ISLAMABAD: PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari said on Sunday that the assassination of Mir Murtaza Bhutto in 1996 was an attempt to overthrow the then government of Benazir Bhutto.

“On this day in 1996 Mir Murtaza was gunned down under most mysterious circumstances close to his residence in Karachi. More mysteriously the police officer investigating the assassination was also murdered. It lent credence to the suspicion that the assassination was a conspiracy to kill a Bhutto and lay blame on another Bhutto to discredit the Bhuttos and overthrow the PPP government of the time led by his sister,” he said in a statement on the 19th death anniversary of Murtaza Bhutto.

“This scion of the Bhutto family endured the rigours of exile, witnessed the tormenting of his mother and sister, the assassination of his father and his younger brother but refused to bow down before dictatorship.”

The former president said Mir Murtaza was a man of great courage and conviction who lived an eventful life dedicated to fighting against dictatorship.

“It is my conviction that... his assassination will not remain secret forever” and as Benazir Bhutto had said, “the assassins would not only be exposed but also punished,” he said.

PEACE DAY: In a message on the eve of the International Peace Day, Mr Zardari called for increasing awareness on issues of peace.

He called for peace both within the communities inside national boundaries and among peoples across boundaries and ethnic and religious divides.

He said achieving the ideals of peace was a collective responsibility of all individuals, communities and governments across the world. “War is no solution to the problems confronting humanity. If anything, wars have compounded, not resolved, issues. Let us all seek to build genuine harmony and peace,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 21st , 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play