ZULFIKAR Ali, son of Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto, landlord, has
come home. The one constant in the subcontinent's most
ambitious career has always been Bhutto's unshakable
personal conviction that he was a man born to be king.

As he ascended the throne this week, two ironies stood
out. First, in their hour of defeat the Pakistanis were
turning to the very man whose egocentric advice had
brought on the events which led inexorably to the
dismemberment of the country. Second, the owner of
36,000 acres of land who has never tried to hide his
love of luxury and pleasure was again projecting himself
as the herald of socialism in Pakistan and the champion
of the poor.

Bhutto is a good politician, Pakistan-style. In all
probability he will make a good president for the
country. His capacity to read the popular mood and
adjust himself to it was reflected in the electoral
promises he made a year ago- democratization, jobs, land
reform, nationalisation. He may be trusted to implement
at least some of these, perhaps starting with the
surrender of land around some of the 12 railway stations
in his personal property in Sind.

In the days ahead he will need all the socialism he can
use. For as he said on arrival in Islamabad to take over
office from Yahya Khan, his first job is to raise
morale. Talking about the indivisibility of Pakistan's
two wings is one way of doing this. But this can only be
a short-term boost. East Pakistan already has become
Bangladesh and Bhutto's offer now to negotiate with the
leaders of Bangla Desh will not even amuse the Bengalis
- not after the savagery of the past nine months.

In a matter of weeks rather than months, Bhutto will
have to prepare his people for the reality of Bangla
Desh. At that moment the only euphoric alternative to
which he can turn popular attention will be socialism.
And a dose of socialism, even if it is of Indian Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi's pragmatic variety, might do
some good to Pakistan.

War, of course, remains another alternative. After all,
Bhutto has often spoken about a thousand years of war
with India. And this week he spoke about the
reunification of Pakistan "even if it has to be done by
our children's children." But even Bhutto may not opt
immediately for another round of war with India. His
armed forces will need time for rebuilding shattered
muscles if not lost morale.

But confrontation with India may be assumed to be the
main plank of President Bhutto's foreign policy. This
may be why old hands on the subcontinent, such as those
in the British Foreign Office, showed an initial
reaction of dismay at Bhutto's new status. Peking's dire
prediction that there will be no tranquillity in South
Asia for a long time may yet come true.

Bhutto's antipathy to India is deep-rooted because it is
intensely personal. There are many stories told in
explanation of this, but one is noteworthy because it
has been heard in both India and Pakistan, though with
slight variations.

The Indian version is that Bhutto had tried, right up to
the mid-1950s, to acquire Indian citizenship. For some
reason, his application was rejected by New Delhi -
making Bhutto an avowed enemy of India, according to
this school of thought.

In Pakistan a member of the Assembly once moved a
regular motion alleging that Bhutto held an Indian
passport in addition to his Pakistani passport. The
member said he had evidence to prove it and argued that
Bhutto's intention was to retain the Indian passport
until he could dispose of his considerable personal
properties in Bombay and Poona. This charge was made
when Bhutto was foreign minister under Ayub Khan-and the
matter was hushed up to avoid further embarrassment to
the government.

A footnote to the Bhutto story is that astrology has
cast a dark shadow across his career. Bhutto has never
forgotten the prediction made by an astrologer friend of
his family in Poona that he would die at the age of 45.
He is now heading for 44. If he is convinced of the
reliability of the astrologer, he is going to be in one
big hurry.

For all Bhutto's talk about the continuing unity of
Pakistan, the fact remains that the country he has
inherited is a new one. As an Indian MP pointed out this
week, Mrs. Gandhi has not only made history but created
geography: Bangla Desh is out of Pakistan and not all
the king's men in Islamabad can put it together again.

The new Pakistan is still a sizable country, bigger than
Burma. But its population is only 58.5 million compared
to the old Pakistan's 128.5 million. It must be galling
to the new country to realise that India now has more
Muslims: 60 million to Pakistan's 42.8 million.

Pakistan's economic calculations now will have to be
entirely overhauled for it will have to balance exports
worth Rs 1,762 million with imports valued at Rs 3,046
million. Previously it could command exports worth Rs
3,303 million because of the eastern wing's jute and
tea.

East Pakistan was a captive market for manufactured
goods produced in West Pakistan, taking up 60% of the
total output. Given the present standards of its
manufactures, it will not be easy for Pakistan to find
substitute markets. A hefty devaluation of the Pakistan
rupee is now inevitable. Even after that, heavy
dependence on foreign aid -which should be easy now with
Washington and Peking having a special interest in
Islamabad-will be the new country's lot for some time to
come.

With the loss of lush Bengal, Pakistan's forest area is
drastically reduced from 18.5% to 2.5%. Bangla Desh also
has taken with it almost 2,000 miles of railway and even
more in roads. The major port of Chittagong is gone,
too, and Pakistan's annual port traffic now will be 8.6
million tons compared with 14.5 million tons previously.

West Pakistan had gained a great deal from its eastern
wing. Its regional income was slightly less than that of
East Pakistan at the time of independence but had
climbed 25% higher than the east's by last year. It also
had been transferring resources from the east at the
rate of $20 million a year.

Now that Bhutto's acerbic anti-Americanism has undergone
a sea-change, the Americans may come in with increased
aid and investment capital. But Bhutto still will have
to put through some social reforms and economic
reorganization such as he had promised during
electioneering. To do otherwise would be to invite the
sort of labour unrest which sprouted early this year in
key cities.