Mir Murtaza Bhutto remembered on 20th death anniversary

KARACHI: Workers and party loyalists across the country and abroad pay homage to the former chairman of Pakistan People’s Party-Shaheed Bhutto (PPP-SB) Mir Murtaza Bhutto on his 20th death anniversary today.

Born in Karachi on September 18, 1954, Murtaza Bhutto acquired his early education from the same city, before moving on to Harvard and Oxford for higher education. Having the genes of his father and former Pakistan PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, he forayed into politics at a very young age.

He was forced to go into exile after toppling of his father's government by General Zia ul Haq.

While in exile, Murtaza strived to secure release of his father and made desperate attempts to get his execution halted.

In 1981, he was alleged of hijacking a PIA plane en route to Kabul from Peshawar, besides forming Al-Zulfiqar. He remained outside the country during the first tenure of his sister and late former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Murtaza, however, returned to country during Benazir's second term.

He founded his own party PPP-Shaheed Bhutto and was elected to the Sindh Assembly from Larkana.

On September 20, 1996, Mir Murtaza Bhutto was assassinated along with six affiliates. He was ambushed by policemen near his residence 70 Clifton in Karachi as he returned from a rally.

Having all the luxuries of life, he was regarded as a left-wing revolutionary who spoke of the rights of the oppressed.

Murtaza Bhutto was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard in Garhi Khuda Baksh, Larkana.