PDM leaders attend Benazir’s death anniversary: Method to overthrow govt needs changing, says Zardari
LARKANA: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said the Imran Khan-led government might be toppled but an ‘out-of-the-box strategy’ will need to be adopted to get rid of him from power.
He was among various political leaders of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), who addressed a public gathering at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh to commemorate the 13th death anniversary of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Sunday.
The ailing former president, speaking through video-link, said that he had "removed Musharraf from power. what's Imran Khan, in comparison? "We can remove Imran Khan Niazi. We just got to change our approach," he told the gang .
"We must refill the jails for the aim and that we are able to do this ," Zardari said. He said that running a rustic is "not an equivalent as managing a cricket team". "This government will collapse on its own," added Zardari. He challenged the govt to carry elections and see who the people stand behind.
Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz, in her opening remarks, sent regards to the gang in Sindhi language and thanked the PPP leadership, particularly Bilawal Bhutto, for receiving her within the ir hometown late in the night in extremely weather . She said not only the PPP was mourning the death of Benazir Bhutto but the whole nation, including her party, was saddened by the assassination of former prime minister 13 years ago.
Maryam said it saddens her that Benazir Bhutto, the primary woman prime minister of the Muslim world, "had to get down her life" during her struggle and for her beliefs. She said it's a pain that she too carries.
"Benazir fought for her father's struggle and vision then ultimately joined him within the life hereafter. "I too wish to struggle for a united Pakistan," she said.
She vowed that she and Bilawal wouldn't only continue the journey but also take it forward. "The political mistakes that were made within the past were taken advantage of by the anti-democratic forces."
Maryam said all political parties then joined heads and not only made right the wrongs but vowed never to repeat them. She said that the fruits of the move were then borne, when governments were set to finish their tenures.
"In 2008, when there was talk about the PPP government being toppled, Nawaz Sharif quashed such thinking and said that the approaching and going of governments may be a decision for the people to form , not political parties."
She said "some forces" for whom a "divide and rule" strategy made more sense, then "put together fallen fragments from political parties and formed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf".
Maryam said then an "incompetent man" was "imposed on us all". But now that process of choosing someone and imposing him on the people should be stopped, she added.
Maryam said the corrupt are pardoned, whereas political leaders are "thrown into jail, shot down and made to face the courts.
"But you'll never send to the gallows or exile a political ideology [...] which is why, there's nobody to require your name, but in every corner of Pakistan, there are people to utter Nawaz Sharif’s and Benazir Bhutto's names."
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, addressing the gathering, attended by the 11-party opposition alliance, PDM, another time asked Prime Minister Imran Khan "to step down" or face an extended advance Islamabad with the aim to "dethrone him".
Bilawal said if Imran Khan didn't tender his resignation till Dec 31, the jiyalas (party loyalists) would advance the capital and "drag him off his seat".
He said the govt and any naysayer who think the opposition will backtrack , need only look to the Bhutto mausoleum.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri paid tribute to the late Benazir Bhutto, saying the ‘iron lady’ struggled to revive the democracy fearlessly and endured hardships and confinements along the way. Haideri said the incumbent PTI government, thanks to its flawed policies, had weakened the country and claimed that it had been using “NAB black laws” to victimise the opposition leaders. He said masses were uninterested with the govt , and therefore the day those providing it crutches would withdraw their support thereto , it might collapse automatically.
“We are here to pledge that we'll not sit idle until this selected and incompetent government is shipped packing,” added the JUI-F leader.
National Party President Abdul Malik Baloch spoke of the parliament "being taken hostage" and the way farmers were "dying of hunger". He said the opposition parties believe the facility of vote and that they would reach the Parliament with the facility of individuals . "The government in power today may be a slap within the face of democracy," he added.
Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai said the source of power should be people and parliament. He said the PDM agenda was to uphold the Constitution within the country and everybody should hear the voices being raised from the platform.
Sardar Akhtar Mengal, chief of Balochistan National Party (Mengal group), said: "We have love for the soil of Sindh. Relations between Sindh and Balochistan predate Pakistan." Regretting that dictators always violated the Constitution, he said that even dictatorship did not dent these ties.
He said Benazir Bhutto served her whole life in upholding democracy and for this country. “She had strived against dictators just like the ones we are fighting today,” he added. “Who were those dictators?” he asked, adding that “political workers were flogged, women were widowed, children kidnapped, and lands grabbed… “Political parties were broken, new factions were made,” he said.
Awami National Party Senior vice chairman Haider Khan Hoti said he presented salutations to the sacrifices rendered by Bibi Shaheed (Benazir Bhutto).
"Zardari Sahib, I remember your loyalty to Pakhtuns," he added. "The way you supported us, i will be able to support Bilawal, like an elder brother," Hoti said. He recalled how Benazir was unafraid to return to the country, despite various threats to her life.
"Standing at the shrine of martyrs today, I promise to not leave the trail of service," the ANP leader declared.
PPP leaders Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Qamar Zaman Kaira, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) leader Maulana Anas Noorani et al. also addressed the general public gathering.
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari received leaders from various opposition parties in Larkana.
PPP leaders Faryal Talpur and Sherry Rehman also joined the PPP delegation in welcoming the PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz and other members of her delegation.
On Sunday evening, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari hosted a luncheon for the PDM leaders at Naudero House in Larkana.
APP adds: The 13th assassination anniversary of former prime minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto was observed here on Sunday with great zeal and respect, renewing the pledge to form Pakistan stronger and viable altogether aspects.
Quran khwani and Fateha khwani were held in every corner of the country for the departed soul of Benazir Bhutto.
People from all walks of life, in their messages on the occasion, paid tribute to Shaheed Bhutto over her services for the explanation for the poor and downtrodden people and for progress and prosperity of Pakistan and restoration of democracy within the country. the most death anniversary function was held at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, about 28-km off Larkana.
Quran khwani was also held at the mazar of Benazir Bhutto in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh. Free food (lunger) was distributed among the people.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, PPP leaders Rehman Malik, Sherry Rehman, PPP Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira, former chairman Senate Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, PPP Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani, senators, provincial ministers also visited the graves of Benazir Bhutto, PPP founder chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto et al. .
They placed wreath at the graves and offered Fateha. Besides, the leaders and workers of PDM also visited the grave of Benazir Bhutto and offered Fateha.
The leaders and workers of PPP from everywhere the country, including Gilgit-Baltistan, Northern Areas, AJK were also among those that placed wreaths and offered Fateha.
They also visited the grave of the late Begum Nusrat Bhutto and placed wreaths there and offered Fateha.
Caravans of individuals started reaching there on Saturday evening to participate within the death anniversary. The coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs) weren't followed on the occasion.
A Mushaira was also held. Prominent poets from Sindh, Punjab and other parts of the country paid tribute to Benazir Bhutto.
Senior leaders of PPP addressed a public meeting outside the mazar of Benazir Bhutto in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh to pay homage to his services for the country, democratic order and rights of masses.
Due to ill-health, former president and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari spoke via video-link. Two-minute silence was observed to pay homage to Benazir Bhutto on her 13th death anniversary at 5:20 pm.
Ambulances and fire tenders were also deployed and care camps found out . Additional military officer Police Sindh had established a base camp in Naudero to watch the safety arrangements. Strict security arrangements were made for the occasion and about 8,000 personnel of Sindh Police and 300 personnel of Rangers were deployed at the mazar and therefore the roads resulting in it.
0 Comments