Lahore remembers Nusrat Bhutto’s sacrifices

The city mourned the demise of Begum Nusrat Bhutto and held religious rituals and Quran Khawanis while Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Lahore held a candle light vigil outside Governor’s House to pay a tribute to the mother of democracy. Expressing their sorrow, people from different walks of life paid tribute to the PPP leader who not only united the party but also gathered workers against the most brutal military dictatorship. She led Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD) during the martial law of Ziaul Haq when nobody dared to step up against General Zia, and was tortured by police in rallies held for democracy.
At several places in the city, various PPP stalwarts and wings held Quran Khawani and in the meetings, party leaders paid tributes to the Bhutto family, especially Nusrat Bhutto’s devotion to democracy. A Quran Khawani for the departed soul was held at Governor’s House Lahore, which was attended by Punjab Governor Latif Khosa, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Masood Kausar, Dewan Mohayuddin and other PPP workers and leaders. They paid homage to Begum Nusrat Bhutto’s political struggle for democracy during Zia’s regime.
Separately, Punjab PPP at party provincial secretariat held Quran Khawani where party leaders including Ahsan Gangial, Iqbal Sialvi and others paid tributes to Nusrat Bhutto.
In the evening, party workers, including women and children, attended a candle vigil outside Governor’s House under PPP Lahore. Emotional party workers paid tribute to a great mother and a politician who successfully unite the PPP against Zia’s crackdown on PPP workers and leaders. PPP Lahore Zonal President Afnan Butt told Pakistan Today that Nusrat Bhutto’s death was the end of a story of struggle for the PPP. He said she was not simply the mother of Benazir, Shahnawaz and Murtaza Bhutto, she acted like the mother of all party workers. Her services for democracy deserved that she be remembered as the ‘mother of democracy’, he added. Bhutto, 82, who died in a hospital in Dubai on Sunday after a protracted illness was buried on Monday besides her husband in Garhi Khuda Bux. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani announced a 10-day official mourning for the widow of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, while the PPP separately announced 10 days of mourning.