Founded by charismatic Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on November 30, 1967, till its golden jubilee celebrations on November 30, 2017, under Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has seen 50 years of its existence. These 50 years have always been full of struggle, turmoil, betrayal, court trials, jail terms, flogging, vote triumphs, exiles, murders, corruption charges, media trials, people’s confidence, people’s lack of trust and so on. The PPP is a cult; for many people, it is in their blood, while so many simply cannot put it up with. That is what the PPP has been throughout the history.
The birth of the PPP came without any planning. ZA Bhutto resigned from the Ayub cabinet in 1967 and with his like-minded friends, conceived the party in Lahore. The party fought and won a landslide victory in the 1970 elections. The party gave voice to the voiceless, power to the powerless and a culture of democracy to the democracy-less people and country. The party restructured the remaining part of the country after the devastating 1971 war which saw the breakup of Pakistan. The party gave the country a constitution which has been a binding factor in the ensuing years. The party established several national assets like the Pakistan State Oil, nuclear programme, the National Engineering Services of Pakistan, over 40 universities, local bodies system, and so on.
The party nationalised, and rightly nationalised, several industries and educational institutions. They all were working fine until the martial law boots played havoc with them and destroyed them. The 1977 martial law, by army dictator Gen Ziaul Haq, started a period of troubles, turmoil, and terror for the PPP. Bhutto kissed the gallows without budging from his stance of people’s supremacy. His followers stood firm and kissed the gallows and flogging centres. They wrote the history of heroism with their blood.
Bhutto’s young daughter – Benazir Bhutto – picked the party mission where it was left by her father. Enduing jails, trials, and troubles, she kept on moving ahead until 1988 when the military dictator was demolished in an air crash and the people spoke in favour of the PPP in the elections. Ensuing years saw the toppling of the PPP governments and its successful comebacks until 1999 when the army picked their fallen guns and aimed at the civilian government. The PPP with its archrival PML-N waged a war for the restoration of democracy. Then came 2007 and the daughter of Bhutto returned home after an eight-year exile, but only to be greeted with suicide bombers on her arrival in Karachi. She survived one attempt. She was not lucky in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007, and left the whole world mourning and her followers in a deep shock. Her spouse Asif Ali Zardari took her mission forward. Since Benazir’s departure, the party has been in popularity crises, thanks to the media trial, and establishment ploys and the rising tide of extremism and terrorism in the country.
Thinking of all the upheavals the party has experienced and endured them, it is a miracle that the party is still alive, though not as active and popular as it used to be till 2007, to celebrate its golden jubilee.
The party is a national asset and needs to be valued by the people of Pakistan. It is hoped that Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will make the party as per the aspiration of the public and traditional democratic spirits.
Political parties are national assets and the PPP is the most valued among them.
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