ISLAMABAD, Jan 4: President Asif Ali Zardari urged the nation on Sunday to unite to defeat militancy and extremism and move forward in the spirit of federalism, democracy and egalitarianism and follow the example of courage in defence of principles and ideals set by the founder of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

In a message on the 80th birth anniversary of the country’s first democratically-elected prime minister, being observed on Jan 5, President Zardari said: “Shaheed Bhutto was a colossus who towered over national politics for more than four decades.”

He said that Z.A. Bhutto would always be remembered as a legendary figure who empowered people and fought for the rights of the dispossessed. “By undoing an iniquitous status quo and snatching power from the elite and giving it into the hands of the masses, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became a legend in Pakistan around whose name the country’s politics still revolves.”