ISLAMABAD: A large number of people on Saturday participated in a “Shuhada-i-Bahawalpur convention” held in F-9 Park on the 31st death anniversary of military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq.

Majority of the speakers said had Gen Zia not died in a plane crash Jammu and Kashmir would have been a part of Pakistan today.

Gen Zia declared martial law in 1977 and served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in a plane crash on Aug 17, 1988. He also remained Pakistan’s military chief from March 1976 till his death.

Along with him, 31 other people also lost their lives in the plane crash. They included the then joint chiefs of staff committee chairman Gen Akhtar Abdur Rahman, Brig Siddique Salik, American ambassador Arnold Lewis Raphel and head of the US military aid mission to Pakistan Gen Herbert Wassom.

Speaking at the convention, Pakistan Muslim League-Zia (PML-Z) Chairman Ijazul Haq said he had decided to associate the 31st death anniversary of his father with Jihad-i-Kashmir.

“When the USSR invaded Afghanistan, Gen Zia convened a meeting which continued for 12 hours and then within five minutes he (Gen Zia) declared that it was a war of Pakistan. When Gen Zia was martyred, his funeral prayer in absentia was held in Kashmir. Today the third generation is struggling for the freedom of Kashmir.”

He said Pakistan Army was ready to give strong response to any attempt by India to invade Pakistan.

Former AJK prime minister Sardar Ateeq Ahmed Khan said the philosophy of Gen Zia was to get freedom for the people of Kashmir.

“We cannot leave the people of Indian occupied Kashmir to die until Pakistan’s economy gets strengthened. Afghanistan had a weak economy but its people defeated foreign occupants,” he said.

Liaquat Ali, who came from Haroonabad in Bahawalnagar, told Dawn that Gen Zia was killed because his job was completed after the defeat of the USSR by the US and he was not required any longer.

“Had Gen Zia been alive today, I am sure not only Khalistan would have been created but also Jammu and Kashmir would have been a part of Pakistan as the way to Jammu and Kashmir passes from the proposed Khalistan,” he said.

Abu Bakar Basheer, a trader, said he was an admirer of Zia.

“During Zia’s tenure my father used to earn sufficient for the whole family. However, today the whole family members work but they remain hand to mouth. Moreover, I belong to the Rao family and we all are supporting of the PML-Z,” he said.

Shakeel Ali, a matric student from Lahore, told Dawn that he was not aware of the ideology of Gen Zia but one of his relatives, who was a fan of the former military dictator, convinced him to attend the convention.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2019