As all is set to observe fourth death anniversary of former chairwoman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and two-time prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto, Larkana, President Asif Ali Zardari’s address to a public meeting on this occasion is being eagerly awaited across the country amidst the memo controversy. Before leaving for Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, Zardari held a detailed meeting with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Monday and discussed with him the government and the PPP’s strategy. After the meeting, the prime minister, in his interaction with the representatives of the media, attempted to brush aside the impression that a confrontation between the civil and military establishments was imminent. However, it was being widely speculated that the president would make a hard-hitting speech on the death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in a suicide attack on December 27, 2007, after a public meeting at Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi, as part of her election campaign when she had returned to the country after a long exile. Her fourth anniversary is a reminder of the same political environment it was at the time of her assassination… as though there was little more than a year to go for elections, with all political parties warming up and holding public meetings and rallies across the country.
In his message, President Zardari paid tribute to Benazir’s for her courage and leadership while reiterating the PPP’s resolve to continue fighting for the values she had upheld and laid her life for. The president said the best way to pay tribute to her “is to defend and protect democracy and democratic institutions in the country and foil all conspiracies against it”.
“Let us on this day rededicate ourselves to the democratic mission of Benazir Bhutto whose life was dedicated to fighting dictatorship and those seeking to defame and dismantle democratic institutions. I, therefore, urge all the democratic forces and the patriotic Pakistanis to foil all conspiracies against democracy and democratic institutions,” he emphasised.
Benazir was the first elected female chief executive anywhere in the Muslim world. The daughter of the country’s first directly prime minister, she was the undaunted champion of democracy and a great fighter for the cause of women, underprivileged and marginalised sections of the society. She believed in the power of the ballot and rejected violent and extremism as an instrument of change.
“She not only believed in these values but also led the fight for democracy and against militancy from the front. In doing so she laid down her life and illumined the path for future generations to traverse. Today therefore our thoughts go to her and to all the martyrs who laid down their lives and many hundreds more who were maimed and wounded while protecting the life of their leader. Today also we pledge that we will continue to tread the path she illumined with her blood,” the president said.
He said her assassination was a conspiracy to rid the world of its best weapon to combat international violent extremism. “It was a conspiracy to rob Pakistan of its best hope to establish a fully functional democracy. The government is determined to expose and punish in accordance with the law the conspirators and perpetrators of the crime. They cannot and will not go unpunished,” he said, adding that “on this occasion, I wish to emphasise that those who assassinated her may have succeeded in eliminating her physically but the ideas and ideals of Benazir Bhutto shall never be killed. Let there be no doubt or mistake about it”.
PPP Information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira told Pakistan Today that all arrangements had been finalised and the anniversary would be held at the mausoleum of Benazir Bhutto at 2pm with President Zardari, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Prime Minister Gilani and other top notch party leaders, federal and provincial ministers, party leaders and workers in attendance.
He said prayers would be offered exactly at the time of Benazir’s assassination. However, he said unlike in the past, the party’s central executive committee (CEC) would not be meeting this time.
Kaira said the party had a tradition to hold a public meeting on the death anniversaries of its martyred leaders. Party leaders and workers from across the country had reached Larkana in large numbers.
Meanwhile, the Sindh government has finalised arrangements for the death anniversary. Drinking water facilities, lighting arrangement, standby generators, car parking area and identification of various routes for the vehicles had been arranged. Control rooms at various district and regional offices had been set up.
