“In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” George Orwell.“Facts are stubborn things.” Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write.John Adams.

Leaders make mistakes and rectify them. Great leaders make blunders and do not have time to reverse them. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto also made a blunder by selecting his Army Chief by superseding seven senior generals. He elevated Zia-ul-Haq to a four-star general in March 1976 and appointed him as the new Chief of Army.

General Zia was promoted to Major General and commanded an armoured division in Multan by 1973. He was elevated to Lieutenant General in 1975 and appointed as the Corps Commander in Multan. Earlier, he had invited Z.A. Bhutto to the armoured division for investiture as the Colonel-in-Chief of the corps. For the occasion, he had arranged the clandestine stitching of a ceremonial uniform for Bhutto by his tailor in Karachi. Later, as Corps Commander, he had a meeting with Late Bhutto, reportedly through Hamid Reza Gilani of Multan, swearing by the holiest of all to remain loyal to him. That was it.

Many reasons are given for this rash and controversial appointment made by the sharp and shrewd Bhutto. In my humble view, Bhutto, with his aristocratic bent of mind, preferring personal loyalty to merit and flattery to honesty, was deluded by the unassertive, unimpressive, humble countenance of Zia, particularly after dealing with the professional and hot-headed General Gul Hassan. We may recall that General Gul Hassan forced General Agha Mohammad Yahya to hand over power to Z.A. Bhutto in the aftermath of the fall of........

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