Bhutto’s Populism and it’s Traces in Todays Pakistan

Bhutto had been paying “lip service” to socialism from the start. Whether this was a calculated
and a long-term political strategy, or a matter of fundamental political belief is not clear.
Regardless of purpose and intensity, Bhutto continued to evoke a socialist image while a Cabinet
Minister under Ayyub Khan. Bhutto demonstrated political cunning in dissociating himself from
the Ayyub regime, the unsuccessful war with India and the Tashkent Agreement even though he
had been an advocate of each. His Pro-China, anti-imperialist rhetoric, his stint in jail and of
course his steadfast anti-India stance, endeared Bhutto to a nation which had been reared on anti-
Indian sentiment and was becoming disenchanted with the Ayub regime and the international
partners it had chosen to associate with. With the surrender of Pakistani troops on December 16,
1971, in Dhaka, Bangladesh came into being, within a matter of days, Bhutto began to put into
effect his mandate of the people, based on his electoral manifesto which had won him a majority
in the elections in West Pakistan a year earlier. While economic and social reform was a key
plank of the Bhutto promise, what needed pressing attention, among numerous things, was the
return of the 93,000, mostly military, prisoners of war (POWs) in India. Bhutto outdid himself
when he met Indira Gandhi at Simla in July 1972 and got the better of her through his persuasive
negotiating skills, and secured the release of Pakistani POWs (who came home in 1974), with
India returning Pakistan’s territory, and both countries accepting the ceasefire line in Kashmir as
the Line of Control. Bhutto returned a hero, yet again, to Pakistan, not just for the people, but
also for sections of the military. On a parallel track, Bhutto’s leftist economic team was
implementing promises that had been made during the election campaign of 1970. With “roti,
kapra aur makaan” the key slogans of Bhutto’s electoral commitment of his notion of Islamic
Socialism and social justice, the manifesto of his Pakistan People’s Party had promised the
nationalisation of all basic industries and financial institutions. extensive labour reforms were
also initiated by the Bhutto government, giving labour far greater rights than they had had in the
past, through which, he again gained the trust of the public via populism. With the need to break
the industrial-financial nexus a pillar of Bhutto’s populist social agenda, in a country which at
that time was predominantly rural and agricultural, the ownership of land determined economic,
social and political power. Bhutto had promised to break the hold of the feudals and undertook
extensive land reforms in March 1972. The PPP manifesto laid the premise for this action by
stating that “the breakup of the large estates to destroy the feudal landowners is a national
necessity that will have to be carried through by practical measures”. The government had
decided that the land resumed from landowners would not receive any compensation unlike the
Ayub Khan reforms of 1959, and this land was to be distributed free to landless tenants. The
ceilings for owning land were also cut from 500 acres of irrigated land to 150 acres in 1972,
which also resulted in attracting the interests of ordinary people, which is the essence of
populism. However, while economic and social reform was a key plank of the Bhutto promise
and his energies were also consumed by the process of getting the POWs released, giving
Pakistan its first democratic constitution was also high on his agenda. A key clause in the 1973
Constitution required members of the armed forces to take an oath promising not to take part in
political activities and making it illegal for the military to intervene in politics.  Moreover,
Bhutto was known for his enthusiastic manner of delivering speeches on a dais in front of a huge
gathering in his dramatic and impassioned performances, it was common for microphones to be
smashed. Bhutto inspired generations with his oratory, embedding the kinesthesia of nationalism
without any fast medium of communication.
If we talk about todays Pakistan, traces of Bhutto’s populism are still visible infront of us. Our
present Prime Minister follows the same walk of Bhutto’s to attract ordinary people via
populism. Although, Khan’s political style is very different from that of Bhutto , but he has
generally been described as an excellent communicator with a populist style which is dominated
by progressive views such as promoting women’s rights, religious freedom, freedom of
expression, and getting rid of corruption. Starting from the basic, Imran Khan used a lot of
personal pronouns in his speeches that help to project a strong, personal relationship between the
speaker and the listener. Khan used more words like “We”, “Our” and “Us” in his speeches to
position himself discursively with the ordinary people of Pakistan, to build a sense of solidarity
and evoke a feeling of national unity. Moreover, Imran Khan does not have the reputation of
being a pious Muslim, he speaks about religion surprisingly often in his speeches. In his
speeches, Khan holds up the Islamic state of Medina as an example of good governance,
embodying key features such as justice and uprightness, education and awareness, tolerance,
equality, brotherhood, dignity, power, and reformation of behaviour and attitude. He promised to
make Pakistan “Riasat-e-Medina” which attracted the ordinary people to vote for him. Moreover,
Khan has won popularity with the lower classes of society in Pakistan because he talks about
their rights. During his 2018 election campaign he constantly criticised the previous government
for not doing anything for the depressed people in Pakistan. He promised to build five million
houses for the poor people and create jobs for them. Moreover, he talked about women’s rights
publicly in a huge gathering, which is not easy for a politician who claims to represent a
multicultural country, since discussing this issue poses a contradiction to some of the cultural
norms of certain sub-cultures. Khan inspired popularity by denouncing the elites and corrupt
mafia, this time inspiring people through his personalised, persuasive speeches with the help of
digital platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
In sum, Imran Khan´s populist style is characterised by the skilled management of personal
forms to convey closeness to his audiences and encourage them to identify with his vision for
Pakistan. He uses personal forms to evoke emotions towards different issues such as nationalism,
pluralism, religion, and corruption. Khan’s discursive approach seemed to bring new hope to the
Pakistani electorate since he managed to speak for the oppressed, while offering real hope to
disadvantaged groups.