Bhutto: A Political Biography

by Salmaan Taseer

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto came from a wealth family of feudal landowners in Sind. Although west-ernized by education in the United States and in England, he became the champion of the Third World when he was appointed the youngest Foreign Minister in Asia in 1962. Disillusioned with his one-time mentor, President Ayub Khan, he orchestrated civilian demonstrations which toppled him from power. A skillful and sophisticated politician, he nevertheless failed to prevent (and some say le even provoked) the bloodbath which led to the secession of Bangladesh. He assumed power in the aftermath of the debacle, and swept the general elections in West Pakistan with a slogan of ‘iroti kapara makan’ ‘food, clothes and shelter'. Bhutto's regime, which began with so much promise, eventually fell to an army coup amid charges of violence and oppression. His trail, which lasted nearly two years, caused world-wide sensation. In spite of pleas for clemency from many heads of state, he was hanged on 4 April 1979. His courage in the face of death made him a martyr whose shadow will fall on the politics of Pakistan for years of come. Salmaan Taseer's political biography provides unique insight into this dramatic career and into the political structure of Pakistan. The author interviewed Bhutto on several occasions and reveals hitherto unknown facts about his rise and fall, and provides an ac-count of intrigue, feudalism, populism and religion which is highly relevant to what is happening in Pakistan today.

Genres: Pakistan, Biography

208 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1979

About the author

Salmaan Taseer was a Pakistani businessman and politician who served as the governor of the province of Punjab from 2008 until his assassination in early 2011.

Reviews

[Israt jalil · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first Pakistani political biography I was able to finish. A precise biography of the Pakistani political hero and founder of Pakistan People’s Party who was ordered to be hanged till death, an extremely rare incident in any political history.
The things I liked about this book are
◽The story is about Zulfikar Ali Bhutto obviously it will show him as a hero but it didn’t shy away to point out his mistakes. He made his fair shares of blunders to drag him to the court justice for trial. Though his mistakes aren’t prolific in this book but they are well put to figure out what were his failing points.
◽This book is precise in nature and doesn’t bore with unnecessary details. It gives a good dive into the political stature of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from his supporter.


The things I didn’t like about this book
◽This book is written by a supporter of PPP so, partiality can be sensed from the very first pages.
◽Mr Bhutto was a strong, revered political figure in Pakistan but it doesn’t mean every other political identity was flawed and didn’t have any strong political stature which I guess the writer forgot or intentionally ignored to address.

[Fizza · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little biased, as expected, for Taseer was a stronger supporter of PPP - the political party Bhutto founded. However, unexpectedly, Taseer was able to pick up the key flaws in the personality and policies of Bhutto. Compared to the biographies authored by Wolpert and Rafi Raza, this one is less detailed, yet it gives a different perspective to look at the political happenings of the 1970s in Pakistan. For someone studying Bhutto, I would recommend first reading Wolpert and Rafi's work and then Taseers for a comparative reason.

[Sani Panhwar]

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