RAWALPINDI: Former Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson and ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s birth anniversary was celebrated in the garrison city on Friday, with party workers and supporters vowing to continue her mission to improve the living standard of the people and raise voice for the poor.

Most workers gathered at Liaquat Bagh where Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007 in a gun and bomb attack and offered fateha for the departed soul. Cake-cutting ceremonies were also held in different places.

Spokesperson for President Asif Ali Zardari and former Pakistan Baitul Mal (PBM) managing director Amir Fida Paracha said Benazir Bhutto was a great leader who struggled for people’s rights and democracy.

He said she provided an impregnable defence system to make Pakistan strong in her two terms in government, adding that she wanted to flush out terrorists from the country.

Mr Paracha said Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was carrying forward the mission of Benazir Bhutto and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and all PPPworkers and leaders were united under his leadership.

He said Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gave a new Pakistan and made it secure by attaining the nuclear power status.

The former PBM chief said PPPworkers would now make Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari the prime minister in order to put the country on the right direction.

Meanwhile, speakers at cake-cutting ceremonies held at the PPP officespaid glowing tributes to the services of Benazir Bhutto and her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and vowed to continue her mission to bring socio-economic change in the society.

“Benazir Bhutto is considered a symbol of courage and resistance against dictators,” they added.

The speakers said the former prime minister always stood up for the rights of the people and even sacrificed her life for the country just like her father. They said the PPPleaders would continue the mission of Benazir Bhutto and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and raise voice of the voiceless people.

Speaking at another ceremony in Rawalpindi Cantonment, People’s Labour Bureau Punjab President Syed Nazar Hussain Shah, vice president Mohammad Ejaz and Deputy General Secretary Raja Parvez Akhtar called Benazir a friend of the labour class.

They said Benazir Bhutto always worked for the poor and middle class following the footsteps of her father.

“During her governments, she took historic decisions for the welfare of the working class and provided employment to the poor,” they added.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2024