Shah Nawaz Bhutto

Shah Nawaz Bhutto, the son of Ghulam Murtaza Bhutto , was born in a Sindhi Bhutto Muslim Rajput family of Sindh as the youngest brother of Nawab Nabi Bux Khan Bhutto.[3] The Bhutto family owned 250,000 acres of land spread over Larkana, Sukkur and Jacobabad.[4] Shah Nawaz got his early education at 'Sindh Madressa' in Karachi and later at St. Patrick's High School in Karachi.[1]

Bhutto entered the Legislative Council of the Bombay Province, of which Sindh was a part, in 1921 at the age of 33. He continued till 1936. During this time, he received the honours of CIE followed by knighthood. In 1934, he became a minister in the Bombay government.[4]

Bhutto attended the Round Table Conference in 1931 as a leader of Sindhi Muslims demanding separation of Sind from the Bombay province. This was eventually granted in the Government of India Act 1935, with Sind becoming a separate province on 1 April 1936. Bhutto was appointed as a chief advisor to the Governor of Sind.[4]

In preparation for the provincial elections in 1937, the Sind United Party was formed by Haji Abdullah Haroon and Bhutto joined it as the vice-chairman of the party.[5] It was modeled after the Punjab Unionist Party and claimed to represent all Sindhis irrespective of religion. Nevertheless, Bhutto brought leading pirs (Sufi saints) to influence the voters 'religiously' to cast their votes in his favour.[6] The Sind United Party emerged as the largest party in the elections, winning 21 out of 60 seats. However, both Harron and Bhutto failed to get elected. The Larkana seat, which Bhutto had contested, was won by Sheikh Abdul Majid Sindhi. The Governor invited Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah, the leader of the Sind Muslim Party and a political rival of Bhutto in Sind, to form a government. Large scale defections took place in the Assembly, Bhutto resigned from the party and Haroon eventually merged his party into the All-India Muslim League.[5][7][8]

Bhutto returned to Bombay to become the Chairman of the Bombay-Sind Public Service Commission.[4]

Early in 1947, Bhutto joined the council of ministers of Muhammad Mahabat Khan III the Nawab of Junagadh in the modern-day province of Gujarat, becoming its Dewan, or prime minister in May.

At the time of the independence of India in 1947, the princely states were asked by the British to decide whether to join the newly independent states of India or Pakistan or to remain autonomous and outside them. The Constitutional Advisor to the Nawab, Nabi Baksh, indicated to Lord Mountbatten that he was recommending that the State should join India. However, the Nawab did not make a decision. Early in 1947, Bhutto was invited to join the Council of Ministers of the Nawab. In May, when the Dewan Abdul Khadir Muhammad Hussain went abroad for medical treatment, Bhutto was appointed as the Dewan. On 15 August 1947, the State announced that it had acceded to Pakistan. On 13 September 1947, the Government of Pakistan accepted the accession.[9]

However, the Hindu citizens of the State revolted, leading to several events and also a plebiscite, resulting in the integration of Junagadh into India.[10] Nawab Muhammad Mahabat Khan III of Junagadh (erstwhile Babi Nawab dynasty of Junagadh) fled to Sindh, Pakistan.[11] As Dewan of Junagarh; it was he who wrote and signed the letter addressed to Indian Government to come and take over the administration of the Junagadh state.

Shah Nawaz Bhutto moved to Larkana District, where his land-ownership made him among the wealthiest and most influential people in Sindh.[2] Bhutto was a good friend of Governor General (later President) Iskander Mirza, who was a regular guest for the annual hunt in Larkana, staying at the Bhutto family home called Al-Murtaza. In the winter of 1955-1956, Mirza brought General Ayub Khan with him to Larkana for the hunt.

The British imperial government awarded Bhutto the title of Khan Sahib, subsequently raising it to Khan Bahadur. Bhutto was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Civil Division (OBE) in the 1920 New Year Honours list,[12] with a further appointment as a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in the 1925 New Year Honours list.[13] In the 1930 New Year Honours, Bhutto was knighted,[14] and was invested with his knighthood on 27 February 1930 at Viceroy's House in New Delhi by the Viceroy of India, the Lord Irwin.[15][16]

• He was a Delegate to the Round Table Conference in London in 1930-31 as a leader of Sindhi Muslims demanding separation of Sindh from the Bombay Province[1]
• Pakistan Postal Services issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honor in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series.[1]

Bhutto was a first cousin once removed of Wahid Baksh Bhutto, who in 1924 was made a sardar and in 1926 was elected to the Imperial Legislative Assembly from Sindh, a constituency of the Bombay Presidency, becoming the first member of the Bhutto family to be elected to public office.

Shah Nawaz Bhutto was married to Khursheed Begum, formerly Lakhi Bai, who was of a modest Hindu family. She converted from Hinduism to Islam before her marriage.[17] Her brothers remained Hindu and eventually migrated to India.

Their children included Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, and a daughter called Mumtaz, who married Brigadier Muhammad Mustafa Khan Bahadur of the Sidi clan.[18] Their first child, Sikandar, died from pneumonia at the age of seven in 1914, and their second child, Imdad Ali, died of cirrhosis at the age of thirty-nine in 1953. Their son Zulfikar Ali was born in his parents' residence near Larkana, and was their third child.[3]

• Arain
• Bhutto family
• Shahnawaz Bhutto

Sources

• Chitkara, M. G. (1996), Benazir, a Profile, APH Publishing, pp. 18–, ISBN 978-81-7024-752-4
• Jalal, Ayesha (1994), The Sole Spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League and the Demand for Pakistan, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-45850-4
• Lieven, Anatol (28 April 2011), Pakistan: A Hard Country: A Hard Country, Penguin Books Limited, pp. 387–, ISBN 978-0-14-196929-9
• Siddiqi, Farhan Hanif (2012), The Politics of Ethnicity in Pakistan: The Baloch, Sindhi and Mohajir Ethnic Movements, Routledge, pp. 78–, ISBN 978-0-415-68614-3