ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has paid homage to all those valiant workers of the party who lost their lives and suffered grievous wounds on occasion of arrival of Benazir Bhutto in Karachi on October 18, 2007.

Five years ago, the extremists attacked the welcoming caravan of Benazir Bhutto, returning to Pakistan from exile, near Karsaz in Karachi.

“On this day let us vow that we will not let the extremists succeed in imposing their agenda on our people. We must fight the bigoted and the extremist to the finish; we will,” he said in a press release received here on Thursday.

He said the party's workers laid down their lives protecting the life of their leader and my mother who had just returned to Pakistan to lead the fight against dictatorship and extremism, adding “I salute them.”

He said they are our National heroes who died so that we live in freedom and in accordance with our values.

He said the convoy of Benazir Bhutto was attacked by the same mindset that recently has attacked Malala Yousafzai and her school mates Kaainat and Sahzia.

He said the purpose, the motives and the modus operandi employed in the two attacks was the same.

“The extremists attacked in a typically cowardly manner. Their motive was to silence the voice of moderation and sanity and to eliminate those who refuse to accept imposition of any ideology by force,” he added.

He said Benazir Bhutto was fully aware of threats to her life but she refused to be deterred.

“Despite veiled and not so veiled threats to her life, she returned to the country to bring change and to make a difference, she decided to return to banish dictatorship, confront militancy and bring peace and emancipation to the people,” he remarked.

He said the militant mindset that attacked her convoy continues to attack our daughters and sisters and threatens our way of life.

“On this day, I call upon all the worker of Pakistan People’s Party to honor our martyrs by renewing their pledge to fight extremism and militancy whenever and wherever it may rear its head in the country. Let us on this day also pray for all those who have embraced martyrdom or have sustained injuries in the cause of serving democracy and ridding us from the scourge of militancy,” he said.

He also called upon all the party workers to continue fighting militancy and banish the extremist mindset, adding “we also pray for early recovery of Malala and her school mates and for all those who have embraced martyrdom in the cause of democracy and in the cause of fighting the militants and extremists.”