ZA Bhutto’s achievements and failings discussed at book launch

The Karachi Gymkhana was the venue of the launch of a book titled “ZA Bhutto: the psychodynamics of his rise and fall” by former bureaucrat Shamim Ahmed on Tuesday.

Speakers paid tributes to the late Bhutto’s intellectual acumen and his mastery over politics. Speaking first, the author said, “Bhutto was a person who was highly accomplished and educated. Thus, why could he not prevent his fall?” he posed the question.

He said that Bhutto came from a very rich background, his father being a big landlord, but said that he suffered from many complexes. “He went about scolding people, maybe because of his insecurity,” Ahmed said.

He said that despite this, he had many achievements to his credit, especially in the cultural field like, the Lok Virsa, and in the political field like the Simla Accord of 1972 and the Constitution of 1973.

Among his failings, the author listed the military action in Balochistan and the handling of the botched 1977 general elections. Noted banker Sirajuddin Aziz spoke of Bhutto’s narcissism and sycophancy. On the positive side, he said, that Bhutto spoke at the United Nations for eight straight hours. “He could speak on any subject with fluency,” Aziz said and cited the Seerat conference where he spoke for most of the time on Christ and his teachings for over one hour.

He also spoke of Bhutto’s mastery over theatrics and cited a case where, travelling with Dr Mubashar Hassan from Rawalpindi, he began to cry, exclaiming, “How long will the labourers of my country grind stone in this exacting manner?”

Noted academic Dr Jaffer Ahmed said that Bhutto had received lots of attention second only to Mr Jinnah. He quoted the biographies of the man by the late Salman Taseer (1979) and Harvard scholar Stanley Wolpert.

He said that there were a number of people struck by Bhutto-mania while there were another as many struck by Bhutto-phobia and said that this showed the make-up of our society, the polarisation therein.

He quoted Karl Marx’s dictum, “You cannot understand Napoleon till you examine France with all its class differences and contradictions.” Noted intellectual and former federal minister Javed Jabbar labelled it a very honest book. He said, “Any study of ZA Bhutto is an advancement of the analysis of history.”

He spoke highly of Bhutto’s ability to empathise with the people and his ability to be participative. “The book is a service to look for the reality of Mr Bhutto,” he said. Interestingly, none of the speakers dealt with the convoluted enigma Bhutto really was. They all spoke of his intellectual acumen, his mastery over politics and his mastery over national affairs.

One may well ask if he really was such a political visionary and seasoned politician, why then did he assert in January 1971 that the Peoples Party would not sit on the opposition benches, even though his party had won a mere 87 seats in the parliament while the Awami League had 146? Why was he clamouring for the transfer of power between March and December 1971 when the erstwhile East Pakistan was burning and there was the guerilla warfare perpetrated by the Mukti Bahini claiming hundreds of lives daily? When a journalist asked him at a press conference as to how power could be transferred while East Pakistan was burning, he replied, “Power can be transferred in East Pakistan later on.”

None of the speakers, despite their erudition, dwelt on this aspect. Iqbal Sualeh Muhammad, the managing Director of Paramount Book, publishers of Shamim Ahmed’s work, mentioned and praised a book by Indian journalist Palo Mode on Mr Bhutto and said that this had given him the inspiration to publish the book for the Pakistani readers.

Dr Nafis Qureshi, chairman of the Gymkhana cultural and literary sub-committee, presented the vote of thanks.