Fifth July — the black day

The fifth of July 1977 was one of the darkest days in the history of Pakistan. Every year, this day brings back bitter memories of an adventure when a general, in a bid to clinch power, consigned the country to the curse of a dictatorial rule, suspended the constitution and turned backwards the wheel of progress.
The clouds of the curse of martial law were so thick that they are still hovering around imperiling the security of the country even after 34 years. After the Dhaka debacle in December 1971, General Yahya Khan abdicated power to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the founding chairman of the PPP who had won majority in the election and consequently, Pakistan had an elected and democratic ruler for the first time.
The country was in the midst of the most precarious period of its existence after losing half of its territory. An ambience of uncertainty prevailed in what was left of Pakistan due to the long periods of martial laws in the country. The institutions had lost their prestige and all avenues of development were clogged.
Under these unexpected and critical circumstances, Bhutto, in his capacity as the first elected ruler, pledged to rewrite the destiny of the people and assumed their leadership with the determination to put Pakistan on the road to progress. He retrieved five thousand square miles of territory captured by India and also secured the repatriation of ninety thousand prisoners of war through negotiations on the basis of sovereign equality. He established diplomatic relations with almost all countries of the world with a view to revive the dwindling goodwill of Pakistan and to win the highest place in the comity of nations. He not only restored relations with Muslim countries, but turned them into perennial and durable friendship.
It was Bhutto who in a way choreographed the emergence of the Islamic Block by hosting the Islamic Summit in Lahore in February 1974 and by bringing all the Muslim countries on one platform, sent a strong signal to the world that the Muslim ummah stood united.
He launched the ID card programme, extended the facility of passport to every citizen and created myriad of employment opportunities for the people by exporting manpower to the outside world. He was also the architect of the infallible Pak-China friendship which is instrumental to earning of the much needed foreign exchange for the country. He gave the country the first unanimous constitution which is still in vogue. The present regime has restored the constitution to its original shape by removing the constitutional depredations introduced by dictators, with a unanimous approval by the parliament. This constitution is a symbol of strength and stability of Pakistan.
The present government, under the stewardship of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, is striving hard to rid the nation of the evils plaguing the country, however, its is hard to decimate the cancers that have been here for decades within three-and-a-half years.
To accomplish this task we need continuity of the democratic process so that our beloved country can come out of the era of darkness and tyranny and begin its sojourn towards tranquility and prosperity.
(The writer is the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting).