LAHORE – The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday reserved its judgment on a petition challenging construction of former PM Benazir Bhutto’s monument memorial at the Liaqat Bagh, Rawalpindi. The court was hearing a petition filed by Feroz Shah Gilani against construction of the monument costing Rs 1 billion from the national exchequer.
Deputy Attorney General Naveed Inayat Malik submitted a report on the federal law secretary’s behalf stating that Benazir was a personality of international stature and national hero and embraced martyrdom while struggling for democracy. He said that due to her services, a memorial is being built from the national kitty at place of her martyrdom.
The petitioner’s counsel said that Benazir was leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and not a national hero and if the PPP had any desire to make her monument, the party should build it from its own funds and not from the national exchequer, as money of tax payers should not be spent on memorials.
Gilani also requested the court to remove names of politicians including Benazir from government buildings such as the Islamabad International Airport, hospitals, government and semi-government departments and institutions. He said that the former PM was never recognised as an undisputed leader of the country and did not attain status of a national hero. He said Benazir never followed ethical and democratic principles, as she had admitted in her book Reconciliation that she struck a deal with former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf.
He said that the former PM’s both governments were dismissed on charges of corruption and bad governance. Gilani said that head of such governments could not be a national hero.
