LARKANA: Ghinwa Bhutto, chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party-Shaheed Bhutto, has called for change of system which, she said “is eating away our children”, and reminded the masses that “we have not forgiven the assassins of Mir Murtaza Bhutto and his friends”.

She said the police officials Shoaib Suddle, Wajid Durrani, Shaqib Qureshi, Shahid Hayat and Raheel Tahir who handled the Murtaza Bhutto murder case should speak up now and tell the truth who was behind the conspiracy.

She raised a number of questions about the events that followed Murtaza Bhutto’s murder and asked: “Who killed SHO Haq Nawaz Siyal and who had ordered Gen (retd) Babar to launch operation, who killed Benazir Bhutto, Alam Baloch and his son and how much amount was paid to parliamentarians to make Asif Ali Zardari president”.

Ms Ghinwa was speaking to a gathering held at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto on Sunday to mark the 19th death anniversary of Mir Murtaza Bhutto.

She said that she would also like to ask Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf about the NRO and former Chief Justice Iftikhar Ahmed Choudhry for his failure to take suo moto action on Murtaza Bhutto murder case.

She said that she found it strange why only terrorists’ operatives were nabbed and why the hands pulling their strings always remained hidden. Her party would lend support to any action against such elements, she said.

She referred to brutal murders of social activists Sabeen Mehmood, Batool Siddiqui and Parveen Rehman who stood for the freedom of speech and rights of the downtrodden and laid down their lives for the noble cause. “I am justified to ask rulers have they arrested their killers and those of Murtaza Bhutto and his comrades,” she said.

She said that PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the only politician who chose to stand by the poor and who gave voice to the hitherto voiceless and extremely backward section of society.

She opposed the local government system and said it was just the other side of the same coin which had earlier failed to mitigate peoples’ problems and address their sufferings. It would only serve as a tool to weaken democratic institutions, she said.

The gathering passed a number of resolutions, which criticised rulers to keep holding onto power at the cost of masses and demanded the government unmask killers of Murtaza Bhutto and his comrades and serve justice in the case through speedy trial.

Through another resolution, the congregation rejected prime minister’s package for framers and demanded a long-term strategy to solve peasants’ problems and fixing support price of paddy and cotton.

The gathering condemned attack on Peshawar airbase and saluted the courage and gallantry of soldiers who laid down their lives defending the motherland.

Meanwhile, PPP and its sister organisations organised a simple ceremony at Naudero House to mark the death anniversary of Mir Murtaza Bhutto.

They held Quran Khawani followed by collective prayers for the departed souls and distributed food among the poor and the needy.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2015

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