ABSTRACT

There are two ways to study the Bhutto era. First, it may be seen as an irrevocable break with the dominant pattern of military intervention in Pakistani politics since the early 1950s. Here Bhutto’s ascendancy to power in December 1971 is seen as a turning point in Pakistani political history. It is viewed as a new beginning which laid the foundation for a democratic and constitutional political system and a mixed economy to meet the popular aspirations of Pakistanis. The holding of national elections, the adoption of a new Constitution (1973), and efforts to curb corruption and to nationalize select sectors of the Pakistan economy, are signs of Bhutto’s attempt to restructure Pakistan’s political, military and economic affairs. The theme of a new beginning is also relevant in Pakistan’s foreign policy under Bhutto. After the break-up of Pakistan and the defeat of the Pakistani Army at Indian hands, Pakistanis went through an identity, and a psychological, crisis. The events of 1971 damaged the pet Pakistani theory that Muslims and Hindus were two separate nations. The year 1971 showed that there was unity between Indira Gandhi’s Hindus and the Bangladeshi Muslims and that there was total disunity between West Pakistani Muslims and the Bengali ones. The same year also showed that ethnicity rather than religion was the driving element in Pakistani politics. Furthermore, the Pakistani Army had projected itself as the guardian of Pakistan’s internal and external security. After the fall of Dacca the Army’s defeat undermined the Army’s guardianship role and image. As a result of these crises, Bhutto recognized the realities. He accepted a shift in the regional balance of power in India’s favour. He accepted that war was no longer a viable method with which to liberate Kashmir. The issue of Kashmiri liberation was put on the backburner by Bhutto. By accepting the Simla Agreement (1972), Bhutto acknowledged the principles of peaceful negotiation and bilateralism as the basis of India-Pakistan relations. This was a turning point in Bhutto’s and West Pakistani psychology. The change in Bhutto was striking since he, more than any other Pakistani leader, had continuously played up the theme of Kashmiri liberation in Pakistani politics since the 1960s. He had talked about fighting the Hindus for a thousand years. He had played up the notion that one Muslim equalled ten Hindus. So it was in this area that Bhutto’s foreign policy with India after 1971 was a major break with Bhutto’s pre-1971 personal attitudes and policy, which had stressed anti-Indianism and the primacy of the Kashmir dispute in Pakistani foreign and military affairs.