ISLAMABAD, April 3: Chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Benazir Bhutto on Tuesday said that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto always opposed military rule as he considered it a cancer eating up a society.

In a message on the occasion of death anniversary of Pakistan’s first directly elected prime minister falling on Wednesday, Ms Bhutto said he viewed military rule as a negation of the very genesis of the country that came into being as a result of a democratic process.

“His contributions to an impregnable Pakistan are seen in the nuclear programme as well as in the Kamra aeronautical factory. He built the Heavy Mechanical Complex and revived the morale of the armed forces after the shameful surrender in Dhaka.

She said he brought back 90,000 prisoners of war from Indian camps as well as Pakistani territory lost in the 1971 war. The PPP chairperson said Bhutto believed the army’s indulgence in political quagmire was harmful to its professional competence as an institution.

She quoted Mr Bhutto as saying: “The Pakistan armed forces cannot afford a moment’s deviation from their real responsibility. For the sake of Pakistan’s integrity, they simply cannot afford to get involved or absorbed in the political life of the country. Those soldiers who leave barracks and move into government mansions lose wars and become prisoners of war as happened in 1971.”

“To his lasting credit remains the 1973 Constitution of the country, the Simla Accord of 1972 which brought the longest peace between India and Pakistan, the social reforms to build an egalitarian society, the non- aligned foreign policy, the nuclear programme and the building of the social, economic and military infrastructure of the country.”

Ms Bhutto said that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was an intellectual giant, a thinker, author and orator. He was deliberate, discreet and competent; honest, upright and keeper of his covenants.

He was a friend of the poor, downtrodden and oppressed. His courage was such that he preferred to face death for his beliefs and embraced martyrdom.

She said the most important and the most enduring legacy of the Quaid-i-Awam was raising the consciousness of the people for democracy. He awakened the masses, making them realize they were the legitimate fountainhead of political power.

He enlightened the farmer, the industrial worker, the student, the woman and the rest of the common people of their importance and of their right of franchise, which is the definite means of bringing changes for the betterment of the lives of the common people.