RAWALPINDI, July 5: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Friday observed Black Day to mark imposition of martial law and dismissal of the government led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on July 5, 1977.

This day in 1977, military dictator Ziaul Haq imposed martial law and derailed the democratic process in the country. He arrested first elected prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and hanged him to death in 1979.Whether in the opposition or in the government, the PPP has been observing July 5 as black day for the last 36 years.

More than two dozens PPP workers, mostly local leaders, gathered at the site where Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a gun-bomb attack on December 27, 2007.

The PPP workers wore black armbands and were carrying black flags in protest against the martial law which they termed major cause of terrorism and problems the countrymen faced.

They chanted slogans against the military dictators of the past except for General (R) Pervez Musharraf.

During the protest, the traditional enthusiasm of the PPP workers was missing.

Sultan Mehmood Qazi, Shujaat Haider Naqvi and some other prominent local leaders were present on the occasion. PPP City President Amir Fida Paracha did not attend the protest. In the absence of the main local leaders, the prominent workers attended the protest halfheartedly.

During their speeches, the local leaders pledged to continue their struggle for democracy. They said the Ziaul Haq’s martial law brought terrorism and poverty to the country.

“If the military dictator Ziaul Haq did not impose the martial law, the nation will not bear the brunt of Musharraf’s martial law,” they said and added that they will continue their struggle for the democracy in the country.

“During its last tenure, PPP led coalition government cleared the constitution from the bad laws introduced by the military dictators and provide an opportunity to others to form government without any hurdle,” they said.—A Reporter