RAWALPINDI: For the second consecutive year, the Rawalpindi Chapter of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) did not arrange any major event to mark the death anniversary of the party’s founding chairman and former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as only a few party workers gathered at the old Phaansi Ghaat, the site of his hanging, to pay homage to their leader.

Similarly, the Islamabad chapter of the party also did not hold any major event to mark the day, except a seminar organised by the Shaheed Bhutto Foundation (SBF) at Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (Szabist) where speakers paid glowing tributes to the former prime minister and lauded his services and sacrifices for the cause of democracy in the country.

A PPP leader from Rawalpindi Nasir Mir, when contacted, said that the party did not arrange any big gathering due to Ramazan. He, however, said that small gatherings for Quran Khawani for late Bhutto were held in different places in the city.

Those who visited the site of old Phaansi Ghaat included information secretary Muhammad Shahid, Malik Tanveer Ahmed, Mian Haroon Qureshi, Chaudhry Faheem Waqar, Fazl Haq Khan and Raja Zaheer Janjua.

Only few party workers gathered at old Phaansi Ghaat; speakers pay tributes to Bhutto at Szabist seminar

Previously, the party office-bearers, including some central leaders, traditionally used to gather at the site of the old jail in Rawalpindi, where Mr Bhutto was hanged on April 4, 1979, to pay homage to their leader, deliver speeches and also distribute food among the people. However, there had been no such activity at the venue for the second consecutive year. Last year too, the party had not arranged any event due to Ramazan.

It was during the second tenure of Benazir Bhutto’s government that the district jail site was converted into a park and Phaansi Ghaat became a place for the PPP workers and supporters to arrange special events on the the Bhutto’s death anniversary.

Talking to Dawn on condition of anonymity, a local PPP leader presented a grim scenario, stating that Ramazan was just an excuse for the leadership as the party had been fast losing the ground in the city and there had been lack of enthusiasm among the party workers, generally called Jiyalas, for the past many years.

The PPP has already announced to hold the main event to mark the Bhutto’s death anniversary at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on April 14 due to the holy month of Ramazan.

Meanwhile, speaking at the seminar organised by the SBF in Islamabad, the participants engaged in insightful discussions, highlighting the significant contributions of the late leader to the nation’s political landscape and his unwavering dedication to democracy, social justice and progress.

The speakers paid homage to the Bhutto’s remarkable leadership, acknowledging his pivotal role in shaping Pakistan’s history and inspiring generations of leaders and activists.

President of the PPP’s Human Rights Cell and former senator Farhatullah Babar said the recent awakening of judiciary had provided a historic opportunity to political parties to take the bull by the horns in securing freedom of politics, parliament, judiciary and media from the invisible forces in a hybrid model of governance.

He said the historic March 6 ruling after 44 years of the “murder” of Shaheed Bhutto and the letter by six high court judges marked not only an attempt to jettison its past but also a course correction by the judiciary.

It is also an opportunity to politicians, generals, media and the people to correct their course, he added.

He said from political parties awarding Senate tickets to independents wired to mysterious backers, formalising the hybrid through bodies like SIFC and not investigating the mysterious attempt to amend the IRSA ordinance and thus change the Indus delta landscape it appeared that political parties had yet to undertake any meaningful course correction.

He was of the view that as long as the parliament, political parties, media and judges were amenable to manipulation and as long as the people were not the real sovereigns there would be no real democracy and no real freedom in the country.

Another speaker Zafarullah Khan said: “On this solemn occasion, we honour Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s legacy by rededicating ourselves to the ideals of democracy and social justice for which he fought tirelessly.”

Former KP governor Barrister Masood Kausar, former ECP secretary Kanwar Dilshad, Nargis Faiz Malik, Prof Tahir Malik and head of the SBF Asif Khan also addressed the seminar.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2024