DADU, Dec 25: Diehard workers as well as common supporters of Benazir Bhutto can be seen filled with nostalgia and overwhelmed by emotions as the first death anniversary of the slain PPP leader approaches.

Saifullah Panhwar recalls the warmth with which the lifetime party chairperson would meet her common workers. “She would ask about my health, my children and family every time I would get the opportunity to see her. There used to be genuine kindness and concern in her voice,” Panhwar, who was back then a common worker and now president of the party’s Dadu chapter, told Dawn on Thursday.

Mohammad Solangi remembers how he sought Benazir Bhutto’s permission for naming his newborn son after her brother Shah Nawaz Bhutto, who died under mysterious circumstances in France in 1985. “He was my brother and your son too will be like a brother to me,” Benazir, according to Solangi, said to him.

Adam Khan, a tailor, said Benazir Bhutto wished a better future for the people of the country. He said he was at a loss to describe his pain at her first death anniversary.

Khan’s shop is filled with all kinds Benazir memorabilia, including posters. He said Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto once even came to his shop during the 1976 rainy days in Dadu and addressed party workers there.

Meanwhile, young children along with their father were seen raising slogans of Jeay Bhutto and calling for the arrest of Benazir Bhutto’s killers at a roadside protest camp. It was a strange sight especially since the children were without a clue about who Benazir Bhutto or her family was. No wonder then that they had huge grins on their face, while their dad, a party worker, posed with a grim look for the cameras.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the local PPP office-bearers was held at party office here, which was presided over by State Minister for Food and Agriculture Rafique Ahmed Jamali. The party leaders from Dadu, Johi, Mehar and Khairpur Nathan Shah attended the meeting.