Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's letter to President Mirza, 1958

The following letter was written by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to President Iskander Mirza while Bhutto was in Geneva to chair the Pakistan delegation to the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea in early 1958.

Bhutto was just thirty year old and rather young for such an appointment. It was thought that he was chosen due to his extraordinary intelligence, brilliant credentials as a lawyer and boon companionship with President Mirza, strengthened by their hunting expeditions on Bhutto's family lands in Larkana, Sindh.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's letter to President Mirza, 1958

April, 1958

H.E. Major-General Iskander Mirza,
President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,
Karachi,
Pakistan.

My dear Sir,

Only a few lines to let you know that I am discharging my responsibilities here to the best of my ability. I shall give you a detailed report of my work on my return to Pakistan and I am sure you will be satisfied with the manner in which I have done my humble best to serve the interests of my Country and my President.

I would like to take this opportunity to reassure you of my imperishable and devoted loyalty to you. Exactly four months before the death of my late Father, he had advised me to remain steadfastly loyal to you as you were "not an individual but an institution". For the greater good of my own Country, I feel that your services to Pakistan are indispensable. When the history of our Country is written by objective historians, your name will be placed even before that of Mr. Jinnah. Sir, I say this because I mean it and not because you are the President of my Country.

If I have the conviction and the courage to enter into a dispute with a Prime Minister, I do not think I could be found guilty of the charge of flattery.

If you and the Begum Sahiba require anything from here, please do not hesitate to order me for it.

With profoundest respects both to you and to the Begum Sahiba,

Yours sincerely,

(Zulfikar Ali Bhutto)

I attach hereto text of my Statements made on the 17th and 25th of March, 1958 respectively.

Source: Iskander Mirza Speaks (Speeches, Statements and Private Papers)
Compiled and Edited by Ahmad Salim (1997). Gora Publishers, Lahore

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