The Sindh government has announced a Sindh public holiday on April 4 to mark the death anniversary of former prime minister and Pakistan Peoples Party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. A formal notification has also been issued in this regard.
According to the notification issued on Monday, all government offices, autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies, corporations and local councils under the provincial government’s administrative control will remain closed on Saturday. However, essential services will continue to operate.
The holiday has been declared in connection with the death anniversary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged on April 4, 1979. The annual date remains politically and historically significant in Sindh, particularly for supporters of the PPP.
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Bhutto was the only son of Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto and was born on January 5, 1928. His early education began at Bombay’s Cathedral High School before he continued his studies abroad.
Who was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Bhutto joined the University of Southern California in 1947 and later studied at the University of California at Berkeley in June 1949. After completing a degree with honours in Political Science in June 1950, he went on to Oxford and was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in 1953.
After returning to Pakistan, he began practising law and entered government in 1958 as commerce minister in President Iskander Mirza’s cabinet. He later became one of the youngest ministers in Ayub Khan’s cabinet and served as foreign minister from 1963.
Bhutto founded the Pakistan Peoples Party on November 30, 1967. The source text also credits him with starting the country’s nuclear programme and helping make possible the consensus passage of the 1973 Constitution.
His legacy continues to shape Pakistan’s political history, which is why April 4 remains an important commemorative date in Sindh.