From the ever wonderful Hasan Mujtaba sahib’s facebook.
When Bhutto founded the People’s Party in Lahore โ Hassan Mujtaba
It was Hameed Nizami, the owner of Nawa-i-Waqt, who introduced Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Lahore to the brother of Dr. Mubashir Hasan. However, Bhutto developed a friendship with Dr. Mubashir himself, and it was at Dr. Mubashir Hasan’s house that he laid the foundation of his then-new party, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
The first Vice President of the Pakistan People’s Party was the former diplomat J.A. Rahim, who wrote the foundational documents (foundation papers) of the party based on socialist principles. It was the same J.A. Rahim who encouraged Bhutto to stay in the country and politically confront the Ayub regime after resigning from the government. Otherwise, Bhutto โ intimidated by the terror and intimidation of Malik Amir Mohammad Khan, the then-Governor of West Pakistan (known as Kalabagh) โ was spending his time vacationing in Europe.
The party’s famous slogan “Roti, Kapra aur Makaan” (Bread, Clothing, and Shelter) was actually borrowed from Habib Jalib’s famous poem: “Har insaan maang raha hai roti, kapra aur makaan” (Every person is demanding bread, clothing, and shelter).
In those days, among those who used to meet Zulfikar Ali Bhutto โ who spent his evenings at Faletti’s Hotel โ were Habib Jalib, and left-wing student leaders from Lahore like Zafaryab Ahmed and Hassan Wasti.
Those who attended the founding meeting of the party at Dr. Mubashir’s house are all present in the historic photograph taken that day. In the photo, Sheikh Rashid โ unable to find a seat โ can be seen sitting in Bhutto’s lap. Others visible in the picture include Meraj Muhammad Khan, J.A. Rahim, Dr. Mubashir Hasan, Mustafa Khar, Hayat Muhammad Sherpao, Syed Saeed Hasan, Abdul Sattar Gabol, Nafis Siddiqui, Qasim Abbas Patel, Kamal Azfar, and possibly Khursheed Hasan Meer as well.
It is also a tragic chapter that shortly after coming to power, Bhutto became displeased with the same J.A. Rahim. He had J.A. Rahim and his sons arrested, and had them subjected to brutal torture at police stations โ including sexual violence against his sons. The man who carried out this violence was the notorious Karachi gangster Suleman Brohi. Suleman Brohi was later killed in the 1990s during the government of Jam Sadiq Ali or Muzaffar Hussain Shah.
