April 4, 2026, is the 47th death anniversary of the Pride of Asia, Shaheed Zulfiqar Bhutto. He was a barrister, politician, orator, visionary, activist, statesman, scholar, and revolutionary. He served as the fourth President of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister from 1973 until his overthrow in 1977 by General Zia-ul-Haq. He was the founder and first chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party from 1967 until his execution in 1979.

His government drafted and promulgated Pakistan’s current Constitution in 1973. He brought in Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, strengthened the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, and initiated the country’s nuclear programme, which he regarded as a ‘national priority’. He also introduced a policy of extensive nationalisation under a social agenda. His government was overthrown by army chief General Zia-ul-Haq on 5 July 1977. Controversially tried, widely described both in Pakistan and internationally as ‘judicial murder’, it was later declared ‘unfair’ by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in a mea culpa, following which he was posthumously awarded the Nishan-e-Pakistan, the country’s highest civilian award, by the Government of Pakistan. One of the judges of the Supreme Court, Dr Nasim Hassan Shah, later admitted that the judges were pressurised by General Zia-ul-Haq to give capital........

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