KARACHI, Jan 4: The Pakistan People’s Party has rejected statements made by government officials implying that former prime minister and PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto herself was responsible for her death because she did not care for her security.

In a statement issued on Friday, Pakistan People’s Party central information secretary Sherry Rehman said that over the past week the government had made itself increasingly controversial in the eyes of the people because of the concerted effort it had been to cover up the heinous act that took away the life of Ms Bhutto and her supporters in Liaquat Bagh.

General (retd) Musharraf and other government officials took a new stand holding the leader of the PPP responsible for her own death and saying that she got herself killed when “she decided to come out of the sunroof of her vehicle to greet her supporters”.

“This is an insult to the Shaheed leader and all those who lost their lives with her,” said Ms Rehman.

“The regime is essentially trying to say that they all deserved to die because they attended a public rally which is their constitutional right. Rather than admitting its own failure in safeguarding the life and property of Pakistani citizens, the regime is trying to tell people that you will be responsible for the consequences if you try to exercise your fundamental rights.

“By insisting that Benazir Bhutto was responsible for her own death the regime is making a laughing stock of Pakistan all over the world, especially when we have all seen television footage of the shots being fired at her.

“The video footage clearly shows the absence of adequate security around the PPP leader just when she was leaving the Liaquat Bagh premises and after.

None of us were scanned when we went in, and nobody was scanned as we left as well.

“The security lapses were so huge that she was left totally exposed to the assassins. Mohtarma was clearly shot at and the blast happened minutes later.

“The October 18 blasts followed a similar pattern. There was firing first, followed by the blasts,” Ms Rehman recalled.

Ms Rehman also rejected the government’s assertions that hosing down the crime scene in Liaquat Bagh was only a matter of “inefficiency”.

“It’s very easy to label a criminal act as inefficiency. Anybody who was dealing with the case would know about the importance of preserving the sanctity of the crime scene.

“The fact that it was hosed down the very next day on the pretext that traffic flow would get disrupted, even though there was no traffic on the roads for next three days, demonstrates that the regime was trying to sweep the issue under the carpet.

“We have not named anybody as the possible killer, but people who have been trying to conceal the evidence need to be brought to the fore.”

She alleged that the regime had given ‘a royal impunity’ to Ms Bhutto’s killers by not taking action against perpetrators of the October 18 blasts. “They never heeded Mohtarma’s demands that the inquiry be conducted by an international investigation team. As a result, the inquiry today stands dangerously inconclusive and ends up covering up for the death of 170 innocent people.

“This gave Mohtarma’s killers a positive signal that they can go ahead with their mission since the regime’s non-seriousness towards a proper inquiry has always worked to the advantage of the hidden forces trying to destabilise Pakistan.”

Given the enormity of the incident and its impact on Pakistan, as well the region’s stability, the PPP was asking for an independent inquiry to be held under the auspices of the United Nations, said Ms Rehman, adding that her party had welcomed the UN Security Council’s resolution on Ms Bhutto’s assassination.

The PPP also thanked the UK government for agreeing to provide security to its Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.