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The western-educated son of a wealthy landowning family in Sind, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto served as foreign minister from 1963 to 1966.
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The first nationwide general election since independence was held in December 1970. The Awami League gained control of the National Assembly by winning nearly all the seats in East Pakistan, with the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, winning the majority of seats in West Pakistan. When negotiations between the two parties on the goals and constitution of the new government broke down at the end of March, East Pakistan declared its independence. Civil war erupted, with troops from West Pakistan battling irregular forces in East Pakistan and brutally suppressing the civilian population. India sent troops in aid of East Pakistan in early December 1971, and within two weeks West Pakistan's troops surrendered; East Pakistan became the independent nation of Bangladesh.
Yahya Khan resigned and Bhutto became president and chief martial law administrator of a much smaller Pakistan. Under his leadership, banks, insurance firms, and major industries were nationalized, land reforms were instituted, and martial law lifted. In August 1973, a new constitution that the Bhutto government helped draft and that the National Assembly passed went into effect. The third constitution in the nation's history, it set up a parliamentary system of government, and Bhutto resigned from the presidency to become prime minister. When his party, the PPP, won the March 1977 general elections, the opposition parties charged fraud and electoral malfeasance and began widespread demonstrations that turned violent. The army was called in to restore order.
photo: UN Photo
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