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Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was a charismatic leader who played a central role in Pakistan’s political history. As the country’s President and later Prime Minister in the 1970s, he laid the foundation for Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, seeing it as essential for national security.
Bhutto founded the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in 1967 and quickly became a dominant figure. After the 1971 war with India, he took charge of a divided nation. Determined to rebuild Pakistan's strength, he focused on self-reliance — especially in defense.
The 1971 Indo-Pak war, which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh, was a major blow to Pakistan. Bhutto believed that to prevent future national humiliation, Pakistan must possess nuclear weapons to deter aggression.
Bhutto’s most famous quote on the subject was: “We will eat grass, even go hungry, but we will get one of our own [nuclear bomb].” This captured his fierce resolve to make Pakistan a nuclear power at any cost.
In January 1972, Bhutto invited top Pakistani scientists to a meeting in Multan. He urged them to begin work on a nuclear device, promising full political and financial support. This meeting is widely seen as the starting point of Pakistan’s nuclear program.
Bhutto’s government invested heavily in scientific infrastructure. He later brought Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan into the fold, whose expertise in uranium enrichment played a key role in accelerating Pakistan’s nuclear capability.
Though he was ousted in 1977 and executed in 1979, Bhutto is still credited as the architect of Pakistan’s nuclear ambitions. The program he started eventually led to Pakistan becoming a nuclear-armed nation in 1998.
(Images credit: Wikipedia & Grok AI)
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