LARKANA, April 4: Leaders of the People’s Party Parliamentarians on Friday accused the international usurpers of denying Pakistani people a popular leadership.

They were speaking at the public meeting held in the Garhi Khuda Bux Bhutto to mark the 24th death anniversary of late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, former prime minister and the founder of the PPP.

Renewing their pledge to carry forward the mission of late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the PPP leaders praising Z. A. Bhutto’s leadership qualities, commitment, conviction and vision.

Focusing on the attack on Iraq and highlighting the party’s stand, they criticized the government for keeping key political leaders away from the country.

They said that late Z. A. Bhutto was the one who had unified the Islamic world, gave Pakistan its nuclear programme, played a vital role in war between Egypt and Israel besides restructuring the country after the fall of Dhaka in 1971.

They also called for stopping the war in Iraq.

They talked the special laws framed by the rulers to block Benazir Bhutto’s return to Pakistan, adding that there was no room for the turncoats, traitors and Lotas in the party.

Those, who spoke on the occasion, included Yusuf Raza Gilani and Jahangir Badar, vice chairman and secretary general of the PPP, respectively, Barrister Sultan Ahmed from the Azad jammu and Kashmir, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Aitzaz Ahsan, Raja Ashraf Parvez, Qasim Zia, president of the PPP, Punjab, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, president of the PPP, Sindh, Raza Rabbani, Khwaja Mohammed Khan Hoti, Khan Amanullah Khan, Jawedullah Shaikh, Prof N. D. Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Meanwhile, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, chairperson of the PPP, paid rich tribute to late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, saying that there would have been no bloodshed in Iraq if he (Z. A. Bhutto) been alive.

He said that the attack on Iraq reminded everyone of the era of Ginghis Khan.

Benazir Bhutto, he said, was the only popular leader, who could mitigate the sufferings of the poor people of the country, adding that she should become prime minister again as people had profusely voted for her party despite her absence in the last general elections.

Pakistan People’s Party-SB also held a separate public meeting.

Strict security measures were taken to avoid any untoward incident and a heavy contingent of police was deployed near the venue of the PPP function while patrolling was intensified between Larkana and the Garhi Khuda Bux Bhutto till the conclusion of both the functions.

Both the parties appeared not to have attracted crowds traditionally associated with the event in the past.

Though the PPP had set up a small tent village to accommodate the visitors, but a number of sympathisers and workers of the PPP had opted to return to their homes, which further reduced the attendance and the crowd witnessed on Thursday night was not evident in the public meeting held here on Friday.

The residents of the Garhi Khuda Bux Bhutto, when contacted by this correspondent, expressed their surprise over the erosion in the people’s participation in the public meeting over the years.

A large number of party leaders, workers and sympathisers, who had converged here from all over the country, offered Fateha and laid floral wreaths on the graves of late Z. A. Bhutto , Mir Murtaza Bhutto and Mir Shahnawaz Bhutto.

Members of the PPP’s women’s wing created some sort of disorder on the main stage when they raised slogans inducing party leaders to bring Benazir back home Leadero Jail Jao Benazir Ko Wapas Lao.

Earlier, the joint meeting of the central executive committee and the federal council of the PPP, held in Naudero on Thursday, rejected the Legal Framework Order and decided to continue the struggle against it on all fora, including the Parliament.

The meeting, presided over by Makhdoom Amin Fahim, felt that no individual had the right to amend the Constitution, adding that the Constitution could only be amended by adopting set procedures enshrined in the 1973 Constitution.

In the meantime, chairperson of the PPP-SB Ghinwa Bhutto, speaking at the public meeting organised by her party to commemorate the 24th death anniversary of late Z. A. Bhutto in Garhi Khuda Bux, said that the US would suffer in the wake of the war on Iraq and not Pakistan.

She predicated that the people of the United States would reject George W. Bush in the next elections.