The Truth about
Bhutto’s Indian Nationality “Scandal”
By Dr Afzal Mirza
Sparks, MD
After his retirement
as deputy secretary ministry of foreign affairs
in 1971 and serving as law revision commissioner
in Uganda Syed Ali Raza chose to spend the rest
of his life in Maryland USA and wrote his autobiography
in two volumes under the title Mere Zamane (My Times).
Unfortunately he died last year. Four years ago
when I was forced by circumstances to shift to Baltimore
I had the privilege of meeting the gentleman who
by then had grown sufficiently old and it was difficult
to communicate with him. However, his daughter Dr
Attiya Khan who is an eminent physician and a literary
figure, gave me Mere Zamane to read.
The first volume of the book described Syed Ali
Raza’s earlier life in UP, India, and his
entry into the service at a lower rung but by the
time the country was partitioned he had already
become a superintendent due to his sheer hard work.
On opting for Pakistan he was posted in the refugees
ministry in Karachi. The ministry was later on renamed
as the ministry of refugees and rehabilitation and
soon after Ayub Khan’s martial law under Gen
Azam Khan it was given the task of finalizing the
rehabilitation work and winding up the ministry
in a given span of time. As described by Syed Ali
Raza soon after the partition the main task before
the ministry was to frame the rules of business
for rehabilitation work in the form of an ordinance
which was not an easy task. Syed Ali Raza points
out that it was more due to the diligence of the
lower staff than the top bureaucrats that this work
was completed in record time.
It was during the same period that Syed Ali Raza
first met Z.A. Bhutto. He writes: “The most
complex case related to the funds deposited in the
courts was that of a famous political personality
of the country who later on served as minister in
various ministries and prime minister and president
of the country. He was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto whom
I’ll mention as only Bhutto Sahib in (the)
rest of my book. A few years after the signing of
treaty on evacuee property Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto
the father of Z.A.Bhutto came to my office with
Bhutto sahib and asked me to take special care of
this young man. From that time onwards Bhutto sahib
was consulting me about his problems related to
the evacuee property and I am proud to say that
he would always treat me with honor and respect.
Bhutto sahib’s problem was that when he was
still a young lad his father Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto
had given a house in the name of young Bhutto to
the Bombay High Court as a court deposit. After
some time with the permission of the court Sir Shahnawaz
sold that house and deposited the amount of Rs 148000
in the same court as a deposit. In 1948 laws related
to the evacuee property were enforced in India and
Pakistan. So a request was made to the court for
the release of the said amount. The request was
turned down with the reasoning that because the
amount was generated from an immovable property
therefore it should be treated as immovable property.
Since at that time there was no agreement between
the two countries pertaining to the immovable property
therefore this deposit could not be released. This
was the position regarding this deposit in the name
of Bhutto sahib when Sir Shahnawaz introduced him
to me. The question was how to get this money released
from Bombay High Court.”
Syed Ali Raza continues: “At first we raised
this issue in a meeting with Indian counterparts
but they came with the same excuse that since this
is related to immovable property so it does not
fall in their jurisdiction…In the meantime
in April 1954 the central assembly passed a resolution
that a law pertaining to the immovable property
left in India by refugees be framed and enacted.
Now there were two options before Bhutto sahib.
First, as per Indian government’s stand this
money resulting from the sale of the immovable property
be treated as immovable property and Bhutto sahib
should file a case in a Pakistani court constituted
for the purpose. Second, as per our stand after
its conversion to cash this amount be treated as
movable property and it should be paid to the claimant
through Government of Pakistan. To reach success
we kept ourselves engaged in both the options. We
advised him under Pakistani law he should file a
claim for immovable property before chief claims
commissioner and try to get postponement of the
verdict for the time being. So Bhutto sahib did
the same. On the other hand in a meeting of the
committee for movable properties we proposed that
the matured securities of those who have migrated
to India and which are in our possession should
be released and given to India and Bhutto sahib’s
deposit be taken out of Bombay High Court’s
custody and given to Pakistani Custodian of Court
Deposits. Upon this we were told in a meeting in
New Delhi that Bhutto sahib had filed a request
in Indian Supreme Court to declare him a non-evacuee.
So as long as that court did not give its decision
this matter could not be taken up and should be
kept pending. This revelation was really surprising
for us so the matter was deferred. On returning
from Delhi I personally talked to Bhutto sahib and
on his affirmation we discussed in detail the pros
and cons of such a case and a possible verdict both
in his favor or against him. So I advised him to
withdraw the case from Indian Supreme Court. He
followed the advice and sent a certificate to the
effect to us. But somehow the news of Bhutto sahib’s
request for declaring him a non-evacuee reached
the political circles of the country and it was
propagated that Bhutto was an Indian national.”
In his account Syed Ali Raza has written about a
gathering of his friends where a well-known religious
leader was busy in a tirade against Mr Bhutto accusing
him of being an Indian citizen. Syed Ali Raza interrupted
the cleric and pointed out the true situation. He
stated that Bhutto had given an application in the
Indian Supreme Court to declare him non-evacuee
but later on realizing its negative implications
withdrew it. He was never an Indian citizen nor
he would be so. Syed Ali Raza in his book wound
up the Bhutto property issue in these words,”
Let us now tell you how this matter ended. I had
earlier written that there were some matured securities
of a refugee who had taken refuge in India. So in
the next meeting of the custodian of deposits of
both India and Pakistan I handed over the securities
of Indian evacuee after getting them released from
a Pakistani court and asked my Indian counterpart
to get the deposit of Bhutto sahib released from
Bombay High Court and hand that over to us. So in
the next meeting we received a check of Rs 168000
from them pertaining to Bhutto sahib’s deposit.
Although the price of Bhutto’s property at
the time of its sale was Rs 148000 but Bombay High
Court also ordered to pay Rs 20000 as interest on
that amount. After some time Bhutto again sent another
application concerning this amount to me raising
some newly conceived points but on my explaining
that his demand was against rules withdrew it and
never felt annoyed.”
Syed Ali Raza writes that Bhutto never forgot that
favor and when he became foreign minister offered
him to join his ministry as deputy secretary and
at a later stage as a director.
Regarding Bhutto’s exit from Ayub’s
cabinet he writes, “In the mid June all of
us in the ministry had known that Bhutto sahib was
leaving. Because Ayub Khan was annoyed with him
therefore most of the ministry people were scared
of any retribution on meeting him. The feeling I
had for him and his kind attitude towards me I have
mentioned earlier in the book. So I considered it
my moral duty to pay him a farewell visit and although
my well wishers in the ministry warned me against
the consequences and particularly told me not to
go in my personal car to see him because secret
service people were noting down the numbers of the
nameplates of such cars but I went in my personal
car. Bhutto sahib immediately called me in. He looked
tired and a bit upset. He told me, ’Yes, Ali
Raza I am leaving’. I shook his hand bidding
him good by and with difficulty controlled the tears
swelled up in my eyes.”
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