This article was first published by , Dawn Urdu, in 2015.
It was the evening of April 3rd 1979, when a team of four officers entered Rawalpindi jail to finish a chapter in Pakistan’s history.
Jail Superintendent Yar Muhammad, Magistrate Bashir Ahmed Khan, Jail Dr Saghir Hussain Shah and Lieutenant Colonel Rafi-ud-Din Security Battalion Commander and Security Officer arrived to execute the court orders.
As Colonel Rafi-ud-din writes in the last 323 days of his book Bhutto, that the jail superintendent visited the cell of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto at 6.30PM with a man, the jail official saw the chairman of PPP was laying on the floor. To grab his attention he called his name first and then read the execution order.
According to the Lahore High Court order of March 18, 1978, “You, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, will be hanged for the murder of Nawab Muhammad Ahmed Khan. Your plea in the Supreme Court was rejected on February 6, 1979 and the review request was rejected on March 24, 1979. The President Pakistan has decided not to interfere in this matter, and it has been decided to hang you”.
Colonel Rafi-ud-din was standing with the jail superintendent on the occasion, and he states “When the superintendent was reading the order, I did not see any signs of worry on Bhutto’s face, rather he slightly smiled”.
After hearing the execution order by the jail superintendent, the PPP founder said that he should have received it 24 hours earlier, according to law but that did not happen. He emphasized that when he met his wife and daughter at 11:30 in the morning, he had no information about the day and time of his execution, to which he was told that the execution order, was with the jailer.
Without hesitation, the jail superintendent asked Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto if he wanted to write down his will before his execution which was to be performed a few hours later, and he shook his head in affirmation. He also asked the jailer to show him a black warrant to which the jailer’s reply was that it could not be done according to the law.
At eight o’clock in the night, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had a cup of coffee and summoned his friend Abdul Rahman to jail and asked him to forgive him. About ten o’clock in the night, he asked Abdul Rahman to bring mild water so that he could make a shave.
After that, Bhutto spoke to Colonel Rafi “Rafi Is this a drama? Is it staged?” He did not receive any answer to this question.
Then the PPP chairman brushed his teeth and sat on his bed for a while and continued writing. Then he asked the warden, how much time was left in his execution? He was given the answer, after which he burnt the papers he had written.
At 11:00 PM, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto told Abdul Rahman that he wanted to sleep for a while because he could not sleep properly last night, and requested him to wake him up at mid-night.
But soon the Assistant Jail Superintendent and other staff came into the cell and they wanted the PPP founder to get up and go out with them, but when they did not get any response, they were directed to go inside the cell and wake him up.
The staff implemented the orders and could barely force Bhutto to open his eyes. He was to undergo a quick medical examination but once again, the PPP leader did not react to the doctor’s words. However, within few minutes with the help of Col. Rafiuddin, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s third time medical examination took place and the doctor said,” he was all right”.
At about 1:35 AM, in the night, a team of jail officials entered the cell and saw Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto resting on the bed. Magistrate Bashir Ahmed Khan inquired, if he had written a will? To which Bhutto replied in a very low voice, that he had tried but his thoughts were too scattered so he could not do so and burned the papers. He was then asked if he would go to the gallows himself or prefer to be taken away. He remained silent to this question.
Few seconds later, the jail superintendent summoned his staff, who picked up Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on a stretcher; the PPP leader stumbled upon the stretcher and, meanwhile, was handcuffed. When he reached the scaffold, two wardens helped him reach the gallows, his handcuffs were taken off, and once his hands reached his waist, he was again handcuffed.
All the people stood silent there.
Executioner Tara Masih was already there and ready to do his work, he put a veil on Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s face. When the clocked ticked 2:00 AM, executioner whispered in his ear and pulled the lever; The PPP leader’s body fell five feet down and remained in the same position for half an hour. Then a doctor examined and declared Bhutto dead.
Tara Masih took down the body of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and began massaging it on his hands and feet. It is said that executioner wanted to straighten the organs of the PPP leader. Half an hour later, the doctor provided the death certificate to the jail superintendent, and Bhutto’s body was handed over to the Jail authorities. 
Later, the deceased was put in a coffin and was taken to Chaklala Airbase, where a C-130 aircraft was ready to fly to Jacobabad, the plane took-off but returned after an hour’s flight due to a malfunction. Then another plane carrying the deceased and the authorities took off in an hour.
On April 4, 1979, it was early morning when the Prime Minister of Pakistan was saying goodbye and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was no more among his people.
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