Murtaza Bhutto

MURTAZA BHUTTO
Like his elder sister, Benazir, Murtaza Bhutto was a novice to active
politics until 1978 when his father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was sentenced to
death by the Lahore High Court. In the span of 15 years, however, Murtaza
has managed to gain considerable notoriety for a brand of politics that has
moved in diametrically opposing direction to Benazir's.
Born in Karachi on September 18, 1954, Mir Murtaza received his early
education at St. Mary's School, Rawalpindi. He later passed his ‘O’ levels
from the Karachi Grammar School in 1971.
In 1972, Murtaza went off to Harvard University where he studied
Government, specialising in strategic studies. He graduated with honours in
1976, and his thesis was entitled ``Modicum of Harmony'' which dealt with
the spread of nuclear weapons in general, and the implications of India's
nuclear capability for Pakistan in particular.
Murtaza went on to Christ Church College Oxford, his father's alma mater,
for a three-year course to read for an M.Lit. degree. But the death penalty
awarded to his father in 1978 seriously disrupted his studies. Murtaza was on
the verge of rushing home when he received a message from his father asking
him to remain abroad where he could mobilise an international campaign for
his release.
Murtaza had been present in Pakistan when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's
government was overthrown on July 5, 1977. Along with other family
members, Murtaza had returned to Al-Murtaza, Larkana, and at the time was
busy helping in the preparations for the elections schedule for October 1977.
But on September 16, 1977 when Bhutto was arrested from Al-Murtaza, he
ordered his son to leave the country.
After Bhutto was sentenced, Murtaza joined hands with his brother the late
Shahnawaz Bhutto, to initiate a campaign to muster international support to
revoke the death penalty looming over his father's head. Leaders from Syria,
Libya, and the PLO were particularly supportive. Mercy appeals were sent by
several heads of state to General Ziaul Haq which failed, however, to sway
his decision.
Murtaza Bhutto; Copyright © www.bhutto.org
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