‘Deadly’ Liaquat Bagh reminds of Benazir

The Liaquat National Bagh, situated in garrison city of Rawalpindi has significance in Pakistan’s history due to its bloody history, as the venue has seen two political assassinations, that of Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan and Benazir Bhutto.
The Liaquat National Bagh, usually just referred to as Liaquat Bagh, is a famous park on Murree Road. It was formerly known as Municipal Park, but was renamed after the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951. It is known as a place for political gatherings and speeches. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on 27 December 2007 while leaving after an election rally. Many residential neighbourhoods, including Arya Mohalla, are also located in the vicinity.
Every year on December 27, the said park attracts the PPP workers, that is ‘Jiyalas’, as place of martyrdom of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto is also located outside the park, where she delivered her last speech. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, when she was campaigning ahead of 2008 elections. Shots were fired at her after a political rally, which was followed by a suicide bombing. Twenty-four other people were killed by the bombing.
On Tuesday, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Rawalpindi chapter once again arranged a grand public gathering in front of Liaquat Bagh in which the central and local leaders of PPP including Senator Babar Awan, MPA Nargis Faiz Malik and others participated.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Nargis Faiz Malik said the Liaquat Bagh was not an ordinary park for them and had become a sacred place for them for being the place of martyrdom of their leader. She said her party had given enormous and unmatched sacrifices for democracy. Addressing the gathering, she said no one could defeat the PPP, adding that PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif always tried come into power through unjustified means and he was again using the memo issue for his own political interests.
Other party leaders also conveyed a clear message to the political rivals that all the leaders of other political parties would first have to made sacrifices like Bhuttos for defeating the PPP.
Senator Babar Awan criticised all the political leaders, who talked about revolution, saying the revolution could not come through ‘turncoats’.
A grand stage has also been established in the park for the gatherings and the Rawalpindi Development Authority is responsible for the renovation of the Liaquat Bagh. However, the poor condition of the park shows that the authorities concerned are not doing enough to preserve the site, which not less than a shrine for the PPP activists.