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| July 6, 2005 | Wednesday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 28, 1426 |
Badr says deal with govt impossible
LAHORE, July 5: PPP Secretary-General Jahangir Badr said here on Tuesday his party would in no way strike a deal with the military regime and not accept share in power either. “We stand for complete transfer of power to the people because there is no alternative and shortcuts to democracy for which we are prepared to offer more sacrifices,” Mr Badr told a black day ceremony sponsored by the People’s Lawyers Forum to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the military takeover of the PPP rule by Gen Ziaul Haq.
He said the PPP alone stood the test of time and braved all odds. It was only the PPP which successive regimes had subjected to ruthless victmization; the party leaders had been singled out to face accountability while others thrived on corruption and misrule, he said.
However, he said, suppression couldn’t make the PPP leaders and workers falter because they believed in the political philosophy and traditions of the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who chose to go on the gallows rather than compromising on principles.
Paying glowing tributes to the party’s founding chairperson, Mr Badr said the late Bhutto turned his political party into a movement for an egalitarian society, rule of law and undiluted democracy. For such a sublime cause did the Bhuttos offer sacrifices, he added.
He said Benazir Bhutto was keeping the flame of the PPP’s ideology burning and was providing the leadership quality which her late father possessed. He was of the view that the regime would soon be forced to seek the cooperation of Ms Bhutto to streamline its working because it could not have a smooth sailing while keeping the leader of the largest party away from political mainstream.
Mr Badr said the PPP believed in a dialogue which alone was the remedy to end disruption of political process by undemocratic forces. He said all the political parties and forces working for democracy were the PPP’s natural allies in the struggle.
Lahore High Court Bar Association President Fakharunnisa Khokhar said whenever democracy started finding roots, extra-constitutional steps disrupted the process. She was of the view that the judiciary had not played the role of watchdog of a democratic order; it rather helped usurpers legitimize their rule. Malik Saeed Hassan, a former judge of the high court, wanted a jurist conference to be held across the country to make the people aware of the state of lawlessness. Raja Zulqernain, Tanvir Hashmi, Malik Ghulam Rasool and Manzoor Malik also spoke.
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