National Assembly (NA) Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza has said in her message on the fifth death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto being observed today (Thursday), that Benazir was a visionary and a stateswoman who believed in supremacy of the Parliament and always worked for strengthening the democratic institutions and promotion of democratic norms in the country.
She said that Benazir fought for the downtrodden and oppressed people, and longed for a forward-looking Pakistan, where women were not subjected to humiliation, torture but treated with respect as equal partners for the cause of progress and prosperity.
She said that Benazir had a towering and multi-dimensional personality and was a beacon of light for the downtrodden, oppressed and marginalized segments of the society. She further said that Benazir had the courage to challenge the worst dictatorship of the times when compared with other contemporary politicians. She bravely faced the oppression and continued to challenge dictatorships while remaining steadfast in her commitment to the people and democracy, the NA speaker added.
Dr Fehmida also said that the challenges confronting the nation at present could be resolved with joint efforts. She said that people of all the provinces had placed their confidence in Benazir and whenever the nation was given a free chance to elect their favourite leader, her political party returned successful from all the four federating units. Furthermore, she said that Pakistan witnessed a phenomenal development in all sectors of economy, adding that Benazir made the country impregnable during her two tenures as prime minister.
Moreover, the NA speaker said that Benazir worked diligently towards the well-defined goals of women empowerment when she was twice elected as prime minister. Benazir brought women to the main-stream by appointing them as judges of the superior courts, opened first women bank, ensured state protection for women by coming up with the idea of separate women police stations, dedicated funds and schemes in shape of women health workers to bring sea-change in the plight of misery and disease stricken women and encouraged women at every tier of political hierarchy, she added.
Dr Fehmida said that Benazir strongly believed in reconciliation and forbearance and she was always forgiving, adding that she always tried to look for similarities rather than to seek differences and believed in building bridges rather than living in isolation.
The NA speaker called upon all the political forces to rise above party lines to work for democracy and to rebuild Pakistan according to the dreams of Benazir. Dr Fehmida later prayed for the Benazir and asked Allah to grant her forgiveness.
