach. Such a leader is Shaheed Zulficar Ali Bhutto.
Shaheed Bhutto was a visionary statesman with a deep understanding of history. He made his political vision with careful consideration of historical experiences. His political philosophy rests on three basic principles:
First, the interests of one’s country and nation must always take precedence in foreign policy. National dignity and sovereignty should under no circumstances be compromised.
Secondly, a country’s internal problems must be solved from the inside, by strengthening the oppressed and marginalized classes, nationalities and social groups. Their right to resources must be recognized, they must be financially promised and guaranteed basic human rights, including civil freedoms.
Third, to realize the above two principles, one must follow the path of a long, patient and democratic struggle, a struggle that is peaceful, sustainable and able to deliver gradual progress and lasting victories.
This democratic path is far better than any destructive adventure or chaos. History shows that chaos serves only interests in imperialist and anti-people forces as it undermines the gains gained through peaceful democratic movements.
Therefore, these forces fear and target those who combat peaceful democratic struggle.
The unmatched victims of the Bhutto family and the leaders and workers of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) stand as evidence of this unshakable commitment. PPP’s journey with peaceful battle and victims continues today.
If Pakistan today has a federal, parliamentary, democratic constitution … If democracy exists … If the federal units and the people have achieved something, it is because of Shaheed Bhutto and Pakistan Peoples Party that made his vision.
Earthed in Bhutto’s political philosophy, PPP continues his journey as people’s true representative party. And that’s why Bhutto is still alive today.
To understand Shaheed Bhutto’s political vision and philosophy, it is important to study his writings, interviews and speaks in depth. On November 30, 1967, during the founding of Pakistan People’s Party, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto presented “Basic Documents” he had written, formally adopted by the party. These documents declared: “Islam is our religion, democracy is our politics, socialism is our economy, and the people are the source of power.”
To elaborate on these basic principles, Shaheed Bhutto wrote a detailed program for Pakistan People’s Party in April 1968, where he said:
“Pakistan gets caught in a hot tub. When we look back on the last 20 years of our national lives, we see a dangerous trend that has come together with both international and subcontinental challenges. It would be unreasonable to consider this crisis as a routine occurrence of times or as a result of a natural process. This dominant negative trend must be reversed.
A learned and political leader like Shaheed Zulficar Ali Bhutto is born once in a century. He saw situations through a broad international and historical lens. His thinking was never superficial; It was deep, thoughtful and visionary. At the time he founded Pakistan People’s Party, the global communist movement was at its highest, and socialist revolutions swept over different regions. Still, Shaheed Bhutto’s eyes had put on the future. He foresaw the possible results of the communist movement.
Instead of raising slogans in favor of the communist dictatorship, he declared democracy as his political path, something that even socialist states were eventually forced to adopt, although only after enduring tremendous turmoil. Shaheed Bhutto did not declare socialism as politics, but as an economic system he clearly formulated in the party’s basic documents and its detailed program.
He argued that capitalism in Pakistan was fundamentally different from the capitalist nations developed in Europe or other. In these countries, capitalism worked together with democracy and civil freedoms. In Pakistan, however, it had become a tool for exploitation, concentrated in the hands of only 22 families.
These families plundered wealth in the name of capitalism, opposite democratic rights and were in line with dictatorial regimes. They did not run their factories with full capacity or allowed wider industrialization. According to the cover of industries and loans, they have incorrectly used state capital.
As a result, no new job opportunities were created, and the rural majority continued to suffer from extreme poverty. It is important that the basic documents did not directly reject private investment. Instead they clearly said:
“Private investments will only be allowed based on profits, efficiency and legitimate profits, not, not based on the patronage of influential families or corrupt elements in the bureaucracy. Private investment can be beneficial, but only when the working class is treated as an equal partner in profit.”
Shaheed Bhutto believed in socialism, but he emphasized that socialism cannot be imposed through decree or dictatorship. The creation of a classless and socialist society and the elimination of capitalist exploitation must occur through a historical process. This journey, he emphasized, could only be completed through democracy during a popular political program.
Another notable performance of Shaheed Zulficar Ali Bhutto was that he not only gave Pakistan a federal, parliamentary, democratic government system through the 1973 Constitution, but also dealt with many years of complaints by giving maximum autonomy to the federal units, reducing the feeling of deprivation among them.
Shaheed Bhutto also gave Pakistan a neutral and independent foreign policy, which he elaborated in his book “The myth of independence.” He opposed to transform Pakistan into a farmer of American interests and consistently spoke to strengthen the tape to China. However, he was equally aware that Pakistan’s national interests must remain most important, even in its relationship with China.
Shaheed Zulficar Ali Bhutto offered a historically proven solution to any national crisis with its unshakable belief that the people are the true source of power. In times of crisis, he claimed, is the only viable way to return to the people. This is the essence of Bhuttoism, an ideology that is rooted in popular will and democratic commitment. No other ideology has proven to be so effective or lasting.
Unfortunately, Pakistan was repeatedly led in directions contrary to Shaheed Bhutto’s vision and philosophy. The country was drawn into the strategic games for global powers, military regimes were imposed, and at different times ethnic, linguistically, regional, religious and so -called political extremism was deliberately cultivated to counter the influence of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Today, Pakistan finds once again caught in the bubble bath of Shaheed Bhutto warned about in his prophetic book, “If I’m murdered.” After his judicial execution, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto maintained her political philosophy and gave her life in the fight to save the nation from crisis.
Now Bilawal Bhutto Zardari continues this journey. In the spirit of Shaheed Bhutto’s words, Bilawal smears a connection with the people and adapts to their hopes, needs and hopes. Shaheed Bhutto remains alive, not only in memory but in leadership because he chose to embrace martyrdom in the hands of a dictator instead of being condemned by the story.
Today, history stands as a witness to the validity of Bhutto’s political philosophy. In the current national context, there is an urgent need to revise and adapt to the vision of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
