KARACHI, Pakistan, Sept. 29 —Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, leader of West Pakistan's majority party, today denounced military rule in the harshest terms he has used to date.

An audience of several hundred Pakistani newsmen and politicians cheered as the leader of the leftist Pakistan People's party said: “The long night of terror must end. The rule of the generals must end. The people of Pakistan must take their destiny in their own hands.”

Mr. Bhutto reiterated demands that the military government cede power to a popularly elected National Assembly by the end of the year. The nation's President, Gen. Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan, has already announced a timetable by which this is supposed to be done.

But Mr. Bhutto expressed fears that further hitches would develop in a process that has already been delayed nearly a year with heavy loss of life and bitter fighting in East Pakistan.

“Elections took place 10 months ago,” Mr. Bhutto said. “On one pretext or another, with one contradiction after another, the abominable status quo is being maintained.” Mr. Bhutto described the recent appointment of a civilian governor in East Pakistan to replace the general who had held the post as “subterfuge.”

At the same time, Mr. Bhutto praised the army's action in suppressing the Bengali nationalist Awami League in East Pakistan last March. The league, which won a majority of seat, in the National Assembly, was the most powerful opponent of Mr. Bhutto's party, whose strength is limited to West Pakistan.