If we assume the
Pakistani political landscape as a stage of theatrical performance we can find
many figures starkly resembling characters from classical dramatic literature
down to the modern one. Among them a well known figure, a charismatic leader
and an excellent orator, was Zulfiaqar Ali Bhutto. He was a man blessed with
many striking qualities and was famous not only inside his own country but was
hailed globally. Despite all these great qualities and insight he suffered
terribly in the field of politics, the story culminated into his death. By
casting a critical glance at his political career and disposition, we can
assume that he resembles the tragic hero of Classical and English literature.
According to the
theories, the hero of a tragedy should be a man of relatively esteemed status,
taking action of free will and choice, courage to take decisions and to suffer
by it. His fall should be due to hamartia: a tragic flaw in his character or
error of judgment. The hero suffers due to hamartia, and this very element
hasten his end. There is enough
substance for comparison between the tragic hero and the figure of the late
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Bhutto was a scion of
the landed gentry of Sindh, and had received his education abroad. His interaction
with centers of powers came for the first time during the reign of Sikandar
Mirza, who introduced him into the presidency. Mr.Shahab, (the then principal
secretary of Sikandar mirza ) writes in his memoir, that Sikandar Mirza brought
him to me said .” he is Zulfi, a young
barrister belongs to a well-off family
of sindh, he wants to read about Sindh in the liabrary of presidency”. one day when
he was informed that he was selected for the UN delegation, Bhutto ,writes
Shahab, “started English dance in the room, and said I am on the track now and
will reach the slot of foreign minster” (Shahabnama P-481).
Bhutto, being an
ambitious and calculated man, reached his goal within a short period of time.
He was selected into Ayub’s cabinet first as minister for minerals and later as
the foreign minister, as he had envisaged. He achieved everything he had
desired for, starting from a minister reached to the position of president and
prime minister of the country. But what precipitated his fall was certainly
the hamartia, and the flaw of his character was over ambition … If the
flaw of Oedipus was his relentless curiosity, Faustus’ quest for knowledge,
Hamlet’s indecisiveness, over ambition for power was the hamartia of Bhutto’s
character.
It were Mujib whose
party had got majority seats in the election and was in his rights to form the
government, but Bhutto and Yahya did not let him do so. They were never ready
to lose with power, but to take it by hook or crook. He stopped MPs from
attending the session at Dakka, and the statements like ‘one way ticket, and
legs be broken’ came to the fore. It was this disposition which culminated into
the debacle of 1971.
After the separation of
Bengal, Bhutto became the chief executive of Pakistan and his hamartia
started intensifying yet further. Though he achieved certain milestones during his
career, formation of the constitution of 1973 is one of the glaring examples.
When the end of his tenure was approaching near, he could not part with the
power and wanted to regain the same. He was even not satisfied with the powers
attached to the slot of prime minster, and wanted to change the constitution
along the presidential lines, for this to happen he needed 2/3 majority in the
parliament. This ambition set the stage for circumstances which culminated into
the dark
age of Zia regime.
The ambition for glory
haunted him even to the gallows. It is said that the late president of
Palastine, Yasir Arafat wanted him to be released from the prison through a
commando action, but Bhutto refused to be done so.( If it is interpreted as his
being a law abiding nature, the events
of 1971 and 1977 may not be lost sights of) But was his ambition for glory or
perhaps to become political martyr .
If the concept of
tragic hero is applied to the whole career of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, a large
resemblance can be found between the two. Social standing of the tragic hero,
events in which he gains prominence, and the tragic flaw of his character which
causes his fall.
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