LARKANA: Pakistan Peoples Party-Shaheed Bhutto (PPP-SB) chairperson Ghinwa Bhutto, drawing resemblance between the ruling party and its opponents holding marches in the country, said on Tuesday that both were corrupt and wasting a huge amount of money. She also criticised them for not talking about public issues and the ideologies.

She was speaking at a large gathering held in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto to observe the 20th death anniversary of her husband and PPP-SB founder leader Mir Murtaza Ali Bhutto.

Ms Bhutto alleged that the manifestos of these parties and speeches of their leaders were written and sponsored by foreign powers. “I have proofs of that,” she claimed, and said: “Once an individual approached me and advised to support Canada but he was shown the door. I later saw the same person at a meeting of [Pakistan Awami Tehreek leader Dr Allama] Tahirul Qadri.” She said she would not allow such persons into the PPP-SB or to attend its public meetings.

She branded all those parties that ruled over the country as enemies of Mir Murtaza Bhutto, and said this was the sole reason for the PPP-SB’s not entering into any election alliance. The same policy would continue in future, she added.

“We believe in winning elections with peoples’ vote. There are two types of martyrs — pro-government and pro-people — and we are here to observe the death anniversary of a pro-people martyr,” she observed.

Ms Bhutto expressed her sheer disappointment over denial of justice in the assassination case of Mir Murtaza Bhutto and his comrades and rejection of the case on technical grounds. “We are now at liberty to openly criticise the killers,” she said, adding that the very issue would now be discussed in masses. She argued that “justice is blind and rulers have put a band on its eyes”.

She noted that all those responsible for the assassination and carnage had been elevated to the top slots. She accused [PPP co-chairman] Asif Ali Zardari of getting the Mir killed but added in the same breath that many powerful and influential figures had encouraged him in the conspiracy. She called for re-opening the case in the light of Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid’s report.

She observed the governments in Pakistan and India had a tilt towards imperialists. The conditions in both countries were identical if assessed in terms of governance and plight of oppressed people, she said.

Ms Bhutto praised the unparalleled sacrifice of two million people for the creation of Pakistan and said it was, however, tragic to note that only big names were sung.

The sacrifices of common people were driven away from the education curriculum, she said. She declared that “Pakistan is for the poor and will remain for them”.

She told the audience that there were two armies in the country, one in uniform and the other ‘the army of the poor’. “The second one is my army, which is unaware of its strength and lives with torn-up clothes.

Sindh PPP-SB organiser Ali Ahmed Palipoto, Feroza Lashari, Chaudhry Munir (AJK), Ali Hassan Chishti (Punjab), Saleem Shah (KPK), Ghulam Haider Narejo and others also spoke.

People from different parts of the country converged on Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto to attend the anniversary programme and pay homage to their leader, Mir Murtaza Bhutto. They offered Fateha and laid wreaths on his grave.

Later, they kept raising slogans at the public meeting.

The meeting passed several resolutions, one of them Indian aggression and atrocities in the occupied Kashmir was condemned and the United Nations was urged to initiate action against India.

Through another resolution, the meeting called for reopening the Mir Murtaza Bhutto assassination case in the light of Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid’s inquiry report and bringing the killers to justice.

PPP programmes

The Pakistan Peoples Party also observed the 20th death anniversary of Mir Murtaza Bhutto by holding separate programmes.

Quran khwanis were held at Naudero House and Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto.

MNA Ayaz Soomro, Larkana Mayor Aslam Shaikh, Larkana District Council chairman Khan Mohammed Sangro and a large number of PPP workers attended the the programmes. Free food was distributed among people at a langar.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2016