QUETTA/LAHORE: The provincial assemblies of Balochistan and Punjab on Friday passed similar resolutions demanding that the federal government officially declare former premier Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto a martyr and a national hero after the Supreme Court in a presidential reference concluded recently that he was denied a fair trial.

Moved in the Punjab Assembly by PPP’s Ali Haider Gilani, the resolution said that lawyers across the world had declared Mr Bhutto’s execution a “judicial murder” and that the Supreme Court also rejected the 44-year-old death sentence “an injustice”.

Also, the Balochistan Assembly through a joint resolution demanded that the provincial government immediately app­roach the Centre to officially declare Mr Bhutto a martyr and a national hero.

The resolution, which was moved by Mir Ali Madad Jattak on behalf of chief minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti, Nawab Sanaullah Zehri, Mir Sadiq Umrani, Mir Zahoor Buledi, Asghar Rind, Mena Majeed, Mir Sarfraz Domki, Obaidullah Gorgage, Samad Khan, Bakht Mohammad Kakar, Asfandyar Kakar, Shahnaz Umrani and Sanjay Kumar, stated the apex court admitted that Mr Bhutto had not been given a fair trial, and court had not fulfilled the demand of justice.

Resolutions passed in two assemblies in wake of SC’s opinion on ex-PM’s trial

According to the resolution, the court, in its opinion also “accepted it was a judicial murder”.

Mr Bhutto was a populist leader and creator of the 1973 Constitution, which united all the four provinces and that also established parliamentary democracy, the resolution claimed, noting that he was falsely implicated in a fake case that resulted in his “judicial murder”.

While paying tribute to the former prime minister, Mr Buledi said he “will be remembered as a courageous leader who never compromised on his principles and rights of the people.”

He was not physically present, but his ideology and politics was alive in the hearts of the people not just in the country but across the entire world, he added.

Mr Jattak said, “Bhutto is alive and his name will be in history as a great political leader who fought for the rights of the poor people.”

ANP’s parliamentary leader Zamrak Khan Piralizai, JUI’s Youns Aziz Zehri, PML-N’s Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran, BNP-Awami president Mir Asadullah Blaoch and other members also supported the resolution.

The house also adopted another resolution moved by JUI members and independent MPA Molvi Noorullah, demanding compensation for the martyrs of Khanozai and Qila Saifullah blasts on Feb 6.

Earlier, Deputy Speaker Ghazala Gola, who presided over the assembly session that started an hour behind its schedule, administered the oath to four new members Mir Sadiq Sanjrani, Noor Mohammad Dummar, Haji Mohammad Khan Lehri and Zafarullah Zehri.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2024