KARACHI: The launch of a book chronicling 50 years of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) sparked a debate on the transformation of a political party once considered the epitome of resistance to becoming a symbol of reconciliation at the cost of its once committed cadres.

The book Pakistan Peoples Party ke 50 saal, authored by the party’s old worker Iqbal Yousuf, was launched at the Arts Council on Wednesday evening.

Various speakers at the programme compared the ‘old’ PPP with the existing one. A few of them gave higher marks to the present leadership of the party, but conceded that they were way behind the vision of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.

Nawab Yousuf Talpur, a member of the National Assembly, said today’s party leadership would have to prove its mettle like its predecessors.

‘18 workers, gone missing during Gen Zia’s rule, are yet to be found’

He said the PPP’s old workers were the party’s living spirit and it was need of the hour to keep their relation with the PPP’s present cadres and leaders intact.

He claimed the PPP was the only party which encouraged its cadres to criticise their leadership.

‘A party of reconciliation’

Speakers conceded that the past 10 years when the PPP had been ruling the country and Sindh should not be considered as bright as the previous decades.

“It is better not to add the past 10 years to the party’s history as the author has [done] as the party has turned into a party of reconciliation instead of a party of resistance in those 10 years,” said Masroor Ahsan, known for his firm commitment to the party, though he is among the bitter critics of the PPP.

He said the era of “politics for prison” had long gone and “now we are living in an era of commercial politics.

“No one knows where are the four daughters of Waheed Qureshi who had immolated himself in love of leadership during General Zia’s regime.”

Mr Ahsan said the phenomenon of missing persons was not new as the PPP was among the first political forces, which had endured it.

“Peoples Party’s 18 workers are still missing since Gen Ziaul Haq’s military rule,” he said.

He said the era of the workers committed to the party’s struggle had gone and now few people could know of or recognise the top leadership of the PPP.

N.D. Khan said the PPP’s founder Z.A. Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto lived on in the form of the legacy they had left for the people of the country.

He said it was Mr Bhutto who gave the Constitution to the country while ex-president Asif Zardari was the one who removed aberrations added to the original document by dictators and revived its spirit.

Journalist Mehmood Sham said the book was dedicated to the third generation of the PPP workers and its aim was to revive the “real spirit” of the party.

He said the book had chronicled the sacrifices of the party workers and it was an effort to keep the leadership’s eyes open about the party’s glowing past.

“In times where parties are born and die and some of them commit suicide in days and moments, it is a huge achievement for a political party to be alive for more than 50 years.”

Qazi Asad Abid, Arts Council president Ahmed Shah, Abdullah Baloch, Naz Baloch, Khadim Ali Shah and journalists Mazhar Abbas and Maqsood Yousufi also spoke. The author thanked the audience while Rafiq Patel moderated the proceedings.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2018