KARACHI: Former chief minister of Sindh Mumtaz Bhutto passed away Sunday at the age of 94.
Mumtaz Bhutto, a cousin and close aide of former prime minister and PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, passed away at his residence in Karachi.
While confirming his death, his spokesperson Ibrahim Abro told APP that he had been ill for some time, adding that Bhutto's body will be taken to Larkana for the funeral.
Mumtaz Ali Khan Bhutto was a Pakistani politician who served as 8th Governor of Sindh and later the 13th Chief Minister of Sindh. He is also the first cousin of former Prime Minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Mumtaz Ali Bhutto was born on November 28, 1933 in the village of Pir Bux Bhutto, Larkana District, Sindh, British Raj. Before partition his father Nawab Nabi Bux Khan Bhutto was a member of the legislative assembly and had a strong political background.
Bhutto became a member of the National Assembly at the age of 32 years on 5 March 1965. When he and his cousin Zulfikar Ali Bhutto announced for a new political party 'Pakistan Peoples Party' PPP on March 30, 1967, he also became the founding member and principal executive committee member of the party.
He and his cousin Zulfikar Ali Bhutto fought the election of March 17, 1970 against Muhammad Ayub Khuhro and Qazi Fazlullah Ubaidullah. He got victory against Qazi Fazalullah.
His cousin, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Pakistan and Mumtaz Ali Bhutto became Governor of Sindh on December 24, 1971, then Chief Minister of Sindh Province on May 1, 1972. His cousin always used to call him a "talented cousin".
Citing differences with Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto split from Pakistan Peoples Party and created his own party, Sindh National Front in 1989. In 2017, he merged SNF with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
As a Chief Minister, he announced Sindhi language as the official language of the Province. Sindhi Language Bill, 1972 was introduced by the Chief Minister Mumtaz Bhutto on July 3, 1972, in the Sindh Assembly, Pakistan.
The 1972 Language violence in Sindh occurred starting on July 7, 1972, when the Sindh Assembly passed The Sindh Teaching, Promotion and Use of Sindhi Language Bill, 1972 which established Sindhi language as the sole official language of the province resulting in language violence in Sindh.
Due to the clashes, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, compromised and announced that Urdu and Sindhi will both be official languages of Sindh. The making of Sindhi as an equal language to Urdu for official purposes frustrated the Urdu-speaking people as they did not speak the Sindhi language.
He was elected to a seat in the provincial assembly from Larkana on October 6, 1993. On November 6, 1996, he became the Chief Minister of Sindh.
He has two sons Ameer Bux Bhutto and Ali Bhutto.
