A Critical Assessment of Z.A Bhutto’s Policies (1973–1977)

When Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto ascended to power in Pakistan, the country was in its critical phase of economic deterioration. He, in fact, had to face multidimensional challenges from all directions simultaneously. An extreme level of hopelessness and futility among the nation was painfully evident as a result of the severe cross-border tensions with India during that time. Following the martial law era of Field Marshal Ayub Khan, the repulsive regional differences and class discrepancy were prevailing in the economy. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto came up with the idea of equality and social justice in order to quickly gain attention and favor from masses by adopting policies in the favor of common masses. He made several reforms in different major sectors of the economy in the first place which were merely based on the proposition of nationalization. A great debate has been conducted since then to justify whether the policy of nationalization came out as a curse or blessing for the country. This paper attempts to find out what the persisting literature talks about it, to provide our own point of view with some strong notions.