The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) activists on Tuesday celebrated the 58th birth anniversary of Benazir Bhutto (BB) in Lahore by donating blood for Pakistan Army.
A blood camp was arranged by the Punjab PPP in collaboration with the Sundas Foundation at Charring Cross in front of the Punjab Assembly where dozens of party workers and members of provincial assembly donated blood all day.
According to the organisers of the camp, blood collected from blood camps throughout the province would be donated to the Pak Army, busy defending the country at internal as well as external fronts. The party leaders said that the PPP’s practice of donating blood was exemplary and other parties must follow it.
Meanwhile, cake-cutting ceremonies were separately held at the Governor’s House, PPP provincial headquarters, the offices of auxiliary bodies and at the residences of different party office bearers on Tuesday.
Talking to reporters after the cake-cutting ceremony at the PPP provincial headquarters, PPP President Imtiaz Safdar Waraich said BB was a great leader who promoted a culture of political tolerance and signed agreements like Charter of Democracy with those who filed fake cases against her.
He said no political leader in the sub-continent was as widely mourned as BB. He said PPP workers were happy to celebrate BB’s birthday but were also sad as she was no more among them. BB struggled for the common man and always shared sorrows of the poor, said the chairman, adding that she always practiced politics of the federation instead of any province.
Praising BB’s services for the nation, Waraich said she promoted national unity to strengthen the country. Several PPP leaders and workers including Punjab PPP General Secretary Samiullah Khan, Finance Secretary Aurang Zeb Barki, Deputy General Secretary Usman Malik, Deputy Information Secretary Iqbal Sialvi, Advisor to prime minister for youth affairs Mian Ayub, Hasnat Shah, Sami Ullah Durrani, Allama Yousuf Awan, Altaf Qureshi, Chaudhary Yaqoob Kamahan, Karamat Khokhar, Sohail Malik, Shamim Niazi, Aslam Gil, Malik Ehsan Ganjial, Fahim Thakur and Rai Tahir were also present.
At the Governor’s House, Governor Latif Khosa cut BB’s birth anniversary cake. Addressing the occasion, Khosa said that BB’s sacrifices for the democracy would never be forgotten. A large number of party workers and leaders attended the ceremony.
Employees of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETBP), in a separate ceremony, offered special prayers for BB and praised her services for the nation and democracy. ETPB executive engineer Khursheed Toor, People’s Labour Bureau Information Secretary Muhammad Saleem Mughal and PPP Zone 140 President Muhammad Afzal Butt were also present.
