ISLAMABAD, Dec 24: Pakistan People’s Party Chairperson Benazir Bhutto and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) chief Nawaz Sharif have urged the people to forge unity to launch a struggle to regain their democratic and political rights. In their separate messages on the birth anniversary of Quaid-i-Azam, the two former prime ministers paid glowing tributes to the father of the nation and urged the people to strive for implementing the Quaid’s principles in the country.

In her message, Ms Bhutto said the Quaid’s birth anniversary was a day of rededication to the ideals and principles of the father of the nation. “But it also is a day of introspection and reflection to pause and ponder as to what steps we can take to restore the ideals and principles for which the Quaid created this homeland of ours.”

She said Quaid-i-Azam stood for constitutionalism, rule of law, respect for human rights, tolerance, pluralism and honouring the mandate of people.

She said it was sad though that on the Quaid’s birth anniversary this year, ‘his ideals of constitutionalism have been negated by the regime trampling the constitution for personal political agenda.’

Ms Bhutto alleged that manipulating general and local body elections, entering the presidency through the mechanism of unconstitutional referendum, fractionalizing political parties, imprisoning people on political grounds or exiling them was departure from the high ideals that led to the vigour and vitality of the Muslims of the subcontinent.

In his message, Mr Sharif said ‘for the fourth time in Pakistan’s history, a group of generals has been trying to deviate from the path that the father of the nation chalked out to make a Pakistan a truly Islamic democratic country.”

He said the constitution produced by elected representatives of people had been ‘mutilated by the adventurers.’

He said the (present) military regime, like its three predecessors, had damaged the country’s vital interests to the extent that even independence and sovereignty of the nation was in great peril.