The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Tuesday held a candle-light vigil in front of the Governor’s House to commemorate the martyrs of the Karsaz suicide bombings. PPP Lahore Women Wing President Faiza Malik led the vigil. The participants paid rich tribute to the martyrs and raised slogans to commemorate former PM and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto saying that she sacrificed her life for the country. They also lauded the efforts of President Asif Ali Zardari for strengthening democracy in Pakistan.
A large number of PPP women workers including Tasneem Chaudhry, Bushra Mali, Atia Saleem, Farzana Ehtasham, Shabnum Pervaiz, Yasmin Farooq, Rehana Asif, Huma Rana, Chanda Rehman and others participated in the event. Faiza said that the PPP leadership was always ready to sacrifice for democracy. She said that those people, who escaped from the country during dictatorship, were once again planning to derail democracy. “We will defeat them through public power,” she said.
The PPP Minorities Wing also participated in the candle-light vigil. Minority leader Napolean Qayyum said that minorities had contributed to the cause of democracy and the PPP had also done a lot for minorities of Pakistan. He said that Yaqub Masih Khokhar, a Christian worker of the PPP, was the first martyr of the party who torched himself and died while protesting against the imprisonment of former PM and PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Qayyum said that at least 16 Christians were among the martyrs of the Karsaz tragedy, which clearly spoke of Christians’ confidence in the PPP.
