Mourning Begum Nusrat Bhutto: PPP Central Executive Committee pays homage

Zardari, Bilawal chair meeting; discussion on PML-N, Mirza noticeably absent.

SUKKUR:

Amidst tight security, the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Central Executive Committee meeting held in Naudero paid homage to the party’s former chairperson Begum Nusrat Bhutto and adopted a resolution in this regard.

Speaking on the occasion, PPP Co-chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, presiding over the meeting with Co-chairperson President Asif Ali Zardari, paid rich tributes to his grandmother. Bilawal said that she was a symbol of courage and sacrifice for party workers and in particular, female workers. Begum Nusrat Bhutto was a woman who never gave up her struggle for the restoration of the democracy, the PPP chairman said. Apart from being a great leader and a brave woman, she was a very loving and caring grandmother, he added.

President Zardari, referring to the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy in which Begum Nusrat Bhutto played a central role, said the movement represented the start of the reconciliation process.

Political pundits had expected that the meeting would also discuss a number of other issues on the party’s agenda, but the meeting solely discussed the contributions of the late Nusrat Bhutto. It was expected that the fate of former Sindh home minister Zulfiqar Mirza who has in recent months spoken out several party leaders and in particular against Interior Minister Rehman Malik would be discussed. It was also expected that the meeting would brainstorm on how to tackle the ‘protest movement’ launched recently by opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2011.