ISLAMABAD, July 2: The acting PPP secretary-general, Mian Raza Rabbani, has said the party will observe black day on July 5 to mark the removal of the first Pakistan People’s Party government by Gen Ziaul Haq.

In a statement issued here on Monday Mr Rabbani said: “The party will observe July 5 as a black day by holding seminars and workers meetings at party offices.

“It was during this period that political workers and particularly the PPP was subjected to political victimization when dozens of workers were put to death due their political beliefs, thousands were whipped and undetermined number arrested and tortured.

“It was also an era when under state patronage sectarianism, ethnicity and fundamentalism encouraged. The Afghan policy assumed a new dimension of support for the Taliban, which gave rise to militancy.

The party, Mr Rabbani said, believes that the present regime is a continuation of the Zia legacy and it was only the events of the Sept 11 that forced a turn about in foreign policy to a limited extent.

The internal policy continues to be one of elimination of the political parties and victimization of the PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto.