PESHAWAR: Pakistan People’s Party leaders on Sunday paid rich tributes to those died in the 2007 bombing of a party procession welcoming arrival of late Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan at Karsaz in Karachi, and demanded arrest of the former military ruler Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf for his alleged involvement in the murder of Ms Bhutto.

The PPP provincial leaders were speaking at a condolence reference held at the Peshawar Press Club to pay homage to the victims of Karsaz blasts. People’s Students Federation organised the function.

Recalling the bloodshed as result of the bomb blasts on Oct 18, 2007, the PPP leaders said the bombings were meant to eliminate Benazir Bhutto but she had survived. They said the PPP leadership was targeted because ‘it raised voice for the rights of the poor’.

Referring to the statement of a US Journalist Mark Siegel in the Benazir’s assassination case, the PPP leaders said it was very clear that Pervez Musharraf was involved in the murder of the PPP leader.

Similarly, the PPP leaders also expressed concern over the non-arrest of all those involved in the murder of Mir Murtaza Bhutto.

The PPP leaders urged the workers to follow the footprints of the late leaders to strengthen the party in their respective areas.

They said the PPP would re-emerge as the largest party in the future elections.

They asked the students to pay PPP demands Musharraf’s arrest in Benazir murder case attention towards their studies to serve the nation by following vision of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto. They also assured the PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari that the workers were ready to give all kinds of sacrifices for the party under his leadership.

The leaders said the previous PPP government empowered the provinces by passing the 18th constitutional amendment, and asked the incumbent rulers to implement the constitutional amendment in real sense.

They also urged the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf to ‘avoid using’ the state machinery against its political rivals and materialise its manifesto, saying the masses still expected some drastic steps to be taken by the provincial government for a ‘change’.

The PPP leaders assured the workers that effective steps were underway to reorganise the party in nook and corner of the province.

Prominent among the speakers were provincial general secretary Engineer Mohammad Humayun Khan, information secretary Liaquat Shabab, former provincial president Rahim Dad Khan, People’s Lawyers Forum president Akbar Khan advocate and PSF provincial president Samiullah Khan.

Published in Dawn, October 19th , 2015

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