Medicinal Plants Of Pakistan - Achillea Mellofolium Linn Biranj Asif/Yarrow. (1996-6)

Pakistan is endowed with the wealth of medicinal plants. This is a natural botanical source of medicines being manufactured by indigenous pharmaceutical houses in Pakistan. These plants are also the basic source of modern pharmaceutical Market, although to day it has become an entire medical world of synthetics, with elevated prices a common man cannot afford.
It is therefore, the most appropriate time to consider development and organization of our medicinal plants industry to become independent in the provision of common indigenous natural drugs that are being used to treat diseases in most of our rural areas. In our country these plants generally grow wild but medicinal plants species are also cultivated which possess great potentialities not in the light of their use from centuries in the sub-continent in Greco - Arab (Unani or Eastern) system of medicine but also in the light of active principles or biodynamic compounds being isolated from them, using ultra modern screening techniques available in the country.
ACHILLEA MELLOFOLIUM LINN BIRANJ ASIF/YARROW
This member of composite family is a perennial herb with corymbose floers indigenous to North Asia, Europe and America, abounds in the Himalayas from Kashmir to Kumaon, Various uses are ascribed, to this herb e.g., stops bleeding from nose (styptic) also used as tonic, carminative and aromatic stimulant. The hot infusion is regarded as a powerful emmenagogue. To mark the occasion Pakistan Post Office is issuing a special postage stamp of Rs. 3/- denomination on November 25, 1996.

International Literacy Day. (1996-5)

International Literacy Day is observed and celebrated across the world on September 8th each year. The aim is to focus attention, reaffirm commitment, speed up action on the issue of literacy and to create a new spirit and forge a new political climate making access to literacy and basic education in developing countries like Pakistan.
International Literacy Day ought not be a day for celebrations but a summon to action. This day must carry the spirit on an appropriate Moment\' to focus attention, concern, commitment and action on the issue on the Literacy and Basic Education.
The resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1967 provides the following objective in connection with the celebration of the International Literacy Day:
i) Every one has the right to education.
ii) Education shall be free at least in the elementary and functional stages.
iii) Elementary education shall be compulsory.
iv) Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
v) Education shall be directed to the full development and strengthening of the human personality and create respect for human rights and fundamental freedom.
vi) It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups and shall further the activities of the UN for the maintenance of peace.
For the last 28 years, UNESCO has been observing International Literacy Day. Considerable efforts have gone into creating a general awareness of the people\'s right to basic education.
Despite progress in extending basic! primary education and combating illiteracy, the problem does not register any significant change. During past forty-eight years, the number of primary schools has been increased about fifteen folds and the enrolment has by gone up by twenty-two times. But, unfortunately, the alarming pace of increase in population has negated this effort. At present, only one-third of the school age children are enrolled. This gloomy situation of over all education coupled with widening gaps between urban and rural and male and female ratio calls for revolutionary as well as firm measures to tackle the massive problem effectively. Education for all is not a slogan but a challenge which needs firm commitment and dedicated resolve to make the challenge a success. Education is no longer perceived as an assignment for a Government, but is considered to be a mission for a Nation to participate in and to Strive for.
Our Education System has gone through a lot of development and diversification on for decades now but, the fact remains that, with an overall 37% of literacy (this is an estimated ratio) roughly 49% for male and 24% for the female population, no wonder Pakistan ranks amongst the lowest literate nations in the comity of the Third World countries to-day. Additionally, the drop-out phenomena, which is of massive scale, is of deep concern for the education planners.
Lack of access to the schools, especially for the girls in the rural areas inn general and, the fast growing rate of population in our country in particular to make a major contribution towards hampering Governments sincere endeavours to achieve both, a reasonable rate of literacy and the universalization of primary education.
(Contributed by Prime Minister Library Commission)
To commemorate the International Literacy Day, Pakistan Post Office is issuing a commemorative postage stamp of Rs. 2/- denomination on September 8, 1996.

Restoration Of National Heritage (Lahore GPO) (1996-4)

The magnificent building of the General Post Office, Lahore, lovingly called by Laborites as the GPO, is ideally located at the crossing of the Mcleod Road and the Mall. It sits at a corner where the old Nabha Road meets the Mall at a sharp angle. This gives this building a special shape of a triangle with an open base and a flattened top.
But, this is not the building where the General Post Office of Lahore was first housed in the middle of the 19th century. In some of the general books on Lahore, it is only mentioned that the first General Post Office was located in Anarkali near the Central Museum. But certainly, both the Anarkali and the Lahore Museum were then not at their present locations.
The entire length from the Lahori Gate to the Chauburji was then called Anarkali and according to one official letter dated 22nd September, 1860, the Lahore Museum was then located somewhere in the Anarkali. The Tollinton Market was constructed only in 1864 to house the first Punjab Exhibition and act as Museum premises for next 30 years finally to be shifted to the present building on Shahra-e-Quaid-e-Azam in 1894.
A thorough search of old Government record in the Punjab Record Office in the Anarkali Tomb and screening the information in old historical books and district gazetteers has revealed that the original building of the General Post Office was located south of the present day Tollinton Market (1864) and east of the Punjab Public Library (1882) on some part of the land now occupied by the Irrigation Secretariat on the library Road. Here in 1849, was constructed a barrack-like building to house the ever first Post Office of Lahore. It was headed by Mr. W.T. Clifford, the first Postmaster who assumed his charge on 2nd June, 1849 and lived in a large bungalow situated close-by in an extensive compound. Near the GPO-barrack and almost opposite the Punjab Public Library, then stood a small cottage, known as Lockland, used as the headquarters office and armoury of the Punjab Volunteers. The Postmaster of Lahore, then used to work under the Postmaster General of the North Western Provinces with his headquarters at Agra.
Although after 1849, some additions were made to the post office buildings but soon the Postmaster General felt that the accommodation is hardly sufficient for the staff. Besides, he had certain reservation about the very site of the Post Office. The Lahore Cantonment, then located in Old Anarkali was being shifted to Mian Mir (present day Lahore Cantonment) and several buildings in the Anarkali were vacated. Mr. B. Riddall, the Postmaster General of the North-Western Provinces, Agra, therefore wrote in March 1852 to the Secretary, Board of Administration, Punjab, inviting his attention to his earlier letter of November 10, 1851, and requested him to allot one of the houses vacated by the army officers in Anarkali for the use as Post Office. Mr. Riddall was of the opinion that if a suitable house is not given to him at this stage, he will have to spend a considerable more amount on the alterations of the existing structures or to build a new house in Mian Mir where the Cantonment was then being shifted. The request of the Postmaster General, however, could not be acceded to and deferred for one year. When was this promise fulfilled? We are not sure. One of the authority of H.R. Goulding, author of \'Old Lahore\' (1924), we know that the original barrack-like GPO building, Postmaster\'s bungalow and the Lockland Cottage were demolished in 1854 to give place to the huge Secretariat of the Public Works Department. In all subsequent literature, the GPO of Lahore is referred to be located in Anarkali. But where precisely it was located, we are not sure.
As already stated above, the GPO of Lahore originally had its Postmaster General in Agra. By October 1862, there was appointed a separate Postmaster General for Punjab. For the correspondence of the year 1862, month October, preserved in the Punjab Record Office, it transpires that the Director General Post Offices was not satisfied with the new arrangement of a separate Postmaster General for the Punjab and wanted to abolish the post. The Secretary to Government of the Punjab, on the other hand, was of the opinion that much results have resulted from the appointment of a separate Postmaster General for this province and desired that the appointment may not be abolished.
For a long period both the post office and telegraph office worked together in Lahore as elsewhere. In Lahore, whoever, Central Telegraph Office building was built in 1882 separately from that of the General Post Office on the site of its present Central Telephone & Telegraph Office opposite the present day GPO. The Lahore GPO continued to work in its old location in Anarkali. By the year 1883, it had only three branch offices in Lahore, one each at the Railway Station, Moti Bazar and Lohari mandi. A horse-dak used to ply along the Grand Trunk Road to Ferozepur, and a mail cart ran daily from Lahore to Mian Mir. Besides, there were pillar-post-boxes cleared three times a day. No business was transacted on Sundays, New Year\'s Day, Good Fridays, the Queen\'s Birthday and Christmas Day. As late as 1876. packages were received at the Lahore GPO in Anarkali for dispatches by the Government bullock train 24 stations from Peshawar to Ferozepur.
This was the time when several of the prestigious buildings which today are regarded as landmarks of the city of Lahore, had already been constructed. Thus the Civil Secretariat was constructed in 1845, Commissioner\'s Office in 1850, Public Works Secretariat in 1854, The Chief Court in 1855 (rebuilt in 1882), Accountant General Office in Shah Chiragh in 1860, Financial Commissioner\'s Office in 1867, District Courts in 1870, the Old Free Mason Hall inside Lady Maclagon College in 1869, Central Telegraph Office in 1882, Lahore Museum in 1894 etc.
This was the right time to plan for a new appropriate edifice of the GPO of Lahore. When was the present building on the Mall (present day Shahra-e-Quaid-e-Azam) started\" We are not sure.
This magnificent building was certainly complete and occupied in 1904. From a document dated July 1904, now preserved in the Punjab Record Office, we know that the authorities were already trying to get some site for the stables for the new Post Office in Lahore.
Situated at the junction of Nabha (Ustad Allah Bux) Road with the Mall (Shahra-e-Quaid-e-Azam), the handsome building of the GPO is now certainly a landmark of the city of Lahore. Its tow wings, both measuring 238\' x 87\', join each other rat an obtuse angle, with a European style high dome at the junction. This hybrid building has been described by the old writers as a specimen of Indo-Sarsanic architecture. It is actually a blending of Muslim, Hindu and European styles (see Plan).
The original plan of the GPO is based on a Triangle with its base kept open. Actually, the two arms of the triangle have been so constructed that they run parallel, one to the Upper Mall and the other Nabha Road, Both wings meet with a flattened end at the junction of the two roads, creating a facade 130 feet broad, with a porch (130\' x 29\') backed by a huge dome of European style fitted with a hug clock overlooking a spacious square below. Inside the domed-tower is a wide circular staircase which gives access to the upper floor. At either end of the Central domed-tower are two smaller minarets. The two distant-ends of the two wings are framed eactl with a set of two identical minarets making the total number. of minarets as six. Only four minarets are visible from the roadside - the other two remain hidden from public view.
Only two minarets - one in each distant-ends have built in circular staircases to provide access to the upper floor. One either side of the two wings, each originally divided into three major halls (49\' x 40\'), there run two verandahs, each 10 deep and 153\' long. There were and still are several other additional halls and rooms. It originally had 33 rooms on the ground floor and 19 on the first floor. Between the two wings then was and still is an open space originally meant for recreation of the children of the staff of the GPO. The western end, once wide open, has recently been built over to accommodate the increasing needs of the GPO. In the entrance porch on the east was once standing a handsome letter-box surmounted by a clock. It was originally used in the principal post office in the area of the Coronation Darbar of 1911 held at Delhi by His Majesty, the King Emperor George-V. It is no more there today.
In 1916, GPO building accommodated the General Post Office. The Dead Letters Office, the Offices of the Postmaster General, Punjab & N. W. Frontier Circles and the Superintendent of Post Offices, Lahore Division.
According to the Gazetteer of the Lahore Division published in 1984 by the Research and Gazetteer Cell, Board of Revenue, Punjab, the General Post Office in 1984 was the largest Head Post Office in Pakistan. It has five independent units then working under the administrative control of the Chief Postmaster-cum-Deputy Postmaster General, Lahore Postal Area. There were two Head Post Offices, one hundred & forty-one sub-offices and two branch offices in Lahore Postal Area. Sub-offices were divided into North, South & West Division - each headed by a City Superintendent. In the General Post Office, besides usual postal services, there are special sections for Foreign Post, Identity Cards, Postal Insurance, Savings Accounts, Railway Mail Services and Sorting Divisions.
For long, GPO building suffered for lack of attention from the point of view of its maintenance. Some careless caretaker, at some unspecified time, covered the beautiful naked brick work with ordinary cement plaster and put a colour wash on it. It marred its beauty so characteristic of other contemporary buildings like the Lahore High Court, Lahore Museum, Punjab University, Town Hall, etc. However, soon the good sense prevailed and finally, in December 1984, the authorities decided to restore the entire building, particularly its exterior to its pristine beauty. The work continued for a number of years under the guidance of the renowned architect Mrs. Yasmeen Lari. The building now stands in full glow of its former glory.
To commemorate this historic heritage and on the auspicious occasion of inauguration of the New Counter Hall of Lahore GPO by Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pakistan Post Office is issuing a commemorative postage stamp of denomination of Rs. 5/- on Lahore GPO on August 21, 1996.

Pioneers of Freedom (Series) (1996-3)

Allama Abdullah Yusuf Ali, a veteran educationist, administrator and a famous scholar was born on 14th April, 1872. He got his early education from Madrassa Anjuman-e-Islam Bombay and subsequently at Wilson College, Bombay University, St. John\'s College, Cambridge and then at Lincoln\'s Inn.
He joined the Indian Civil Service in 1895 and was appointed Assistant Magistrate in 1896, Joint Magistrate in 1899, Assistant Senior Judge in 1902, Deputy Commissioner, District Magistrate, Under-Secretary to Government of India in Finance Department in 1907, acted as Deputy Secretary in 1911-12 and retired from I.C.S. in 1914.
The second phase of his life started thereafter when he proceeded to England and lectured at the Passmore Edwards Institute, Royal Society of Arts and English Goethe\'s society. He also worked as a lecturer in Hindi, Hindustani and Indian Religious Manners & Customs at School of Oriental and African Studies in 1917-18.
He extensively toured Denmark, Sweden and Norway in April-May, 1916 and Holland in October-November, 1920. His varied assignments included Sharfi Khas Counsel at the princely state of Hyderabad Deccan in 1919, Revenue Minister, Hyderabad Deccan in 1921-22, Principal Islamia College, Lahore in 1925-27, fellow and member of the Syndicate, Punjab University during 1925-28, and 1935-37. His educational tour through the near East was of immense importance. He was one of the Indian representatives to the 9th Assembly of League of Nations during 1928.
His world tours took him through Americas, Hawaiian Islands, Japan, China, the Philippines, the Straits of Settlement, Ceylon, through Canada from Halifax to Victoria as guest of National Council of Education in 1932.
He was on the Executive Committee of the World Conference for International Peace through Religion. He conducted a lecture tour of Canada in 1938-39. His services as a Member of Lucknow Bar (1922-24), the Punjab University Inquiry Committee (1932-33), International Congress on Moral Education in London and as President Higher Education Section, AIMEE, or as a member of Golden Jubilee Celebrations during march, 1937 were long remembered.
He also presided U.R Industrial Conference held at Agra (1909), All India Muslim Educational Conference (Nagpur Session-i 910), The Punjab Muslim Educational Conference, Lahore (April 1923), All India Tanzeem Conference Aligarh (28 December, 1925) Separation of Sindh Conference Hyderabad (16 November, 1932), All India Muslim Conference Calcutta (26 December, 1932) wherein he delivered his famous addresses. Of course, his highly valuable English translation of the Holy Quran was a landmark of his illustrious life. His countless treatises on education, religion, socio-economic and political themes render him as a luminous star in the \'galaxy of the Muslim intellectuals of this century whose contribution to the awakening of the Muslim Ummah in general and the muslims of the South Asian Sub-Continent is matchless.
AlIama Abdullah Yusuf All breathed his last on December 10, 1953.
To commemorate the Pioneers of Freedom (Series), Pakistan Post Office is issuing a commemorative postage stamp of Re. 1/- on August 14, 1996.

Centennial Olympic Games Atlanta 1996. (1996-2)

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan was founded in 1947 acceding to independence with the withdrawal of Great Britain from its Indian Empire. Its area is 801,400 square km. with a population of 117,490,00 (in 1991. The capital of Pakistan is Islamabad. The languages are Urdu, English (both - official), Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtu, Baluchi and Brahvi. The religions are Sunni Muslim 77% and Shiite Muslim 20%.
The Pakistan Olympic Association was founded in 1947 and recognised by the International Olympic Committee the same year. Pakistan first competed at the London Olympic Games in 1948. Pakistan did not attend the 1980 Moscow Games but otherwise have attended all Games since. Pakistan have not yet competed at the Olympic Winter Games.
The Olympic history of Pakistan does not start in 1948, as Pakistanis were part of the all-Indian delegations before, and mainly were players in the field hockey team.
Pakistan owes almost its entire Olympic success to one sport - field hockey. They won a medal in this sport at every celebration from 1956 through 1984, finished fourth in 1948 and 1952, fifth in 1988, and again third in 1992. In 1960 they won the gold medal, defeating India in the final and ending its 32-year Olympic wining streak. They again won the gold medal in 1968 and in 1984.
HOW THE PAKISTAN TEAM STARTED IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES:
Sports 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1984 1988 1992 TOTAL
Athletics 5 17 18 12 6 5 2 4 7 4 80 Boxing 3 4 6 4 4 2 2 4 2 4 35 Cycling 2 2 4 2 4 14 Hockey 18 11 14 15 16 13 15 16 15 15 16 64 Shooting 1 2 4 4 11 Swimming 4 2 4 10 Table Tennis 1 1 Weightlifting 2 1 3 2 1 1 2 12 Wrestling 6 7 6 2 2 2 2 3 1 31 Yachting 6 2 2 10 To Team 34 38 57 46 41 15 25 24 31 30 27 368
The Pakistan Medal count at the Olympic Games is:-
Sports Gold Silver Bronze Total
Boxing - - 1 1 Field Hockey 3 3 2 8 Wrestling - - 1 1 Total 3 3 4 10
Olympic philately started with the first Olympic Games of the modem era, in 1896. In fact, the Organising Committee lacked the funds to construct four important venues. Philately came to the rescue. A special set of 12 stamps were issued and the revenue was for the benefit of the Organising Committee. The venues were constructed, and the Games could start. Since 1896, special postal services, commemorating stamps, special cancellations and other philatelic documents were associated with all Olympic Games. Even the Games that were not celebrated (1916,1940,1944) prepared stamps, which understandably, never were issued.
Pakistan issued its first Olympic stamps in 1969, to honour its field hockey team which won a gold medal in the 1968 Mexico Games, again in 1984 for the Los Angeles Games, 1988 for the Seoul Games and finally in 1991 for the 1992 Barcelona Games Pierre do Coubertin. President. International Olympic Committee Second President of the IOC from 1896 to 1925. Honorary president of the Olympic Games. Pierre Fried, baron de Clubertin, was born on 1st January, 1863, the son of a family belonging to the old French nobility. Although destined for a military career, he decided very early on to pursue the intellectual activities he preferred.
An historian by training-making him a patriot at heart with a profound mistrust of exaggerated nationalism-his true intellectual passion and his life\'s purpose were education.
Marked by the defeat of France in 1870, he was convinced that the French educational system suffered from a fundamental flaw. Young Pierre, at the age of twenty-three decided to launch a vast movement of educational reform answering the needs of his day. The plan he proposed was one of moral and social training induced by sports behaviour. In 1888, he became secretary general of a committee for the preparation of physical exercise in education.
It was history that led him to teaching, it was history too that led him to Olympism. Based on the knowledge of a very wide range of subjects, his historical works he was the author of a boldly conceived Universal History, in four volumes-reflect the concerns of a man interested in and impressed by all civilizations. His synthesizing mind sought to capture the essence of each of them. Proportion, equilibrium and moderation is, in his view, what distinguishes the classical period from Antiquity and what his century lacks the most.
Towards the end of his life, a sportsman ever watchful over his physical condition, he still rowed on the Lake of Geneva, and it was whilst walking in Lasgrange Park in Geneva that he died, on 2nd September, 1937. He was buried in Lausanne, but his heart is preserved in a stele\' at the foot of Mount Kronion in Olympia.
Field-Hockey: Hockey is the oldest known ball and stick game. Records exist of it having been played in Persia in 2,000 BC It became so popular by the Middle Ages that it was banned in England for a time because it interfered with the practice of archery, which was the basis for national defense.
The modem game of hockey, however, was developed in England in the late 19th century. It spread throughout the British Empire, and as a result most of the dominating nations in the sport have been nations who are, or were, members of that Empire. This includes Pakistan, India, Australia, New Zealand and England.
Field-Hockey appeared on the Olympic program in 1908 and 1920. In 1928 it was held in Amsterdam and it has been an Olympic sport since then. In 1980, hockey for women was first introduced as an Olympic Sport.
Since 1948, with the exception of 1980 Pakistan participated in the Olympic field-hockey tournament, and won 8 medals, 3 of gold.
To honour the Pakistan successes in this sport, one stamp is dedicated to field-hockey. Boxing: Boxing is an ancient sport - it was contested at the ancient Olympic Games and many other sporting festivals in ancient Greece. Professional boxing has been around since the early 18th century, with a recognised list of professional champions dating from the late 1700\'s.
Boxing made its first appearance in 1904 at the St. Louis Olympic Games. All the entrants were Americans and the event doubled as the AAU Championships for that year. Boxing was again contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. In 1912, boxing could not be on the Olympic program because boxing was illegal in Sweden at that time. Since 1920, boxing has been on the program of every Olympic Games. 45 countries have won medals in boxing.
Pakistan boxers participated in all Olympic Games, with the exception of 1968. After hockey, boxing is the sport in which the large number of Pakistani athletes competed. The first Olympic medal was won by Hussein SHAH SYED, born 14.8.1964. He won a bronze medal in Seoul, in 1988, in the Middleweight class.
Wrestling: With the possible exception of athletics, wrestling is the most ancient sport to have been continuously practiced as a competitive sport. Wrestling was introduced into the ancient Olympics in 708 BC shortly after the Games recorded history begins in 776 BC Only in 1900 has wrestling not been on the Olympic programme. There are four main forms of amateur competitive wrestling practiced in the world - Greco-Roman wrestling, freestyle wrestling, judo wrestling, and sombo wrestling. Judo is considered a separate sport at the Olympics Sombo is a combination of freestyle and judo and is most popular in Russia but it has not yet been contested in the Olympics. Currently, both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling are contested at the Olympics and both have been held since 1920. Prior to that (except in 1 90~. Only one form was used, usually Greco-Roman.
Freestyle wrestling is similar to American collegiate style, or folk-style wrestling. Holds are relatively unlimited, provided they are not dangerous, and can be applied to any part of the body. Greco-Roman wrestling limits holds to the upper body.
Pakistan; wrestlers participated in all Olympic Games since 1964. After hockey and boxing, wrestling is the sport in which the Pakistan athletes competed most. The first Olympic medal was won by Muhammad Bashir born 22.12.1934. He won a bronze medal in Rome, in 1960 in freestyle wrestling in the Welterweight class.
To commemorate the Centennial Olympic Games Atlanta 1996, Pakistan Post Office is issuing four commemorative postage stamps of Rs. 5/- and a souvenir sheet of Rs. 25/- on August 3,1996.

17th Martyrdom Anniversary of (Late) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. (1996-1)

To Sir Shah Nawaz Khan Bhutto, a respected statesman, and the head of an affluent landowning family of Larkana, was born a son, on the 5th of January 1928, whose brilliance, courage, resolution and leadership qualities were destined to give legendary -dimensions to the word \"Bhutto\".
Born with a sense of destiny, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto studied Political Science, Jurisprudence and International Law in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California. He acquired his Honours degree in Political Science in 1950 from the University of California at Berkeley and his Masters degree with Honours in Jurisprudence at Christ Church College, Oxford University in 1952. Called to the Bar at Lincoln\'s Inn in 1953, he subsequently practiced as a barrister at the then West Pakistan High Court, Karachi from 1954 to 1958. In 1957 he was a member of Pak delegation to the 12th U.N. General Assembly session. In February 1958, he led his country\'s delegation to the U.N. conference on the Law of the Sea at Geneva.
His rise to national prominence and international acclaim began with his appointment as Federal Minister for Commerce in 1958. In June 1960, he was made Minister for Minority Affairs, National Reconstruction and Information. In April 1962, Fuel Power, Natural Resources and Kashmir Affairs became his domain. He was elected unopposed to the National Assembly in March 1962. Later that year he headed his country\'s delegation in the six rounds of Indo-Pak talks on Kashmir.
In January1963, he became Pakistan\'s Foreign Minister. It was in this capacity that he was destined to carve out a new future for his country on the world map. His initiation of a new policy towards China and his role in finalising the Sino-Pak agreement on the boundaries opened new frontiers for Pakistan.
He led Pak delegation to the preparatory meeting of foreign ministers for Second Afro-Asian Conference at Jakarta in April 1964. In July 1965, he attended Afro-Asian Foreign Ministers Conference in Algeria. He led his country\'s delegation to the 14th, 15th, 18th, 19th and 20th sessions of the U.N. General Assembly.
It was during and after the war with India in September 1965 that Zulfikar Au Bhutto became a symbol of the national aspirations of the people of Pakistan.
He was a member of Pakistan\'s delegation at Tashkent Conference in January 1966 and his differences with Ayub Khan led to his resignation from the government on June 22, 1966. A national hero was born.
On 30th November 1967, Zulfikar All Bhutto founded the Pakistan People\'s Party and launched his historic struggle for democracy. In September 1968, the mass movement against Ayub Khan\'s dictatorship began resulting in Z.A. Bhutto\'s arrest in November 1968.
But there was no stopping the People\'s leader now and the government was compelled to release him in February 1969. Soon after General Yahya Khan\'s martial law replaced Ayub Khan\'s dictatorship. In December 1970, the Pakistan People\'s Party, under the charismatic leadership of its founder-chairman, scored a landslide victory in the western wing of the country in the first ever general elections held on the basis of universal adult franchise.
Z.A. Bhutto contested six National Assembly seats from different parts of the country and won with an overwhelming victory in five of them. In the following year, he watched helplessly the tragic consequences of General Yahya Khan\'s military action in East Pakistan. On December 7,1971 during the lndo-Pak war he was made Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister to lead his country\'s delegation to the Security Council. On December 20, 1971, he took over as Pakistan\'s President and Chief Martial Law Administrator, to revive the nation from the shock of the tragic dismemberment of the country. He became a symbol of hope.
On January 7, 1972, he released Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rahman. The National Assembly was inaugurated by him on April 21,1972. Through a unanimous vote of confidence, he was elected as President.
The martial law was lifted and an interim constitution was introduced.
As President, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto held the portfolios of Defence and Foreign Affairs which remained with him till the end. From June28 to July 3, 1972 he was on a state visit to India and held talks at Simla with Mrs. Indra Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India. As a result of the Simla agreement, Pakistan regained control of over 5000 square miles ost territory of I.
Over 93,000 P.O.W\'s were also repatriated.
On April 10, 1973, LA. Bhutto gave to the country a unanimously accepted constitution, under which he was to be sworn in as Prime Minister on August 14, 1973.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had always been inspired by a Grand Vision of Muslim renaissance Forging of ever closer fraternal ties between Pakistan and other Islamic States had been the guiding principle of his Government\'s policy. His efforts in this direction took him one of the highest points in his career; he first convened and organized and then presided over the Second Islamic Summit Conference at Lahore from 22 to 24 February, 1974.
This Summit was an epoch-making event in the history of Islam. Never before had such a galaxy of Heads of State, Prime Ministers and other Muslim dignitaries congregated and conferred. The Summit, which represented the Muslim World, constituting nearly one-fifth of the human race.
Resolved to pursue commonly accepted goals. The scope and area of action were greatly broadened when two momentous moves were made. The first was the significant resolve in the Declaration of Lahore to devise ways and means of eradicating poverty, ignorance and disease from the Islamic world.
The second major decision was to identify the Muslim world with the Third World and its struggle for social ~ progress and economic justice.
He was committed to the cause of establishing a new socio-economic order to ensure justice and equality in the society. His dynamic and courageous actions and sweeping reforms in the fields of industry, commerce, education, health and administration did not endear him to those who had established unjust monopolies in the past. Bhuttos dream of making Pakistan a heaven of socio-economic justice was shared by millions of his dispossessed followers who had adoringly conferred upon him the title of Quaid-e-Awam.
Z.A. Bhutto was determined to lead Pakistan upto a prosperous and progressive Muslim State, the citizens of which should live with dignity and honour. Self-sufficiency in technology was one of his top priorities. Kamra, HFF and HMC units at Taxila and his emphasis on development of nuclear capability were all but a few indicatives of the direction that he was so determined to lead his country to.
His resolute drive towards a glorious future for Pakistan was abruptly cut short on July 5, 1977. The Leader of the masses was arrested in September 1977 on murder charge. Released on bail, he was re arrested in October1977. On March 18,1978 he was sentenced to death by the Punjab High Court bench during the Martial Law regime of General Ziaul Haq.
The appeal against this judgement was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on March 24,1979.
On April 4,1979 the whole world learnt with a sense of utter shock that the ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan, the beloved leader of its masses, the maker of its constitution, the outstanding statesman of the Third World, had been hanged to death.
But Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is not dead.
He lives in the souls of the people of Pakistan, throbs in their hearts and urges them on and on towards the future he had dreamt of.
Shaheed never die!
To commemorate the 17th Martyrdom Anniversary of (Late) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan Post is issuing two commemorative postage stamps of Rs. 1.25 and Rs. 4/- and a souvenir sheet of Rs. 8/- on April 4,1996.