If I am Assassinated. by Zulfikar Ali; Pran Chapra (Introduction) Bhutto

by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

If I am Assassinated. [Hardcover] [Jan 01, 1979] Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali; Pran Chapra (Introduction) …

Genres: Pakistan, Politics, History, Biography, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published October 1, 1979

About the author

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977, after serving as President from 1971 to 1973, and the founder of Pakistan People's Party.

A Sindhi landowner, Bhutto was educated at Oxford and Berkeley, and called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn. Entering politics, he became a cabinet minister at 30, and was appointed Foreign Minister in 1963, as a protégé of military ruler Ayub Khan. Falling out over the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, Bhutto parted ways with Ayub in 1966. He hastily wrote The Myth of Independence a year later, his seminal work on Pakistan's foreign policy.

Following another war with India and the secession of Bangladesh in 1971 (for which Bhutto's detractors hold him partially responsible), Bhutto became President of Pakistan the same year. He passed the country's current constitution in 1973, and founded Pakistan's nuclear programme, but was also blamed for persecuting his political opponents, as well as economic mismanagement.

Bhutto was deposed in a military coup in 1977, and sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in 1979, for authorising the murder of a party dissident. He wrote If I Am Assassinated during his incarceration, smuggling the manuscript out of his jail cell. He was executed on 4 April, 1979. Witness to Splendour, a compilation of Bhutto's testimony before the courts, was published posthumously.

Reviews

[W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto spent over a year in a stinking death cell of Rawalpindi's district jail.This book was written in the death cell,with the paper on his knees.Bhutto writes about relying on sheer will power to complete it and becoming giddy with exhaustion in the process.

(He was on trial for ordering a murder.It remains debatable whether he was guilty or not.He was not soft on his political opponents.
However,the trial was blatantly partial and it was obvious from the beginning that he was not going to be reprieved).

General Zia ul Haq,who had deposed him,knew that Bhutto presented a threat to his own survival.Bhutto had threatened that Zia had committed "treason" according to the constitution by suspending it and overthrowing an elected government.If Bhutto had come back to power,Zia would face the consequences.

Zia's government had produced a series of "White Papers" regarding Bhutto's alleged electoral rigging and his murder trial.As Bhutto writes,part of the trial was conducted in closed court and he was brutally insulted,repeatedly told to "shut up" by a judge,who he says held a previous grudge against him.

This book is Bhutto's response to those White Papers,rebutting the allegations against him.It is a rambling account,sometimes over stating his defence,and sometimes over simplifying it.It also includes a range of issues,his own achievements,his life,his impressions of generals and world leaders etc.

The manuscript was smuggled out of prison and was published in India,as there was no question of getting it published in Pakistan during the Zia era.

Bhutto did have a messiah complex as he writes,"I was not born to mount the gallows.I was born to save a nation from impending doom." There are plenty of rhetorical flourishes,as he highlights his achievements and reflects on a range of issues.

In his view,one of the reasons for his overthrow was that the US was not happy with his decision to acquire a nuclear reprocessing plant from France.He directs a lot of criticism at General Zia,whom he had promoted out of turn to become army chief.He also has plenty to say about former military dictators,Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan.About Ayub he writes that Ayub had seriously considered a proposal to establish a hereditary monarchy in Pakistan.

Then,he talks about international affairs,his favourite subject and Pakistan's geo strategic environment.

He also defends himself against allegations of corruption and presents a clean image of himself.It is ironic that later,his daughter Benazir and her husband Asif Zardari became synoymous with corruption.

Bhutto was no angel,he had made plenty of blunders of his own and taken stern action against his political opponents.But the way Zia treated him was even worse.

Bhutto had great charisma,he was hanged at just 50.The manner of his death made him a larger than life figure,and to his followers,a martyr.However,at the time he was hanged,Zia was totally in control.Bhutto was buried quietly.

This book is rather touching,given the circumstances in which it was written.

Can be downloaded from :
sanipanhwar.com
bhutto.org

[Tariq Mahmood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could the all powerful Pakistan army afford to keep Bhutto alive, especially with his track record of having taken down two military dictators one of which was a self proclaimed Field Marshal? This one sentence is enough to sum up poor Bhutto's miserable plight as he was held in almost complete isolation in Rawalpindi jail. On paper it was a classical match-up, a super charismatic Bhutto pited against an all time unalluring General Zia ul-Haq. On the other hand one had the backing of people while the other of the powerful military establishment. In the end it was Bhutto's hauteur and pride which proved to be his downfall. His fiery threats to set the Generals right when back in power gave the military generals shivers, which forced them to counter attack. Bhutto as a politician should have seen it coming. If the generals were powerful enough to take down his government they could take him down as well. A lesser confident leader would have followed a mild appeasement policy instead of going all guns blazing, but Bhutto was on a roll.

Zia was appointed by Bhutto as chairman of a committee to investigate the first attempt by the army in 1973 against him. It is ironic that whatever lessons Zia learnt he was successfully able to turn them around in his own orchestrated coup in 1977.
Reading Bhutto's rebuttal to Zia's white paper, I could feel argumentation of a skills lawyer setting out his own case while sitting in a death cell. He rants and raves occasionally but that has to be attributed to some of the points raised in the Junta's White paper I guess. Bhutto has made a fantastic case against his allegations but I could not help wonder why let himself into this dire state to start with? Bhutto was supposed to be the master politician to start with, he knew well how power worked in Pakistan. After all he was himself a chief marital law administrator himself, albeit a civilian one. He should have remained calm and trusted his people to deliver instead of aping his uniformed predecessors in letter and voice. His answer to the White paper makes depressing reading as somehow he knew that his game was up. His only hope seems to be the USA and it's Arab cronies who were not able to save him in the end. I think USA had chosen to make an example of him for all of his earlier transgressions. Maybe he opened up too many frontiers at the same time?
The way power shifts from one to another at the top (in Pakistan) has always managed to be a great mystery for me. It's almost like a sixth sense, lost when constrained by following law. People just seem to know when halo shifts from one person to another in the land of the pure. How did Ayub know when to topple Iskander Mirza for instance? How did Yehya take over from Ayub? And finally how was Bhutto able to drive into Yehya's presidency only to drive out with the presidents flag flying on his car instead? This is a fascinating area of study examples of which can only be found in history books. What goes around comes around, and Bhutto should have realised that the same mysterious spectre of power grab would come and hound him one day as well. In other words he should have done a Zardari. For Zardari has to be given greater credit for finding a way to relinquish power peacefully, on time, at the right moment to the next government, which is an unprecedented event in the whole history of the country. Thus Zardari stays untouched and unmolested siting contently in his villas and drinking fine wine.
In Bhutto's rebuttal, he makes very convincing and points out many inconsistencies in the Junta's white paper over and over again but it all comes down to naught. It felt as if was preaching to rocks who are only moved by earthquakes. Trouble is that no one can predict when another earthquake will strike though. One of the chapters is actually called Martial Law, which tries to explain that Martial Law is not actually a Law. This is logic at an infantile level, which shows what Bhutto was up against. Bhutto should have realised that his beloved Pakistani people only react to orations and personal gains to themselves and their immediate family. Ideological and principles can only go that far.

[Mehwish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot call this a book because it is not. It was a response to the 1044 pages of white lies (also known as white papers) issued out to frame the shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to his death. It was a response to the allegations made against him which resulted in overthrowing his Government, suspending the constitution and imposing draconian martial law. It was an appeal for humanity written from a death cell. It was written under the most hostile conditions just to "face the lie with the truth":
• “spent twenty-two to twenty-three hours out of twenty-four hours in a congested and suffocated death cell”
• “the light is poor and my eyesight has worsened”
• “health has been shattered”
• “solitary confinement for a year”
• “with the paper resting on my knee”.

This document was smuggled out of Shaheed Bhutto’s death cell and ended up banned in Pakistan but printed in India. The appeal in the document demonstrates the strong will (“..but my morale is high because I am not made of the wood which burns easily”) and personality of our martyr leader in the face of death. It was written with fierceness and fearlessness but at no point demonstrated a lack of high intellect. He constantly referred to history and literature with the sophistication and mannerism of a scholar.

There was no asking for mercy in fact his words were often so blunt that they would have pierced and evoked angry sentiments against him: “I say again, the solution, although fading, is still in sight: (a) The Country wants the Constitution (b) The Nation wants Democracy (c) The Provinces want Autonomy (d) The Proletariat and the Peasantry want the Pakistan People’s Party. Do you understand? This is what the People want. Stop trying to be a Mehdi…”

Zia offered Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto exile but on the condition that he would not enter politics for 10 years. According to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, her father did not accept this condition. I am not sure whether Benazir is right or as Pran Chopra (the editor who got this published) mentions in the introduction that Zia went back on his offer because he was scared after witnessing Ayatollah Khomeini’s power while he was exiled from Iran, but either ways the option of exile was rooted out of the history. Zia was right (if that is the line of reasoning we opt in for) because if Shaheed Bhutto had gone in exile, he would have brought down the Zia regime in no time. Shaheed Bhutto’s charisma can be compared with the founder of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah, himself. He had the power of people and there was no question of winning against it.

Reprocessing plant negotiation with France in 1976: It is obvious when we look at history now that one of the major reasons the “foreign power” who were hell-bent on eliminating Shaheed Bhutto was related to the negotiation of the reprocessing plant. Bhutto failed to “listen” so a deal was made: PNA would oppose PPP in all their might, and they would be given a sum of 30 crores if PPP loses. BUT if they are unable to win then Army would take over. In return the new non-PPP Government will end the negotiation with France.

PNA failed and the Army took over!

Shaheed Bhutto was locked away to be hanged.

The major allegations made against him were:
1) Election rigging
2) Political murder

The supporting “evidence” in the white papers was of ridiculously “retarded” nature. It felt that they were just clutching onto straws. For example:

- Use of warfare terminology. “It was typical of Mr. Bhutto’s style of administration that he envisaged the coming elections as some kind of a war against the Opposition. To quote: ‘In short, it shall be a detailed battled plan of action, leaving nothing to chance. We have to mount a campaign against the enemy, starting from our points of strength and attacking the weak points of our opponents.’ This war-like terminology occurs and re-occurs in the speeches made and operational plans prepared by Mr Bhutto and his confidants”. – Page 11, White papers
In response Bhutto perfectly sums up his sentiments against this high level of stupidity: “Only the uninformed would misconstrue such metaphors, unless of course the purpose is to defame and to cause prejudice and hostility. Expressions like “do or die” and to “leave nothing to chance” are used to show determination and preparedness.”

Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto would have won the elections blindfolded and there was absolutely no need for rigging as per mentioned above, he planned the elections with leaving nothing to chance. He visited the jhuggies where the cleaners lived, went to remotest villages sometimes 3 to 4 times just to ensure that his voice had been heard. There was no chance that he would have lost.

Furthermore, the trial in itself was a façade. Mushtaq Hussain was appointed as the Chief Justice during the trial, the same person who was rejected as a candidate for the Chief Justice while PPP was in Government. There were millions of such atrocities cited in the document. The journalists were publicly flogged, the PPP members were in detention or killed, the Prime Minister himself was in a stinking death cell with not even the basic rights provided to him as a civilian of Pakistan, his family members were in jail or detention, his wife assaulted, daughter in detention – This is how democracy in Pakistan was suffocated, person by person.

He was humiliated during the trials with offensive language. He was constantly commanded to "shut up", "get up" and "take this man away until he regains his senses". The elections were not rigged; the entire justice system in Shaheed Bhutto’s case was rigged.

Pakistan suffered from Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s early death. Pakistan also suffered from Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s assassination.

Jiye Bhutto!!!

[Umair Khan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introduction of this book written by an Indian scholar is a good analysis of the policies of the Bhutto era which somehow alienated the people from Bhutto.

Mainly, the book is a detailed response to a "White Paper" published by the Zia regime "unveiling" the so called "Larkana Plan" of Mr. Bhutto to rig the election of 1977. this book is a point-to-point reply of the accusations made in the white paper. There is also "populist" rhetoric about how USA wanted Bhutto out of the power. That might as well be true but the book lacks in opresenting any such evidence.

Overall, one should not expect a coneptual or political debate about the democracy and dictatorship in Pakistan.

[Sahib Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indeed, for Pakistan, the present is the era that relates to the past than the past itself. We have so many things to live with that we have studied in our history, from the two nations theory to the East India Company. These days, One nation is of the elite, bureaucrats and, Army and politicians; while the other nation is public. The same, these days, Rawalpindi GHQ is our east India company that has control over everything.

In his book, Z. A Bhutto describes the rigging, and fraud of the Army to intervene in the politics of Pakistan and hold control over it. Following are some of the finest passages from the book:

"A good general leads his armies to victory with comprehensive planning and preparation. A general who plunges into war with defective, superficial or no plans at all will lead his armies to surrender 90,000 of his soldier."

"There is no earthly reason why the people of Pakistan should be kept in the dark. It is in keeping with the character of such regimes to keep the people in the dark."

"I do not want anyone to escape from the law. But I definitely want to escape from the lawlessness of Martial Lw. I wan the whole nation and every citizen to escape from the lawlesssness."

"The true Muslim is not the one who submits to the coup d'etaet but he is the one who fights like a mujahid for the political and economic rights of the oppressed masses."

"If India had suffered from Martial Law and dictatorships, on the pattern of Pakistan, India would have been in three or four separate pieces by this day."

"This new situation arms the Pakhtoon and Baluch leaders to exploit the unresolved difference to their advantage."

"Military coup d'estas are the worst enemies of national unity."

"Through Culture and civilization, some nations make themselves great. Through coup-gemony and conspiracies, other nations turn into the debris of history."

[Barbi Doll]

he is outstanding person

[Ruby Jusoh · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important declaration by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the legendary Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1979 and founded the Pakistan’s People Party. He wrote this text while in prison – the death cell, specifically. He was toppled during a military takeover by General Zia-ul Haq. He was known to be outspoken and highly charismatic, fighting for a more socialist and secularist internationalist agenda.
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The book is an old rare 1979 copy – amazing! Apparently, he wrote this on the floor, severely lacking in facilities, a few days before his death. He defended himself against the allegations publicized by the military government. A lot of the details are technical but one can see the visionary leader Bhutto was. He included anecdotes on history and thoughts on postcolonialism. It was important for him to be reflective of the constitution and resisting military rule.
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One can sense his spirit, too. His courage was passed down to his daughter, Benazir Bhutto who also became a political prisoner and later the Prime Minister. In an interview, Benazir once mentioned how she never feared death as she knew that her father was waiting on the other side. She also met her end in a similar fashion – assassinated in a bomb attack while campaigning for election.
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Sometimes, a person defines a nation at a specific time. They may embody democratic values, ethics and visions. Bhutto was indeed one of such persons. I hope to get a book that details his life in a more systematic manner. A MUST-READ for historical and political nerds!

[Uzair Abbasi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt that the content of the book was unnecessary, as the book is written as a self-defence by Bhutto as he pleads his case to the future generations, but tbh I don't think anyone in their right mind would have believed the exaggerated white papers which charged and ultimately resulted in his death penalty.

Although, I have a different opinion upon his actions, and some of his defences fall flat. I do believe that Z.A Bhutto was a brave leader, his words show the depth of his character, he doesn't lose his wit even in the conditions he was suffering through at that time.

So to sum it all up, I like his style of writing, but I think it might have been much better if this book dealt with stuff that might influence the youth rather than turning into a pity party of what's black and what's white.

[Rashid Rasheed · Rating 5 out of 5]

"More than my life is at Stake!"(A line from book)
I know, it's funny how things change. It's funny how we plan our life and it never goes as we envisioned it. No, instead, it goes as we never imagined it would go.

- For example, I want to go left, but I end up going right. I want to be different, but I end up being the same. I want happiness, but all I get is pain.✨🖤

Apart from all, So let me tell you about this book, Today I got it and at a glance, took overview.
And concluded it; "This book is the proof of the conspiracies hatched against Shaheed Zulfiqar ali bhutto, One should go through this book to reveals the facts. Bhutto's name will always remains in the history of pakistan"...
----- Rashid Rasheed.✨🖤

[Usama Bin Farooq · Rating 5 out of 5]

SHORT BOOK REVIEW: IF I AM ASSASSINATED BY ZAB

Intriguing to say the least but I am gonna write the last lines ZAB used to conclude the book as a review because I think they present perfectly the book in general
“After 14 months of incessant and relentless slander of incomparable dimension, after sullying my name for over a year with unbelievable viciousness, will the regime pick up the courage to have a referendum on me Or thou, on Caesar or Brutus? let the people decide who is the only holy cow”.

[Sehrish Munir]

If you want to peep into the past of Pakistan, then read this book. You will also learn how the selfish and greedy dictators toppled and hanged a popular leader of a country. Just sorrowful, can not hold your tears.....

[Sani Panhwar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Download a PDF copy of "If I am Assassinated" by Z. A. Bhutto visit
http://sanipanhwar.com/If%20I%20am%20...

[Rabia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't why Bhutto try to pacify all his past thing in this book and asking useless questions while he was sitting on death bed. This book basically deals with all by bhutto it's one sided account.
I don't like this book as much as other's by Bhutto or on Bhutto...

[Munim Shabir · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a perfect combination of statements which had been exploited in one's defence ever. It shed light on so many flaws and drastic events that had happened in Pakistan and reveals many revelations that are yet be considered as conspiracies.

[Tahir · Rating 4 out of 5]

i am currently reading this book.i'll update this review when i am finished with it.actualy i want to know more and more about the Bhutto phenomena that is why i bought this book.

[Ali Malik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful

[Muhammad Mobeen]

want read only

[Ramesh]

eager to read the book